TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

McCain's Time To Shine

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 20, 2008

Arizona Sen. John McCain has promised straight talk in his latest bid for the White House, and his blunt and pragmatic message on the issues has been gaining momentum as the candidates move through the 2008 primary season. Members of The Tampa Tribune's editorial board caught up with McCain by telephone on Jan. 11 as he campaigned in South Carolina for a wide-ranging interview on the issues as we prepared to deliver our endorsement in Florida's Republican primary.

McCain was our pick. We found the veteran senator's candor refreshing and his stand on the important issues of the war, immigration and government spending well-grounded in his years of experience on Capitol Hill. As for the senator's reputation as a bit of a grump - well, that's true. He referred to our interview as engaging "the enemy"; we laughed and endorsed him anyway.

Here are some of the highpoints of our discussion:

Q: What do you think is the defining issue of this election?

A: There are two; secondary is restoring trust and confidence in government, which has evaporated. The transcendent issue, I believe, is the struggle against radical Islamic extremism. As opposed to 2000, we are in two wars and are facing confronting this enemy in ways that many of us had never imagined even after 9/11, such as the doctors in Glasgow, Scotland, and the manifestations of this struggle are quite complicated.

If I had talked to this board over a month ago we wouldn't have said much about Pakistan. As you know, a couple of days ago the Iranians had a confrontation to some degree with our Navy ships in the Straits of Hormuz. ...

I guess what I'm saying is this transcendental challenge is going to be with us for many years, and I believe I have the knowledge and the background and experience to make the right kind of judgments. I've been involved in every major national security issue for the last 20 years and ... I believe that my qualifications, particularly at this time in history, warrant my selection.

Q: On the domestic front?

A: Probably health care is the most talked about issue at the town hall meetings. Our Republican base is alienated because of spending and corruption, the immigration issue continues to be a very hot-button issue here in South Carolina as well as around the country, and we may be on the brink of a recession.

Q: What is your philosophy on preemptive wars?

A: It's obviously only when America's national security issues are directly threatened. I would hope if that action ever had to be taken, such as, for example, the Iranians, that would be done with close consultation with the Congress and if necessary because of the nature of the threat at least with the leaders of Congress. They've got to be in on the takeoff if you want them in on the landing.

But in broader terms I think that there's always a struggle between real politic and Wilsonian principles. I'm an idealist, and I believe those words about all of us being endowed with certain inalienable rights meant all of us, not just people who live in the Western Hemisphere.

I remain committed to the belief that we are on a mission to spread democracy and freedom throughout the world, but it is also tempered by real politic and some of the experiences we've had in the pursuit of democracy.

Q: Can you tell us your position on extending President Bush's tax cuts?

A: I think the tax cuts have to be extended. ... and I think they need to be made permanent. I also think that we've got to stop the spending. The spending is what's gotten us into trouble. Back in the days of the Reagan revolution, we cut taxes, but we made a commitment that we'd cut spending $3 for every $1 in tax cuts. When we did the 2001 tax cut, there was no restraint of spending, and we paid a very heavy price for that. I had a proposal for tax cuts, I had a proposal to cut spending, and if we had enacted that I believe we'd be talking about further tax cuts today.

We Republicans presided over the biggest increase in the size of government since the Great Society, and it led to corruption and I don't say that lightly. We now have former members of Congress residing in federal prison.

Q: It's been a surprise to see how angry some parts of the party are about your immigration proposal. How do you proceed with getting comprehensive reform?

A: We're going to have to secure the borders first. Because of this lack of trust and confidence that I described earlier, when I said we had a proposal that secured the borders and a temporary worker program and addressing the issue of the 12 million people here illegally, without amnesty - there was a punishment for breaking our laws by entering our country illegally - they didn't believe us. We can secure the border, and I know how to do that. I come from a border state that faces this problem. I believe we then move forward with a temporary worker program that works. You've heard it described before with a tamper-proof documents, etc.

I understand that some 2 million people, according to Homeland Secretary Chertoff, have broken our laws while being in this country. They have to be deported immediately.

Then we have to address the other part of the people who remain here illegally in that they have to pay fines, they have to get in line behind everybody else, they have to work in the naturalization process, they have to learn English and all of the things and even more. For us to do nothing is de facto amnesty. That's what exists today.

Q: Could you tell us more about your leadership track record?

A: In the United States Navy ever since I graduated from the Naval Academy, I was put in positions of leadership; that's what we expect young officers to do. I had the privilege of being executive officer and then commanding officer of the largest squadron in the United States Navy. We compiled a very fine record during those years.

I led, not for profit, but out of patriotism.

I've led in the United States Senate on a broad variety of issues. I can tell you when the Rumsfeld strategy was failing, I'm the only one that said this strategy is doomed to failure and we've got to change the strategy. That's the biggest change one can make. It saved I don't know how many lives.

Q: What would you like people to know now about your attempts at campaign finance reform?

A: I'd like them to know that we've taken the million-dollar check out of the political process. I'd like them to know that it's impossible now for what was standard practice for a powerful member of Congress to call a union leader or trial lawyer or corporate head and say I need all this money from you, and by the way your legislation is up before my committee.

Take a look at the Telecommunications Act of 1996. I'm sure some people there are familiar with it and see how every special interest was represented except for the consumer.

I'm very proud of what we did, and it's very obvious that 527s are exploiting a loophole which the Federal Elections Commission should have closed long ago, because the 527s are a violation of the 1974 law that was passed after Watergate. That is a gaping hole in this whole process.

If there's anybody that believes there's not enough special interests in Washington, I respect that view, but we tried to reduce that influence, increase the power of the parties both state and national, increase the small donors which have increased by the millions in the political process, and I have to give great credit to the Internet for that. I believe we did the right thing, and I'm very proud of what we did. Some will say that money is free speech, and I say that money is property. If money is free speech, then the richest people and organizations have the biggest megaphone.

Q: How do you feel about our Cuba policy?

A: It concerns me when waves of them wash ashore; it's a terrible human tragedy. But I also think it's symptomatic of how terrible a regime they live under. We saw the same thing in Vietnam until the Vietnamese government woke up and stopped their oppressive policies and gave people a chance to live better lives.

I think the fact that these people are washing ashore is an affirmation of that policy, as tragic as it is. They live under such a brutal and oppressive regime. People who have traded with Cuba have ended up with debts that haven't been paid. I think the wet-foot, dry-foot thing is a very bad policy, but I just don't know a better one.

Q: Our economy is sputtering. What can the federal government do to help get things moving again?

A: I think we have to stop this spending because it has weakened us fiscally and has put our safety nets in jeopardy - Social Security, Medicare, etc. - and we continue to expand government and laying unfunded liabilities onto future generations of Americans. That spending also increases interest rates at a time when we need lower interest rates. I think we've got to understand the urgency and the economic impact of sending $400 billion a year overseas to oil-producing countries.

Some of that money ends up in the hands of terrorist organizations. The argument for energy and oil independence, but also to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil and also to address the issue of climate change, which is an issue I've been involved in for many years.

Q: When we talk to people about you the question of your age comes up. How would you like people to think about that?

A: Maybe you should repeat the question; I just nodded off.

I think they should meet my 95-year-old mother who I have taken around various states with me. Last Christmas she flew to Paris because she wanted to drive around France, and she tried to rent a car and they told her she was too old, so she bought a car and drove around France.

If you would look at my schedule, look at my campaign and the way I conduct myself both in the Senate and on the campaign trail. I said at the beginning when things were darkest in our campaign, "I can out-campaign anybody; I can do more town hall meetings, I can do more events and I can do them longer and better." I think people should look at the vigor with way I conduct this campaign, and I think I can comfort most of them.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT