The Real Reason I Believe in John McCain

To quote Stephen Dubner: "If there were an Olympic event for Candor, I think McCain would win it every time."

Is it wrong of me to just desire truthfulness or at least effective lies based on things believed to be the truth?

Interestingly I see this same quality in John Edwards.

Questions for Senator John McCain
Race to the Finish
Interview by DEBORAH SOLOMON
Published: July 29, 2007

Now that your presidential campaign is falling apart and approaching bankruptcy, the consensus is that you’re finished. But some of us have faith in your ability to reinvent yourself. Well, thank you. I appreciate that.

Especially since the other Republican candidates don’t exactly stand out. Don’t put words in my mouth, darling. Listen, I’m sure that in the fall, when people are focused, I’ll out-campaign them. I can do the town-hall meetings, the kind of campaign that wins elections.

Might you consider borrowing, say, $5 million from your wife, Cindy, an heiress to an Arizona beer-distribution fortune? I would never do such a thing. I don’t think it’s the appropriate thing to do.

Why not? You’d consider it an insult to your masculine pride? No, it really isn’t masculine pride. It’s more that I think getting small donations is part of campaigning. It’s part of whether you can succeed or fail. I think that’s going to be the key to our success in the future, whether we can get the small-donor base.

I’m sure you’re aware that your rival Mitt Romney just tapped into his personal savings to self-finance his campaign. Yeah, $9 or $10 million or whatever. I am not criticizing anyone else’s decisions, but I should be able to raise my own money from contributors or take matching funds according to the law, not dip into my wife’s assets.

Did she ask you to sign a prenuptial agreement when you married her? Yes, yes. That was 27 years ago. We were married in 1980.

Well, maybe you will strike it rich with your coming book, “Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them.” How did you have time to write a 450-page look at history? Mark Salter, my co-writer, did it. What we usually do is use a tape recorder and we talk back and forth, and then 90 percent of the hard work is done by him.

Why bother to bring out a book if you’re not going to write it yourself? Well, we had an editor, Jonathan Karp, and it was his suggestion and idea.

He probably didn’t realize how apt the phrase “hard call” would turn out to be for you this summer, not least because of your support for the surge in Iraq. Obviously, it’s an unpopular stand. But General Petraeus ought to be given a chance to succeed. We confirmed him in the Senate knowing what he was going to do.

Do you ever look back and think, God, was I dumb to support the surge? No. You got to do what’s right.

Your youngest son, Jimmy, who is 19, joined the Marines last year. Has he been deployed to Iraq? Marines either go to Iraq or to Afghanistan, and they go back more than once, as you know, because that’s just the nature of the Marine Corps.

So where is he now? We don’t really talk about his schedule. Cindy and I think it’s a private family situation.

As a retired Navy captain, are you decisive in everyday matters, like choosing what to have for dinner? I usually ask Cindy what’s for dinner and then comply with her.

What if you’re buying a shirt? Can you make a decision without deliberating in a department store? I rely on Cindy. She has good taste. I admit freely that I do not.

You don’t have taste? In clothes, no. I think it’s got to do with my military background.

Why? Uniforms are very handsome. Yeah, but you don’t have much of a choice.

Sometimes the most difficult choice a person can make is to quit. I would agree.

Will you cut your losses anytime soon and quit the presidential race? No, no. That’s not a hard call. We’re staying in. I’ve had a lot tougher days than these.