McCain: 'I have not changed in my positions'
QUEEN CREEK, ARIZ. — It's dark, but still an oppressive 102 degrees, when Sen. John McCain agrees to talk to me in a parking lot next to his campaign SUV (flex-fuel and energy efficient, I'm assured). It's revved and running, no doubt for the air- conditioned comfort of those inside, but perhaps also for a quick getaway if needed.
I have a feeling our time will be short, so I plunge quickly into questions about the upcoming Aug. 24 Republican Senate primary . "Why are you spending so much money?" I ask ( nearly $20 million so far against former congressman J.D. Hayworth, who has been in the 30s or lower in polls for two months). "To win," McCain replies.
"Do you think it takes that much to win?" I ask.
"Well, I don't know. But I've always done whatever's necessary to win," he says.
There's a slight pause while I consider what he said, and he probably wonders why he said it. Then I ask him about Sen. Lindsey Graham's remark to The New York Times, that Graham understands his friend's moves away from risky past positions because "John's got a primary. He's got to focus on getting re-elected."
McCain interrupts me. "Lindsey knows that I don't change in my positions," he says. "I have not changed in my positions. I know how popular it is for the Eastern press to paint me as having changed positions. That's not true. I know they're going to continue to say it. It's fundamentally false. Not only am I sure that they'll say it, you'll say it. You'll write it. And I've just grown to accept that."
I think to myself that I've already written it — as long ago as 2006, as recently as last month. I think, it's the core of Hayworth's campaign (his tagline is "A Consistent Conservative"). McCain has rationales for all of his shifts — on climate change, immigration, taxes, gays in the military — but there's no question there have been shifts. I don't say any of that. Instead, I say the crowd of 700 at the barbecue was friendly and there seems to be "a different sense of you here" than in Washington.