Jimmy: McCain "Milking every possible drop of advantage [ of being a POW]"

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-08-28-carter-denver_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip


DENVER — Former president Jimmy Carter called Republican presidential candidate John McCain a "distinguished Naval officer," but said the Arizona senator has been "milking every possible drop of advantage" from his time served as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

Carter spoke Thursday with USA TODAY ahead of Barack Obama's acceptance speech to cap off the Democratic National Convention. Carter spoke of Obama's challenges facing the lingering effects of racism in America and the ability of the Clintons to bring their supporters over to Obama. He decried Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman's decision to "abandon" the Democrats by speaking at the Republican National Convention next week.

Carter, however, focused heavily on McCain. He said he was bewildered by McCain's performance at the Saddleback Presidential Forum hosted by pastor and author Rick Warren in Lake Forest, Calif., last month.

Carter said that whether he was asked about religion, domestic or foreign affairs, every answer came back to McCain's 5½ years as a POW.

"John McCain was able to weave in his experience in a Vietnam prison camp, no matter what the question was," said Carter. "It's much better than talking about how he's changed his total character between being a senator, a kind of a maverick … and his acquiescence in the last few months with every kind of lobbyist pressure that the right wing Republicans have presented."

Carter said that Lieberman, Al Gore's running mate in 2000 and now an independent, had cast his lot with the GOP by deciding to speak at the party's convention.

Lieberman switched his party registration after losing the 2006 Democratic senatorial primary to Ned Lamont, who made opposition to the Iraq war central to his campaign. Lieberman kept his seat and has helped Democrats maintain a 51-49 voting edge.

"I would hope that the Democrats could have enough senators elected in November so that we would not any longer need to include Joe Lieberman among the senators," Carter said.

Carter called Hillary Rodham Clinton's speech at the convention Tuesday "superb," but questioned her for pointing out her accomplishments in some areas and merely saying that Obama shared those concerns.

Carter called former president Bill Clinton's speech Wednesday "perfect." Carter said the two speeches took a lot of pressure off Obama by uniting the party and ensuring that all Clinton supporters would support Obama.

Carter cited a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll last week that found 47% of Clinton supporters said they were solidly behind Obama and 30% said they would vote for McCain, someone else or no one at all. "I think that this week has eliminated that disparity," he said.

Carter also spoke of the segregation he saw growing up and said racism is "always a subtle factor" in American politics. He called this November's election possibly the most "momentous, important" election in the U.S. in the past 100 years, and he was confident that Obama could overcome the racial divide.

But he said race could ultimately be the deciding factor. "If he loses by 2 or 3%, then I would certainly say that the racial issue was a major factor," Carter said.

:thumbsup:

the way John Kerry did?

This situation is reminiscent of HRC's withholding of her White House records, while claiming that having been First Lady qualified her for the Oval Office in her own right.

But McCain may be hiding far more than Hillary was hiding, according to a HuffingtonPost article by Jeffrey Klein ( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-klein/mccains-secret-questionab_b_107409.html )

-- How did John S. McCain III get into the Naval Academy? (As a legacy of his father and grandfather, both of whom made Admiral).

--How did he do at the Academy (He graduated 894th of 899).

--How did he get to pilot an A4-Skyhawk bomber from a coveted aircraft-carrier assignment (Through more nepotism. though not enough nepotism to get him a fighter pilot assignment).

--How many Naval aircraft entrusted to him during his training and 20 hours of combat were destroyed? (FIVE).

The Jeffrey Klein article at the link above is really eye-opening--I recommend it highly to everybody who's getting tired of hearing McCain use his war record as a crutch with which to smash questions about his competency to be CIC.

--Why did he rise only to the rank of Captain, not maiking it to admiral like his dad and granddad?