03:45 pm
Angry, Bitter, and Mean (UPDATED)
So John McCain sat down with the Des Moines Register editorial board. You can watch/listen to the whole thing here, if you have the time.
The first thing that struck me while watching this is that McCain looks pretty unhappy and even angry throughout the interview. He’s prickly, often confrontational, and occasionally mean-spirited. It’s not a pretty sight. Clearly, the events of the past two weeks has gotten to him, and he can’t believe he’s not only behind, but falling further behind by the day.
Even if you don’t have time for the full hour, take a moment to watch the following clips. They’re downright scary.
First McCain jokes (at least I think he’s joking) that he has always wanted to be a dictator. It’s about 35 seconds into his comment on the current economic situation.
Next, he talks about the wonderful job Henry Paulson is doing as Secretary of Treasury.
Next, a section where he defends his choice of Sarah Palin, in the process taking a shot at elites — conservative elites.
Finally, a note about McCain’s style. Earlier today Sean Quinn over at 538.com made a note of Stephen Colbert’s mocking of John McCain for sticking his tongue out. Quinn noted that in his experience as a poker player, tongue-jutting is a “tell,” indicating that the player thinks either he got away with something or just got caught doing something. Quinn shows a series of examples from the debate.
Why am I mentioning this now? Because McCain does the same thing in the Des Moines Register editorial board meeting. About 25 minutes in (with about 41:15 to go), McCain asks rhetorically whether anyone can think of one instance where Barack Obama has gone against his own party. Here’s a screen shot of what happens next:
Since the editorial board doesn’t call him on this, and assuming Quinn is right, McCain knows that he just got away with something. He does it again — not once, not twice, but three times — after claims repeatedly that his campaign has “the documentation” to prove that Obama favors comprehensive sex education for kids in kindergarten. (It starts with about 22:15 left in the video.)
Or to put it another way, he knows he’s lying.
UPDATE: HOLY CRAP. He does it again near the end — I missed it the first time. With 1:09 left in the interview, he says, “I’m very proud of my running mate.” An then. . .
If this is McCain’s tell, he just made painfully clear that he has no confidence in Sarah Palin.
Heh.