Posted on 04/26/2007 6:58:54 AM PDT by DesScorp
Sen. John McCain, who officially announced his bid for the 2008 White House Wednesday, stopped by "Good Morning America" to talk about his campaign and ended up defending himself about a joke.
The Arizona Republican said that people upset by his comments about IEDs to Jon Stewart on Tuesday night's "Daily Show" should "lighten up." After being grilled by Stewart , McCain jokingly told him that he had a present for him -- an IED that he could place under his desk.
Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., was furious and publicly assailed McCain on the House floor.
"Imagine a presidential candidate making a joke about IEDs when our kids are getting blown up," he said.
Responding to Murtha's reaction, McCain said that he was going to use comedy during his campaign, just as he did during his military duty.
"I don't know how to react to that kind of hysteria to a comedy show," he told Diane Sawyer on "GMA." "All I'm going to say to Murtha and others. … Lighten up and get a life."
On Wednesday, the same day that McCain announced his presidential run, 218 members of the House voted for a bill that contained a troop withdrawal timetable. McCain said that he would rather lose the election than abandon the conviction that a troop withdrawal from Iraq was a bad idea.
"Everything that I know. … That I've learned about my life … dictates that would be a disaster," he said today. "That opinion is shared by most national security experts."
When asked what he would do differently than the Bush administration, McCain said, "I would certainly go to the American people and explain to them what's at stake. … I do know that I don't need on-the-job training."
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
I agree this is helping him. Up to now everything I’ve heard about McCain has made me less interested, but a sense of humor is so desperately needed in a leader.
Dare I say that his remark about rather losing the presidency than losing in Iraq showed signs of...integrity, that I never thought McCain had. He still has a lot more to do to prove his worth, but this is certainly helping. He still at the bottom of my list, though.
This is exactly what President Bush would never say.
Regan/Clinton had the ability to ridicule their opponents.
Bush does not have this ability and it hurts him.
He responds grave seriousness to the most ludicrous and outlandish requests, arguments, and crap that the Dems throw at him.
Instead of saying with a smile, “Get a life you idiot.”
Bush says with a clinched up expression, “Well, well, i don’t know about uuuh my staff will look into that and report back to you in seven days.”
He doesn’t seem to grasp when he is being played.
“Imagine a presidential candidate making a joke about IEDs when our kids are getting blown up,”
Imagine a congress”man” taking pictures with a group that sent money to the groups blowing our kids up. Murtha shouldn’t be free, he should be in prison.
I never thought I’d say this, but McCainiac is looking better and better.
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I would not go quite that far. I would say “He he is not looking as bad as he usually does.”
Yes I agree with you. I would follow McCain before any other Republican candidates. The two most important issues facing this country are THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR and ILLEGAL IMMEGRATION. McCain will do very well on the Global War on Terror and in order to get reelected will come down hard on Illegal Immigration. I respect McCain because he has seen the “ELEPHANT”. So have I, BTW.
I have to say I agree. How scary is that?
Murtha is just mad because McCain didn’t ask his permission 15 days ahead of the show.
You know you’ve got a problem when John McCain has to tell you to ease up a bit.
That’s like getting anger management tips from Howard Dean.
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