Does NBC have some inside dope? Is John McCain, till now one of the staunchest supporters of the Bush administration's Iraq policy, about to bug out? An unusual question from Matt Lauer to Tony Snow this morning raised that possibility.
Here's the exchange that came on this morning's "Today" at 7:08 A.M. EDT, toward the end of Lauer's interview of White House press secretary Snow:
TODAY CO-HOST MATT LAUER: If, and you hate hypotheticals, I know, so hate me later, but if John McCain comes back [from his current Iraq trip] and joins the ranks of those other Republicans who say it's time to rethink this strategy, how big a blow is that to the President, considering how supportive John McCain has been to the strategy?
WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY TONY SNOW: You've got to understand that for the President, although politics is clearly important in building public support, succeeding is the most important thing of all. If we fail in Iraq, and this is something [U.S. Ambassador to Iraq] Ryan Crocker was pointing out as well, if you have failure in Iraq, you are going to see consequences that are going to be extraordinarily dire in the region, throughout the world and for the United States.
View video here.
Given the very track record of McCain's support that Lauer cited, why would the "Today" host have raised the possibility that the Arizona senator might take a powder? Has NBC received a heads-up, some kind of McCain trial balloon?
Just as interesting as Lauer's question was Snow's response. Presumably the White House and/or administration representatives in Iraq are in contact with McCain during his trip. If the administration were certain McCain was still on board, you would have expected a more dismissive answer from Snow. Does the fact that Snow downplayed the importance of "politics" and spoke of the importance of success regardless of domestic support suggest the White House has an inkling McCain's support might be wavering?
Could this be some kind of McCain Hail Mary, a sudden change of course in an attempt to revive a moribund presidential candidacy? Stay tuned.
UPDATE 7-10 8:05 A.M.: A posting by Andy McCarthy at "The Corner" at National Review online suggests McCain is still on board: "Like Sen. Lieberman, Sen. Kyl thinks the president will hang tough. Also, though he avoids stealing Sen. McCain's thunder, says we can expect to hear from McCain (and Sen. Graham) later this morning and that it will be a positive report — at least on the military front." H/t FReeper GWB00.
Does NBC know something Sen. Kyl doesn't, or was Lauer's question simply a shot in the dark?
Mark was in Iraq in November. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Spokesperson of the Day
July 10, 2007 - 06:51 ET by PawpawNWhy do politicians, musicians, Hollywood type stars, etc., feel that a visit to Iraq qualifies them as a "SPOKESPERSON OF THE DAY" for what troops that have been there for 6 months or more know. Never do we see the interviews with the "ON THE GROUND" people. Heck, for the last 4 months we never see any interviews of Iraqias either. These people talking about what is happening would be like me saying what "HEART SURGERY" is like after watching a day or 2 of doctors operating or, more likely, just taking a tour of the HEART WING of the hospital!
Why ask the question?
July 10, 2007 - 09:52 ET by AshWhy would Lauer ask that question? I don't think he's just shooting from the hip. I sincerly doubt that McCain would leak information pertaining to his opinion of the situation in Iraq, that would just steal from his air-time to announce his "findings".
The reason why a question like this would come up is to continue pushing doubt on the general population. To push the idea that even though our military surge is in full force, even the staunchest supporter could come back to the US with his mind changed. McCain has an understanding of the time scale and sacrifice that is required by the US to permanantly improve the quality of life in Iraq. Folks in the media ask those questions to plant doubt. Any person who doesn't follow politics that closly got a dose of propoganda telling them that even the toughest supporter of the war might think we should surrender.
McCain Moribound
July 10, 2007 - 06:51 ET by allanfMcCain is a noteworthy leaker. Witness the Kerry Vice Presidency rumors. He may well be leaking this story. McCain has dried up any reservoirs of good will with Republican primary voters. A move to the left will help him with NBC, ABC, CBS and CNN, but not with the primaries. His candidacy is dead.
A bigger shame is the cheerleading for defeat on the part of the networks. We face a deadly enemy, without conscience or boundaries. Instead, CBS, NBC, ABC, the New York Times, AP and Reuters are more entranced with their own power of bringing down a President. They ignore the atrocities of the evil people and instead focus on the peccadilloes of our troops.
With the wet-pants Republican
July 10, 2007 - 07:06 ET by ThisnThatWith the wet-pants Republican cowards, it looks like the only true Republican left standing with Bush for victory is Joe Leiberman.
No doubt many of the republic
July 10, 2007 - 07:37 ET by midnight cowboyNo doubt many of the republicans in congress are spineless wimps. However the bigger problem is the Bush is one of the worst communicators to hold the oval office in recent presidential history. He did a great job selling the war, but he won't sell the peace. He has the bully pulpit so why doesn't he use it? These weak-kneed republicans would fall in line if the president showed some detailed input on how we are winning the battle not just the standard talking points. He needs to stop sitting on defense with the democrats and go after his attackers who only get more emboldened with Bush's continuing silence. Reagan with his enormous popularity, wasn't called the great communicator for no reason.
This seems like a fishing e
July 10, 2007 - 07:56 ET by cjbreischThis seems like a fishing expedition on Lauer's part to me. I have a lot of issues with McCain, but he doesn't seem likely to bolt on Iraq.
Lauer is just hoping that by fueling speculation on this, that he can get a few more Senators to jump ship.
I sure can't agree with you t
July 10, 2007 - 09:33 ET by BruzillaI sure can't agree with you there. He threw his first wife under the bus, he threw the religious right under the bus, he threw the Senate Republicans under the bus, he's thrown GWB under the bus... in short, I don't think he's ever not thrown anyone under the bus to improve his position. So what could possibly make you feel, with his tremendous fall in the polls recently, that he would not be willing to add the troops to the list of people he's sacrificed to better himself?
Matt Lauer can only hope that
July 10, 2007 - 08:13 ET by msh1973Matt Lauer can only hope that McCain will cave on Iraq.
The msm hates President Bush so much that they are willing to sacrifice our Troops and the Iraqi people...what a shame.
Wait a minute Who want
July 10, 2007 - 09:40 ET by JayTeeWait a minute Who wants the US out of Iraq the most.......Al Queda or Main Stream MEDIA ?
Geez, the real Americans in the heartland are getting fed up with the enemy being in DC.....it's gonna be Deja Vue all over again with the Immigration bill, except this time it will be the "cut and Run" DC crowd that gets the Phone calls and the ratings drop to single digits for Congress and the Senate.
WE are at WAR......Support the Troops....it's not a Political War, it's a Gun Toting house to house war, and the Enemy is losing. It's safer in Iraq, that it is in Killadelphia, PA, or DeTwaa Mich.
What good is a Free Press, if it is a False Press ? David Foote GoE
JayTee,You make an excellent
July 10, 2007 - 17:35 ET by msh1973JayTee,
You make an excellent point. Too bad that President Bush doesn't let the Military leaders actually lead this war. It seems we are fighting a "politically correct" war.
It's a sad state of affairs w
July 10, 2007 - 10:22 ET by mattmIt's a sad state of affairs when it has to be pointed out that success should take precedence over politics.