Obama Remark ‘Elitist,’ McCain Says April 14, 2008, 12:35 pm
By Ariel Alexovich
WASHINGTON — John McCain called Barack Obama’s recent comments that Pennsylvanians are “bitter” an “elitist” remark but stopped short of calling Mr. Obama himself elitist.
“I don’t know Senator Obama very well,” Senator McCain said, addressing a packed crowd of journalists at a newspaper editors’ conference on Monday. Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, spoke at length about how small town Americans in places like Pennsylvania are the backbone of America. Those folks don’t support the Second Amendment because of recent economic hardships, Mr. McCain said, they do it because that’s been part of their values system for generations.
“These are the people that produced a generation that made the world safe for democracy,” Mr. McCain said. “These are the people that have fundamental cultural, spiritual, and other values that in my view have very little to do with their economic condition.”
To suggest otherwise, Mr. McCain said, is “a fundamental contradiction to what I believe America is all about.”
Senator McCain also denied flip-flopping on the mortgage issue. He has been criticized for initially being against government aid to homeowners struggling under the weight of their hefty mortgages.
Now, Mr. McCain has said he supports limited bailouts because “Americans are hurting.”
But he warned against too much government intervention. “Massive bailouts puts debt on future generations,” he said.
The chummy question-and-answer portion of Monday’s event began with a mutual peace offering. The panel hosts gave guest speaker John McCain a coffee with cream and sugar, and several Dunkin’ donuts — with sprinkles.
“My favorite!” he said.
In return, he told the packed auditorium of journalists that he supports a shield law — which allows reporters to protect their sources — albeit narrowly. He doesn’t support the shield law if it infringes upon national security, specifically citing The New York Times’s decision to disclose a government wiretapping program “too close to crossing that line.” “It is, frankly, a license to do harm, perhaps serious harm,” Mr. McCain said in his opening remarks. “But it is also a license to do good; to disclose injustice and unlawfulness and inequities; and to encourage their swift correction.”
Mr. McCain didn’t give up the names of people he’s considering for vice president, only that he hopes to make a decision “sooner rather than later.” During the casual Q-and-A, he also joked that he’d fall into a “deep depression” if he loses the general election.