Suppose you had tickets to a McCain event and suppose there’s a chance you’ll get to ask him a question. What would you ask?
I know, the opportunity for snark is hard to resist. But seriously. I think the question should be fairly broad-based, not quibbling, and it should bring a big flip-flop or contradiction into the spotlight. I was thinking of a question about hating war vs. saying “next stop, Baghdad,” but that’s just an invitation to talk about toughness and the surge and all that. Maybe the tax cuts? Eh.
44 comments
September 6, 2008 at 6:47 am
Levi Stahl
If it were right now, I think it would be something like, “Senator McCain, I understand that you chose Sarah Palin as your running mate having only met her once. Now, without meaning to cast any aspersions on Governor Palin, I have to say that I’m astonished by that. My job is not nearly so consequential as yours, but I wouldn’t ever hire an assistant whom I’d me only once. I wouldn’t hire a babysitter whom I’d met only once. This strikes me as the same sort of impulsive, poorly considered decision-making that is a hallmark of the Bush administration–which has been one of the major reasons the past eight years have been such a disaster. Can you explain how you were able, in a mere fifteen minutes of conversation, to decide that Sarah Palin was the most qualified person to be vice president? Or was this a George Bush-style gut-level decision, the sort that brought us Harriett Meiers and the Iraq war?”
Too long, probably allows him too much wiggle room, but I keep wanting to see the Democrats keep Palin in the news, not on her own merits (or lack thereof), but as an example of McCain’s bad judgment–and I think putting it in terms of the hiring voters have done in your their own lives, however low-level, is the right way to do so.
September 6, 2008 at 7:06 am
jhm
Considering that you said that you would “never” give up pursuing the Universal Tobacco Settlement Act [S.1415, 105th Congress], a bill you personally sponsored, and about which you said just last year that “I still regret we did not succeed,” what is your current thinking on this issue? Seeing as you are a cosponsor of The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act [S. 625, 110th Congress], how do you stand on this bill?
September 6, 2008 at 7:25 am
tpb
Senator McCain, you recently repudiated your own immigration reform bill, other than the political repercussions, what caused you to reject your own solution?
September 6, 2008 at 7:33 am
Matt W
Maybe, “You say that Senator Obama’s health care plan will put a bureaucrat between me and my doctor, but I already have to deal with insurance company bureaucrats to see my doctor. What is it specifically about Obama’s plan that you think will make it worse, and what is it specifically about your plan that’ll help me?”
September 6, 2008 at 7:41 am
dana
How many undetached condiminium parts do you own, anyway?
(Okay, I’ll be serious.)
Senator McCain, we’ve all heard that you suffered torture during your service to this country; you used to think that the U.S. should not do such things. What made you change your mind in February, when you were asked to ban waterboarding and didn’t?
September 6, 2008 at 8:12 am
G C
If Sarah Palin is ready to be president, why isn’t she ready to give a single interview or take a single question from the press?
September 6, 2008 at 8:44 am
Ahistoricality
“Sen. McCain, your personal experience with torture was cruel, unnecessary and ultimately uneffective — it made you stronger in your patriotism and failed to produce any benefits to your torturers. Given that, how can you justify supporting the Bush administration’s adoption of similar methods in violation of US and international law?”
September 6, 2008 at 9:06 am
Charlieford
“Senator McCain, you say your experience as a POW transformed you, elevating you above ordinary selfish concerns. Yet you dropped your first wife, the mother of your children, for a wealthy young hottie 20 years your junior. What’s up with that?”
September 6, 2008 at 9:30 am
Spike
Why did you take Charles Keating’s money?
September 6, 2008 at 10:13 am
bitchphd
Why are you misleading the public about Obama’s economic plan, which only raises taxes on people making over $250k and cuts taxes for those making less? Is it because you think everyone in America makes over $250k?
September 6, 2008 at 10:47 am
Rob_in_Hawaii
“Sen. McCain, as a wounded war hero yourself why is it that you have repeatedly voted against increasing healthcare funding and other benefits for today’s returning vets?
“I mean not all of them can realistically aspire to marrying millionaire beer heiresses, like you did, to ease their transition to civilian life, can they?”
September 6, 2008 at 10:50 am
ari
Surely, they can aspire, Rob. Don’t steal the dreams of our servicemen (and women — they can haz heir or heiress, too, right?). Not in a time of war.
September 6, 2008 at 11:15 am
Levi Stahl
Ding, ding, ding! I declare Rob in Hawaii the winner so far. Now, Rob, it’s your patriotic duty to hie yourself to a McCain meet-and-greet.
September 6, 2008 at 11:21 am
urbino
Senator, I’d like to get a better sense of your decision making process. Can you give us a breakdown of how often you make major decisions with your head, your gut, and your man parts? Is it 10-50-40, or 10-40-50? Follow up: why so angry?
September 6, 2008 at 11:50 am
ben
Are those who were POWs for longer than you therefore more qualified for the Presidency?
That’s snark, I guess.
September 6, 2008 at 11:59 am
A White Bear
I liked Jon Stewart’s recent comment that if being taken prisoner and tortured for five and a half years qualifies you to be president, then Guantánamo should be called a leadership training camp.
September 6, 2008 at 1:22 pm
ben
He totally stole that from me.
September 6, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Robert Halford
Tip from a trial lawyer: avoid the open-ended “why” questions. The point is to get him to admit the obvious, not give him weasel-room to escape (why the press and senators never seem to understand this is beyond me). These question-and-answer sessions aren’t a forum for learning anything; they’re forums in which the candidates hope to be able to rehearse pre-written talking points while avoiding getting tripped up. So, e.g., this:
“Why are you misleading the public about Obama’s economic plan, which only raises taxes on people making over $250k and cuts taxes for those making less? Is it because you think everyone in America makes over $250k?”
Should become this:
Senator McCain, you believe that Senator Obama plans to raise taxes, correct?
But the only income bracket whose taxes would be raised are those families making more than $250,000 per year, correct?
Do you know, Senator McCain, what percentage of families in American make more than $250,000 per year?
And are you aware that ___% of the benefit of your tax plan would go to those making more than $250,000 per year?
And are you aware that Senator Obama’s plan actually cuts taxes for families making under $250,000 per year?
Are you trying to shift the burden of taxes in this country onto the 95% of Americans who earn less than $250,00 per year?
No further questions.
Obviously, to do this effectively, you need to ask follow up questions, which is why candidates try their best to avoid follow up questions and why our docile press avoids asking them.
September 6, 2008 at 2:06 pm
silbey
need to ask follow up questions
Yeah, you’re never going to get more than one follow up question, if that.
September 6, 2008 at 2:10 pm
bitchphd
Okay, then, I amend:
Senator McCain, you’ve said repeatedly that Obama wants to raise taxes. Do you know that Obama’s tax plan actually *cuts* taxes for Americans making less than $250k/year?
September 6, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Ron Tunning
Senator McCain, have you no shame?
September 6, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Artemis
Senator McCain, are you aware that voting with President Bush 90-95% of the time is not very maverick-y?
September 6, 2008 at 3:11 pm
silbey
Senator McCain, are you older than God?
September 6, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Ahistoricality
Tip from a trial lawyer
I’ve long wondered why politicians aren’t subject to “truth in advertising” laws, but clearly they aren’t, and ultimately there are no sanctions for falsehood. Trial tactics, therefore, aren’t likely to be successful: you don’t have a captive subject, and you have no enforcement.
The best you can get, most of the time, is open evasion, unless you really get lucky and they flounder a bit.
September 6, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Robert Halford
Yeah, but a little bit of tightening up of questions by the press, combined with making an effort to ask follow up questions, would really go a long way to avoid letting the politicians wriggle off the hook. The British and foreign press seems much better at this, from what I can tell.
September 6, 2008 at 4:02 pm
ben
With the specific line of questioning Halford proposes, at any rate, you don’t really need “truth in advertising”: the details of Obama’s and McCain’s plans being publicly available, if McCain tries to stick to his story, it shouldn’t be that difficult to impeach him. E.g. if he says “no” to the second question, the questioner could quote or summarize the relevant parts of the plan. (This would take some preparedness, admittedly.)
I mean, it wouldn’t be that difficult to impeach him, if you actually got a chance to pursue such a line of questioning in the first place and were able to refer to such things as the specifics of what is under discussion in the first place.
September 6, 2008 at 4:03 pm
ben
Again, there wouldn’t be sanctions for this, per se, but it should be possible to make it clear that the pol in question is either lying or incompetent.
September 6, 2008 at 4:35 pm
silbey
The British and foreign press seems much better at this, from what I can tell.
They are, though British politicians have adjusted by simply 1) answering the question they want to answer, 2) talking until interrupted.
E.g. if he says “no” to the second question, the questioner could quote or summarize the relevant parts of the plan
Exactly how long does anyone think they’re going to have? Thirty seconds, max, no follow ups.
September 6, 2008 at 5:09 pm
ben
Well, right, I mean, I acknowledged that this was all taking place in fantasyland to begin with.
September 6, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Robert Halford
I think that BphD’s revised question — “Senator McCain, you’ve said repeatedly that Obama wants to raise taxes. Do you know that Obama’s tax plan actually *cuts* taxes for Americans making less than $250k/year?” — does a very good job of putting McCain directly the spot without requiring a follow up. More questions like that and we’d be getting somewhere.
Also, I hate to break it to everyone, but even in court the fact that witnesses are sworn in under oath does not actually prevent them from lying or, especially, spinning the facts. A press corps willing to probe politicians in ways that will call them on bullshit is far more valuable than a formal truth in advertising guarantee.
September 6, 2008 at 6:00 pm
bitchphd
Senator McCain, your health care plan will give people a $5k tax credit towards health insurance.
How much do you imagine the average American spends on health insurarnce per year? (The answer is about $12,000.)
September 6, 2008 at 6:13 pm
tpb
Senator McCain you’ve admitted that you really do not understand economics, isn’t it uppity of you to criticize Senator Obama’s tax and economic proposals?
September 6, 2008 at 6:28 pm
ben
Also, I hate to break it to everyone, but even in court the fact that witnesses are sworn in under oath does not actually prevent them from lying or, especially, spinning the facts.
Dude, you just blew my mind.
September 6, 2008 at 6:47 pm
kid bitzer
nah, don’t believe it: the guy’s just lying.
September 6, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Jason B
How about this:
“Senator McCain, did Tomas de Torquemada have a firm handshake?”
September 6, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Tony P.
Sorry I accidentally posted this on another thread:
“Senator, you tell us that true happiness comes from sacrificing for a cause greater than self-interest. Does paying taxes count as a sacrifice? Does clamoring for a tax cut NOT count as self-interest? Please explain how people who make over three hundred grand a year got true happiness from the Bush tax cuts, and what sacrifice YOU would ask of them.”
–TP
September 6, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Tony P.
“Senator, please tell us in which policy areas you expect Vice President Palin’s advice to be valuable to you. What does SHE know that YOU don’t?”
–TP
September 6, 2008 at 9:08 pm
urbino
How to use email, for one thing.
Senator McCain you’ve admitted that you really do not understand economics, isn’t it uppity of you to criticize Senator Obama’s tax and economic proposals?
Excellent.
September 7, 2008 at 5:06 am
merl
I can understand you’re making of anti-American propaganda videos after undergoing “enhanced Interrogation Techniques”, but why did you give up military secrets?
How many sailors did you kill when you started the USS Forestall fire?
September 7, 2008 at 8:25 am
Gene O'Grady
A little long and somewhat personal, so I’ve been hesitant to post:
“Senator McCain, like you my father went across the Pacific to war as a young naval officer. He was never a prisoner of war, but his ship was sunk by a kamikaze at Okinawa, his best friend died in the water next to him, he was seriously wounded and hospitalized for quite a long time. But he almost never spoke of any of this — most of this I pieced together after his death or learned from my mother. When he did speak of it his references were either indicative of sympathy for the suffering of others, or humorous, in regard to the Catch-22 situations he encountered in the hospital. He also ran for elective office three times, and, while he may have mentioned that he was a veteran, the Purple Heart and the scars stayed in the closet.
I think the contrast to your handling of a similar situation is striking. But this is not a question about your character. What I would like you to address is what there is different about my father’s war from your war that might explain the contrast.”
September 7, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Western Dave
I’m asking.
The point of having experience is that it is supposed to help you make better decisions. Why did your experience repeatedly lead you to vote in favor of Bush’s war?
Follow up if I’m not escorted from the room:
What has your experience in supporting the Bush war taught you?
September 7, 2008 at 8:48 pm
resistancetrainer
Actually I would ask him if the the immigration situation his home state faces has taught him anything. If so why isn’t he for stronger borders and policies to keep illegals home.
September 13, 2008 at 3:33 pm
ben
A tactfully-made suggestion.
Two, really, because the first sentence can easily be made into a question as well: what’s up with your lack of control over your own campaign?
September 13, 2008 at 3:33 pm
ben
No hyphen in “tactfully made”, thanks. God!