'Hardball College Tour:' John McCain
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(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
MATTHEWS: We’re back at Villanova.
And we have had enough softball, Senator. It’s time for the show to start here.
(LAUGHTER)
These two wise guys with these setup passes to you, those alley-oops...
MCCAIN: Those last two were...
MATTHEWS: ... alley-oops right at the basket. You had to put them in.
Let me ask you a tough one here.
MCCAIN: Those weren’t tough?
(LAUGHTER)
MATTHEWS: We have done the Abu Ghraib stuff. We’re getting to the domestic Abu Ghraib here.
Is Barack Obama an elitist?
MCCAIN: No. But I do believe that his statements were elitist.
I think the comments about America and small towns in Pennsylvania, which I guess would apply to across America, the values and the faith that they have, I think, is immutable and unshakable. I think that the fact that they like to hunt has nothing to do with their economic conditions.
I think that they respect and cherish the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. And I think their faith, as I said, is something that goes on in bad times and good. These people were the ones that went through the Great Depression and then went to war and made the world safe for democracy, and came home and built a better nation than we have today.
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And I think that it’s from the small towns and the large, but, from all over America, that people have hope and optimism and faith in this nation and their future, and a real feeling of the unique nature of the United States of America. And we are a unique experiment in history. And the greatest thing about America and these young people out here today is the small—from the—people from the small towns in Pennsylvania want to continue to serve a cause greater than their self-interest.
MATTHEWS: Why do you think a guy, Barack Obama, who grew up in not exactly easy circumstances—he—his father went back to Africa after he was just born, basically. He was raised in Indonesia, a Third World country, a white American mother, basically never had any breaks, except he’s a smart guy, obviously.
But why do you think he thinks like an elitist, or talks like one, if he’s not an elitist?
MCCAIN: I don’t know. I don’t know what shapes his views. I don’t know what would cause someone to say something like that. Frankly, that—those kinds of thoughts have never been in my—my realm of view about this great nation.
MATTHEWS: Is it relevant to the general election, if you face him in the general election? Would you bring that back and remind him of that, remind the voters of that? Or would your independent committees, do you think they would be doing it as well, or otherwise?
MCCAIN: One of the things I—one of the things I regret most about this—this general election is the—quote—“527s.” Many of the people in this audience don’t even know what a 527 is.
It’s this independent—and I use the word loosely, “independent”—unlimited expenditure of money to run attack ads on—on candidates. And it’s unfortunate, because I think that Americans want a respectful debate, as I said before. And I think they want to know about the qualifications of the candidate, not just attacks.
I defended John Kerry when he was attacked on his war record in 2004. And I would do so again. But it’s unfortunate, and it’s against the ‘74 law. And I won’t go into that detail.
MATTHEWS: Would you sit down with the Democratic nominee, whoever it is, Hillary or Barack, and agree to them that there will be no outside sleazeball attacks by either side, that you will tell your people you will condemn any attack, like a swift-boating, and you will both agree to do that up front, right after you get the nomination? Would you do that?
MCCAIN: I would love to do that.
During the primary, there was a 52...
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
During the primary, there was a 527 that sprang up. And I asked them to stop. And I asked them to stop.
MATTHEWS: Did they listen?
MCCAIN: They stopped. They stopped.
MATTHEWS: So, it works?
MCCAIN: I think so. I think so. And I believe that it can.
MATTHEWS: So, there will be no—there will be no shots at the other person’s character by these—and other things about elitism or Bosnia or stuff like that for Hillary?
MCCAIN: Yes. The response to that—and there was another candidate in the primary that a 527 ran attacks on me.
MATTHEWS: Right.
MCCAIN: And that person said—with legitimacy—said, it’s a free country. I have the freedom of speech. If I want to attack John McCain, I can.
I mean, so we get into constitutional issues, obviously, here.
MATTHEWS: Right.
MCCAIN: But—and I—and, again, I hate to get into these arcane aspects of it.
But we passed a law in ‘74, after the Watergate scandal, that said we would limit campaign contributions that an individual could make, because we thought that that influence...
MATTHEWS: Right.
MCCAIN: ... of money that brought about the Watergate scandal was too much. Well, this is obviously an evasion of a law that’s still on the books.
MATTHEWS: So, you will take the federal money in the general?
MCCAIN: Pardon me?
MATTHEWS: You will take the federal money, and not take...
(CROSSTALK)
MCCAIN: I certainly will, with utmost consideration, do that.
Senator Obama, a year ago, signed a piece of paper that said that, if the Republican nominee would take the public financing....
MATTHEWS: Right.
MCCAIN: ... he would, too. Now...
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: Are you going to hold him to that if he gets the nomination?
MCCAIN: Well he has now, in all due respect...
MATTHEWS: Well, are you going to hold him to it publicly?
MCCAIN: I have been trying to hold him to it, because that’s all got to with what...
(CROSSTALK)
MCCAIN: ... America is about.
MATTHEWS: We’re getting stuff done here.
We will be right back.
We’re getting stuff done at Villanova.
MCCAIN: Thank you. Thank you.
MATTHEWS: We will be right back.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: Thank you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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