McCain talks issues as troubles pile up
Carla Marinucci,John Wildermuth, Chronicle Political Writers
Friday, May 23, 2008
On a Bay Area campaign stop, Sen. John McCain, the presum… With California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger by his side, S… McCain supporter, Trey Peckenpaugh waits for Sen. John Mc… Sen. John McCain (right) is joined by Gov. Arnold Schwarz… More…
(05-22) 16:03 PDT Union City - – Facing a pile of controversial campaign troubles - including incendiary comments by televangelist John Hagee that forced him to reject Hagee’s endorsement - Sen. John McCain tried mightily to shift the focus to economic issues and his Democratic opponent Barack Obama on Thursday during a California campaign swing.
McCain, speaking at a Silicon Valley forum on economic issues alongside Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, issued a renewed call for “comprehensive immigration reform” as a top agenda item for the next president. He called for a “temporary agricultural program,” saying, “We need a way for an ordinary person to apply for citizenship in this country in a way that they can count on and trust.”
Later, at an evening rally in Stockton, the Arizona senator and presumptive Republican presidential nominee launched into a slashing attack on Obama. He said the Illinois senator “doesn’t have the knowledge, background or judgment to lead this country in these dangerous times,” adding sarcastically that “for a young man with very little experience, (Obama) has done well.”
But at the start of his Northern California fundraising and campaign trip, the dominant news of the day was not on McCain’s official agenda: The controversial Hagee had, in the 1990s, said Adolf Hitler had acted as an agent of God to cause the Holocaust to send more Jews to the Holy Land.
Minutes after the Union City event, McCain issued a statement rejecting the influential Texas pastor’s endorsement - one he had eagerly sought in order to win the support of churchgoing conservative voters.
“Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible, and I repudiate them. I did not know of them before Rev. Hagee’s endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as well,” McCain said in a statement. Hagee withdrew his endorsement as well.
Even before that matter came up, the campaign appeared distracted as it approached the town-hall gathering on global economy and innovation issues.
At the event, organized by former eBay Chief Executive Officer Meg Whitman and Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers at Finelite, a Union City lighting manufacturing plant, McCain was noticeably short on detail regarding his own innovation and economic agenda. He stuck to mostly broad statements on global warming and the need to reduce dependence on foreign oil.
His appearance in the valley this week stood in stark contrast to visits by the two Democratic presidential candidates, Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who have come to the technology capital in the past year to unveil detailed innovation and technology agendas.
Multiple challenges
McCain’s visit underscored how the senator’s presidential campaign has been challenged on multiple fronts by potentially damaging news.
Those stories included the planned and limited release of his health records to a handful of media outlets today - raising questions about his medical history - along with a new focus on his ties to lobbyists. Reports this week outlined campaign insider Charlie Black’s past lucrative lobbying for brutal Angolan guerrilla leader Jonas Savimbi and Philippines strongman Ferdinand Marcos.
McCain later avoided reporters’ shouted questions during a meet-and-greet with invited audience members at the Union City plant.
Reporters were barred from a fundraiser at Whitman’s Atherton home, where the candidate raised an estimated $2.5 million. In the past, Whitman has opened her home to reporters for fundraisers and events.
McCain, asked about getting more visas for high-tech workers, acknowledged his own controversial efforts at immigration reform with the help of Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy, saying that “because of our failure, we’re now seeing these conflicts and problems across the nation.”
He said the nation must secure its borders and prosecute employers of illegal immigrants - but he warned that Americans must recognize that immigrant workers “are also God’s children, and we have to do it in a humane and compassionate fashion.”
McCain said the country’s great challenge is to become independent of foreign oil, adding, “The innovation and the technology is right here in this room.”
He argued that raising capital gains taxes “would be a horrific mistake. … You’re giving money to the government that it should be people’s to spend.”
He said renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement - an idea floated by both Clinton and Obama - “would be the most harmful thing that we could do to America’s future.”
With regard to climate change, he said, “I am proud that the state of California is leading, in many respects,” and added that efforts to reduce greenhouse gases will affect “our economic stability and our national security.”
McCain’s California trip included fundraisers with donors who have been encouraged to write checks - as much as $43,000 each - to Republican Party causes, mostly to counter the record fundraising by Obama, who looks increasingly likely to be the Democratic nominee.
After the fundraiser for 250 guests at Whitman’s home, McCain flew by private plane to a rally before several hundred people and another major campaign fundraiser in Stockton hosted by Alex Spanos, owner of the San Diego Chargers.
In Stockton, McCain delivered a fiery speech to about 800 supporters in a hangar at the local airport. Demonstrators from the Code Pink anti-war group briefly interrupted the gathering with shouts of “bring our troops home” before they were dragged out.
The senator appeared unfazed, saying, “don’t worry, it happens all the time,” and saluted the many veterans in the crowd, then launched into a tough attack on Obama.
Islamic extremism
Arguing that radical Islamic extremism is the challenge the country will face in the next four years, McCain questioned Obama’s ability to lead the nation and slammed his call for a date for withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq as “a date for surrender.”
“I will never surrender in Iraq,” McCain said. “I’ll bring the troops home, but I’ll bring them home with honor and victory.”
McCain attempted to turn his own campaign problems into attacks on Obama. When asked why he had waited so long to disavow Hagee - who has a long record of controversial remarks - he reminded reporters that he attends a Baptist church in Phoenix and had never been to Hagee’s church. And he added that he was “never a member of that church for 20 years,” a none-too-veiled shot at Obama’s relationship with his own controversial former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, in Chicago.
Despite the state’s growing Democratic strength, McCain repeated his vow to campaign and win in California, saying, “I understand the local issues.”
But he also was frank about his opposition to the farm bill recently passed by Congress - and viewed as a boon to agricultural interests in California’s Central Valley. He described the bill as overflowing with political pork and said that as president, he would veto it and any other bills he believes include unnecessary spending.
“One thing I’ve always done is tell people things they don’t want to hear,” he said. “I strongly support American farmers … but I’ll do what I believe is best for the country.”
While there were few Obama supporters in the Stockton crowd, a number of people still wanted to hear from McCain before making a final decision on the presidential race.
“I want to see him in person, see if he had the real grit that’s going to be needed,” said Frankie Gillespie, a Stockton office manager. “We need someone who can fix the economy and take care of immigration.”
Don Marshall of Piedmont volunteered for McCain in New Hampshire, North Carolina and Florida. With two children in the military, he said, McCain’s war hero background connects with him.
“He’s the one guy qualified to complete the Iraq war the way it should be done,” he said.
E-mail the writers at cmarinucci@sfchronicle.com and jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com.
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