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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Taro who wrote (423026)	10/6/2008 4:50:08 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1577883

Basu: Is McCain too thin-skinned for presidency? REKHA BASU • rbasu@dmreg.com • October 3, 2008 You can feel it in the clenched muscles in his throat, the narrowing of his eyes, the controlled tone with which he handles a question he doesn't like, as if struggling to contain something that might spill out. We've seen that body language on TV. But around a Des Moines Register table Tuesday, the anger and tension were palpable. And unsettling. McCain's volatility has been written and whispered about by staff and Senate colleagues: the mercurial temper, the quixotic outbursts of reproach, then jocularity. But those alleged episodes were behind the scenes. The combative, prickly McCain we saw was seeking the Register's endorsement. He already got it in the caucuses. He took frequent offense at questions, characterizing them as personal viewpoints of the questioners rather than legitimate topics. True, he was asked some tough, pointed questions about his running mate and his honesty. But America is having those discussions, and you'd expect he'd be ready, not defensive. It takes a thick skin to be president. McCain says he is angry because "people are angry." But his behavior suggests it's more than that. Maybe it's because his poll numbers are falling, his running mate is being ridiculed and his attempt to play fixer on the bailout failed to launch. Or maybe, a more worrisome prospect, this is the real McCain - who can't deal with stressful situations without feeling attacked, who lashes out when he feels threatened. Except for opening and closing statements, he showed little humor. On Sarah Palin's lack of experience, he repeatedly told the questioner she and he had "a fundamental disagreement," and concluded, "I'm so happy the American people seem to be siding with me." Scoffing at the suggestion some conservatives had reservations, he asked with exaggerated emphasis, "Really? I haven't detected that. I haven't detected that. I haven't detected that in the polls, I haven't detected that amongst the base... Now if there's a Georgetown cocktail party person who quote calls himself a conservative and doesn't like her, good luck. Good luck." On the prospect for success in Iraq, he kept insisting: "We've succeeded. I'm happy to tell you we've succeeded. ... We have succeeded in Iraq. The strategy has succeeded. ... So we have succeeded and we're winning." Asked about misrepresenting facts, McCain interrupted, "I didn't do that. I didn't do that. Now you can assert that I did. I didn't and I've got the facts to back it up." And later: "I have always had 100 percent absolute truth and that's been my life of putting my country first. ... And an assertion that I've ever done otherwise I take strong exception to." Pressed on an ad distortion, McCain retorted, "Well that certainly is your opinion and I respect your opinion, but it's not the facts that changes my positions and my honorable service to this country.... " He seemed to mock the editor who asked about educational standards, saying maybe she believed "government can impose the right answers and parents can't." And when an editor denied his accusation of "plucking out" a phrase to mischaracterize his record on deregulation, he interrupted: "Yes, you're quoting a word or a phrase that was taken out of context of my entire record and actions in order to protect the American taxpayer and consumer." Newspapers regularly put candidates in the hot seat. Some playfully disarm the questioner. Some deflect the question. The confident relish the chance to make their case. McCain seemed put out. The presidency requires a special temperament. It demands statesmanship with foreign leaders, persuasiveness with Congress and calm assuredness with the public. If McCain is so flustered in an editorial meeting, how would he guide a nation in crisis? desmoinesregister.com