Tales from the Trail » arizona senator

McCain jokes about legendary temper

Tim Gaynor — Wed, 07 May 2008 21:53:57 +0000

ROCHESTER, Mich. - John McCain answered a question about his legendary temper on Wednesday with a good-natured growl.

“How dare you ask that question!” McCain said to laughter from the audience at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan.

McCain proceeded to use the question as a way to focus on his own concerns, ranging from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s past influence in the U.S. Congress to what he considers out-of-control government spending.

“I will confess to you my friend that I do get angry. I get angry when I saw a guy named Abramoff that ripped off Native Americans for millions and millions and millions of dollars,” McCain said.

“I get angry when I see $233 million of your tax dollars going to … a bridge to an island with 50 people on it,” referring to an Alaskan lawmaker’s bid to get money for a bridge McCain opposed.

“I get angry when I see corruption to the point when we have former members of Congress in federal prison.”

“And you know something? The American people are angry too … They’re mad and they’ve lost their temper,” the Arizona senator added.

McCain’s remark came in response to a question by a man who said he worried about reports of McCain’s temper.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Mark Leffingwell (McCain speaks at an event in Denver, Colo., May 2, 2008)

McCain meets human face of “earmark” spending

John Whitesides — Thu, 01 May 2008 02:38:48 +0000

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Republican presidential candidate John McCain frequently rails against “earmarks,” the special spending projects that members of Congress procure for their home districts, often with little or no oversight.

But Wednesday he admitted he sometimes admired the results.

On a visit to an Allentown hospital during a week-long campaign swing featuring health care issues, the Arizona senator met a woman with ovarian cancer who was treated in a $80 million clinical trial program funded by an earmark.

McCain praised the woman’s treatment and later said some earmarks were clearly worthy.

“It’s the process I object to,” McCain told reporters. “We need to start over from scratch.”

McCain told reporters that wasteful spending projects had drained away money that could have been used for infrastructure improvements that would prevent tragedies like last year’s deadly bridge collapse in Minnesota.

He has promised to eliminate earmarks and make spending projects compete for funding in congressional budget deliberations.

“When you earmark in the middle of the night you have no budgetary constraints,” he said.

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.

Photo credit: Reuters/Carlos Barria. (McCain listens speaks during a news conference at Miami’s Children Hospital in Florida April 28, 2008.

For Romney, no fear of “goofing up” as he joins McCain

Tim Gaynor — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 03:54:39 +0000

DENVER, Colo. - Mitt Romney , until a few weeks ago Sen. John McCain’s rival in a sometimes bitter contest for the Republican Party presidential nomination, says getting back on the campaign trail with the presumptive nominee is fun.

Romney traded blows with McCain for several weeks earlier this year before dropping out of the race and conceding defeat after losing crucial primary contests on Super Tuesday on Feb. 5.

With past battles behind them, Romney joined the Arizona senator in Salt Lake City, Utah, at a fund-raising event on Thursday, and then flew with him to Denver, Colorado.

“It’s a lot of fun again. It’s nice not to feel any pressure at all, I don’t have to worry about goofing up,” he told reporters on the flight over the Rocky Mountains.

“I can just stand behind the nominee and do my very best to support his campaign.”

Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, and Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah stood beside McCain at the campaign stop in Salt Lake City in a show of party unity.

McCain said he hoped Romney would join him on the campaign trail in the weeks ahead as he sought to energize the party in the run up to the election in November.

He will face Democrats Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois or Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York.

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.

- Photo credit: Reuters/Rick Wilking (McCain (L) listens to Romney at a news conference in Denver on March 27, 2008)