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McCain NYC Town Hall Offers No Fireworks Without Obama
June 12, 2008 10:34 PM
ABC News's Bret Hovell reports: It was one of his very first lines he delivered, but it seemed to perfectly sum up Senator John McCain’s town hall meeting Thursday night in New York City.
"I think this town hall meeting tonight would have been a little bit more interesting tonight if Senator Obama had accepted my request,” McCain said early on in the evening, referring to McCain's plan for joint town hall meetings with Obama around the country.
But Obama was not there – his campaign is considering the proposal, but said it was too soon after Obama clinched his party’s nod for them to make it work.
The show went on without him. It was McCain’s second town hall meeting of the day – an earlier one in Nashua, New Hampshire, marked the 103rd such event he has had in that state this election cycle.
In New York, the audience of 200 at Federal Hall was not open to the public, unusual for a campaign that typically prides itself on allowing anyone into the room to question McCain. For this event, the crowd was selected largely by the McCain campaign, which said tickets were given to supporters, “independent groups,” and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg to distribute. The campaign would not provide details of how many tickets each got, or what independent groups were invited.
After brief opening remarks, McCain took questions from eight members of the audience, on topics ranging from the skyrocketing price of oil and gas, to how he would work across the aisle with Congress, to how he would appeal to the youth vote.
On two occasions, questioners in the friendly audience made reference to the Arizona Republican’s service in Vietnam. One explained that he did not feel people knew enough about McCain’s five and a half years as a prisoner of war, and asked if he would advertise it more.
“Yes,” McCain said, “but, I don’t consider myself a hero.” He went on to talk about how he had “served in the company of heroes” but did not feel he deserved that title, a typical response from McCain to that type of question.
That answer proved to be the only point of contention in the event, which was broadcast live and exclusively on the Fox News Channel, when several minutes later a supporter took issue with what McCain had said about his time in prison.
“The only thing that I disagree with you on tonight is that I think that many people in the room including myself do believe that you are a hero,” said a questioner to applause.
McCain has said he wants the town hall meetings with Obama to be made up of real undecided voters of all political persuasions, and to have the audience picked by a neutral group.
“Let’s hear from the American people,” McCain said today in Nashua, pitching his town hall idea. “And the American people can examine us, and they can know in full what our positions on the issue is, not grab a sound bite from or a phrase or a couple of words, but know the candidates, that’s what the American people deserve.”
June 12, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (84)
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You can call Obama whatever you want but McCain pretends to care about women. What a liar.
Posted by: o | Jun 12, 2008 11:55:50 PM
Folks, I'm a dyed in the wool Democrat. Always have been. That being said, we've had 8 years of deadlock and very little compromise. And look at the state of our union for it. While climate change, the war, heathcare and the energy crisis are all incredibly passionate topics, they all need to be addressed with rational compromise. This November needs to be more than another mud-slinging contest. Squabbling amongst ourselves will only prolong the status quo and ensure a rapid decline in our great nation.
Posted by: Ben | Jun 12, 2008 11:55:57 PM
Obama is counting on a stealth election.
He will keep "considering" town hall meetings, but instead go for one or two network debates in October. That way he minimizes the damage.
He has the momentum, and does not want to get caught in an unscripted moment like last week, when he sounded as if he lost his bearings.
The question is can he hold out before the voters demand that he come out from behind the teleprompter? We shall see.
In the meantime, he will just have to keep on firing, disassociating, and otherwise distancing himself from friends, supporters and backers.
BTW... looking forward to Rev. Wright's book in October.
Posted by: SmartPrimate | Jun 12, 2008 11:57:00 PM
Omentum says he/she? touches him/herself when he/she thinks of Obama. Omentum sounds like a sicko badly in need of professional help for this perversion and from what I've heard about Obama's background, Omentum is exactly the type Obama would attract.
Posted by: Sam Spade | Jun 13, 2008 12:02:36 AM
He Sam Spade
A terrorist fist jab to the face.
Posted by: Omentum | Jun 13, 2008 12:12:56 AM
Here McSam Spade
A terrorist fist jab in your eye
Posted by: Omentum | Jun 13, 2008 12:13:43 AM
Obama lost his hearing in VA. His earpiece stopped working. It was pretty funny. If he only knew how much doctor's visit and overnight hospital stay cost he would be able to continue w/o as he was talking about admitting a child with asthma to ER. (He is a member of Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions).
Posted by: magda | Jun 13, 2008 12:17:47 AM
Obama is for the capital gains tax of 28%...that means if I sell my house the taxes will be more, if I withdraw from my 401k, my taxes will be more, the tax on my dividends will be more. Does he have any clue? America is already taxed to death! Obama needs to get he head out of the clouds, come down to earth, and see the day to day struggle of Americans. I know why he won't have the town hall meetings with McCain. There will be no teleprompters, he wont have a speech written and ready, and Obama knows that this is when he is most vulnerable, when he is out on the stump without these things.....he tends to crash and burn. He can't think on his own, he stutters, stammers, etc. Obama is no more than an "empty suit with no substance."
Posted by: david from texas | Jun 13, 2008 12:20:58 AM
Barack Obama is not here so Please stay awake my friends
Posted by: Omentum | Jun 13, 2008 12:26:24 AM
Barack Obama is not here so Please stay awake my friends
Posted by: Omentum | Jun 13, 2008 12:26:25 AM
Putting an audience to sleep
so easy a McCaveman can do it.
Posted by: Omentum | Jun 13, 2008 12:28:12 AM
david from texas,
We'll be also paying UN taxes if Obama's global poverty act is signed. And probably more than that.
Posted by: magda | Jun 13, 2008 12:34:23 AM
Snore... McCain doesn't stand a chance.
Posted by: dem in chicago | Jun 13, 2008 12:37:34 AM
Ben,
I would like to know about medical myself. I already know McCain wants another Roberts or Alito. I have 2 daughters and this is scary. When do they each stand on the economy? How are they going to deal with the Housing crisis? If McCain follows his past we the people will pick up the tab for the Savings and Loans. McCain has a past there.
Posted by: Independent | Jun 13, 2008 12:43:43 AM
@ magda....thanks, I forgot about that. Obama also stated that there are 38 million citizens without health insurance, but what he failed to mention is that 12 million of these "citizens" are illegal aliens. But,we have to remember that Obama wants illegal aliens to be able to get their drivers license. He keeps flip-flopping...one day he's a "flip", the next day he's a BIG FLOP! We can't have undecisiveness in the White House.
Posted by: david from texas | Jun 13, 2008 12:44:32 AM
Will be be sending 12 to 16 billion a month to Iraq? That alone is a savings of 160 billion a year. 10 percent of our gas cost goes to the military.
Posted by: Independent | Jun 13, 2008 12:46:16 AM
david from texas,
If you don't want a flip-flopper in the White house then are you voting for Barr?
Posted by: Independent | Jun 13, 2008 12:48:07 AM
MCCAIN IS THE ONLY CANDIDATE LEFT WHO HAS THE CHARACTERISTICS OF HONESTY, INTEGRITY, AND PROVEN EXPERIENCE.
WE WE NEED A LEADER, NOT A ROCK STAR TO LEAD OUR NATION.
MCCAIN ALL THE WAY IN 08'
Posted by: AWAKE | Jun 13, 2008 12:52:22 AM
Republicans use racist fear of the black man while they continue to screw over whites and everyone else as they laugh all the way to the bank.
Yep, republicans are counting on whites to ignore 7 years of getting screwed without vaseline because they think fear of blacks will trump any problems they have with bush/cheney and mccain.
Posted by: geevil | Jun 13, 2008 1:04:37 AM
"Until women as a group start to fight back against this kind of stuff they will always lose and be thought of as second class" James, the DNC and Obama supporters have talked the talk but Obama supporters have not been living this "unity" theme, reflecting this desire for equality for all by speaking up against bigotry, sexism and racism spewed against Clinton supporters. Obama supporters cannot claim the mantle to fight equality for all while remaining silent when bigotry flies from other Obama supporters. If we don't speak up and stand up against Obama bullies when they take away others' rights, then who will be left to defend us when they come to take our rights away as well. We will never give up this fight against the unchecked bigotry from the Obama supporters. We all have to make our stand somewhere to stem this bigotry. And this stand for us is now. We will vote NO to the DNC and Obama supporters.
Posted by: former dem in chicago | Jun 13, 2008 1:21:21 AM
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