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McCain in SC: Bush's Friend or Foe?

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4/20/00 11:25 a.m.
McCain in SC: Bush's Friend or Foe?
Working toward an alliance — maybe.

By Michael Graham, political columnist and talk radio host based in SC

I feared that if I answered honestly, I could not win the South Carolina primary. So I chose to compromise my principles. I broke my promise to always tell the truth.'' — Sen. John McCain.

ix weeks ago, John McCain's return to Columbia would have been about as welcome as another visit by William Tecumseh Sherman — with or without the matches. Yesterday, however, the Arizona senator received a standing ovation from members of the conservative South Carolina Policy Council as he unburdened his soul about the Confederate flag.

Today, the speculation is underway: Is McCain's SC appearance part of a delicate dance toward a Bush/McCain ticket, or a land mine planted to keep Bush off-balance until the convention? Whatever his motives, McCain's statement was clear: "I believe the flag should be removed from your Capitol, and I am encouraged that fair-minded people on both sides of the issue are working hard to define an honorable compromise." He went on to explicitly acknowledge that he had fallen off the "Straight Talk Express" regarding the Confederate flag, putting his failing in blatantly political terms. "I feared that if I answered honestly, I could not win the South Carolina primary. So I chose to compromise my principles. I broke my promise to always tell the truth."

McCain is the master of the apology, seemingly able to turn his failure to uphold principles into an ethical principle of its own. But why apologize for that most common (and forgotten) failing, lying during a campaign? And why now?

Supporters and staffers insist that the overriding purpose of his speech was to set the record straight. "He's like that," said former national staffer Trey Walker, now a consultant in Columbia. "McCain has to cleanse his soul." Confession may be good for the soul, but the political impact is harder to judge. Strident supporters of the Confederate flag see McCain as yet another Republican turncoat joining the appeasement bandwagon as the state legislature debates a compromise deal to bring down the flag.

McCain opponents, like former Bushie Warren Tompkins, reportedly regard McCain's comments as self-serving, keeping open a wound left from Governor Bush's incredibly counter-productive SC primary campaign. And before the day was out, Bush was forced to repeat his mantra that "the people of South Carolina should decide this issue and I believe they will."

However, people from both the Bush and McCain camps see McCain's statement as a positive for the GOP, one perhaps even orchestrated by the Bush campaign.

"There were people from both sides at the speech, and I got a very strong sense that the Bush people knew what McCain was going to say and they thought it was a good idea," said Ed McMullen, executive director of the SC Policy Council.

McCain's supporters in SC agree, suggesting that McCain is setting himself up as the Vice Presidential candidate who will take the flag issue off the table for the November elections.

"It's up to the Senator, but I'm hearing a lot of people say that Bush/McCain is the only ticket we can win with," says Cyndi Mosteller, a Charlestonian who served as a policy advisor to McCain. "The word I'm getting is that he's working with the Bush people to help them deal with this flag issue."

Speculation is rife with deals for a Bush/McCain alliance, including a plan for McCain to serve as both Vice-President and Secretary of State, the so-called "Colin Powell Option." But even McCain's top South Carolina allies admit they aren't sure what Senator McCain is up to.

"He's just a different kind of politician. This was gnawing at him and he had to deal with it," said Sam Tenenbaum, a prominent Democrat who crossed over to raise money for McCain in South Carolina. But if McCain is making penance for his failings of truth, should we expect a similar announcement in Michigan, where the Senator denied, then acknowledged, the "Catholic Alert" phone calls attacking Bush's visit to Bob Jones University?

"Ain't gonna happen," said one source close to McCain. There is after all the faint possibility that Bush could stumble between now and the convention, opening an opportunity for a floor fight for the nomination. When asked if McCain's team still harbors such dim hopes, former staffer Walker says, "Well, I know there are people around McCain who are still pissing mad at Bush and aren't ready to forget what happened down here [in South Carolina]." But he quickly adds: "I think the Senator really is trying to help out Governor Bush."

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