reality-based educator

Self-described straight talker John McCain appeared on Meet The Press with Pumpkinhead Russert this morning while another GOP "maverick," Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska), appeared on Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer.

The two appearances couldn't have been more different.

McCain, used to interviews where the talking heads fawn all over him with flattery and thinly disguised hero worship, wasn't quite ready for the hit job Russert put on him this morning. Whether Russert was taking his marching orders from Karl Rove or had decided to go after McCain on his own is hard to tell. Either way, though, Russert managed to expose the straight-talking McCain as a hypocrite and a flip-flopper on a host of issues including the Iraq, war, immigration, and the religious right. As Georgia 10 wrote today at the Daily Kos:

Russert's "gotcha" journalism works well against the chameleon politics of McCain. In challenging McCain on everything from Bush hugs & kisses to the role of the religious right, Russert gave McCain no quarter as he used that tactic rarely used in interviews today: the follow-up.

On Iraq, McCain refused to call out the administration on its dangerous incompetence. He stated that Saddam "absolutely" possed a threat before the invasion (regardless of the whole no WMD thing). He admitted mistakes were made, but refused to blame those mistakes on the Commander-in-Chief. On the Iran front, he "applauds" the President's handling of the issue and expressed confidence that the administration will exhaust diplomatic efforts before engaging Iran militarily. This after he said we should learn from our mistakes in Iraq.

The administration love continued as McCain stated--with straight face--that "Nobody knows more about [immigration] than President Bush." When confronted as being a "born-again Bushophile" and "a maverick no more", he dismissed the criticism with the usual "looking forward" and doing the right thing spin.

Perhaps the silliest part of the interview came when McCain was confronted with his vote to extend Bush's disastrous tax cuts. This after he initially voted against them. McCain's explanation for his flip-flop: "I do not believe in tax increases." So, any tax cut should be de facto permanent according to his philosophy. Pure silliness.

I have to commend Russert for confronting McCain about his decision to speak at Liberty University and his acceptance of Jerry Falwell (maybe he does read Daily Kos after all!) Confronted him with an outrageous Falwell quote, Russert asked if McCain is "embracing" Falwell's statements. McCain again gave a non-answer, but he did say he does not believe Falwell is an "agent of intolerance" anymore. In a telling exchange, he said that the "christian right" has a major role to play in the Republican Party.

McCain has bent himself into a pretzel trying to court both the religious right and Preznit Bush while also trying to maintain his appeal as a "straight-talking" maverick outsider.

When even Pumpkinhead Russert manages to expose McCain as phony, it means this calculated political strategy is not working.

It won't be long now before even the unctuous Don Imus picks up on the "McCain's a phony" meme.

I am convinced more than ever now that McCain is going to have a very difficult time winning the GOP nomination.

In contrast to McCain's appearance with Russert, Chuck Hagel's appearance on Late Edition was marked by forthrightness, honesty, and candor.

When asked whether the United States had made a mistake by taking out Saddam, Hagel said every bit of our Iraq policy has been a mistake.

He noted that the Middle East is a lot less safe and a lot less secure three years after the Preznit chose to go to war. He said specifically that he didn't think Saddam had been a major threat to American interests, and while he dodged whether he thought taking Saddam out was a mistake (he said historians would have to be the judges of that), Hagel left no doubt that had he been president he would not have gone to war with Iraq.

As for Iran, Hagel said he thought that country's nuclear weapons ambitions truly were a major threat to American interests, but he warned against those who advocate unilateral force to solve the problem. "We're already in two wars," he said (I'm paraphrasing, but it's pretty close), "so I'b be careful before we get into a third one."

Evan Bayh (D-Indiana) shared the Late Edition stage with Hagel. Bayh spent most of the time issuing empty talking points and trying to position himself as a tough guy on Iran. Frankly I thought Hagel made both McCain and Bayh seem like conventional politicans who shouldn't or couldn't be trusted. Hagel was willing to tell hard truths that the other GOP candidates for president (e.g., McCain, Allen, Frist, Romney et al.) cannot or will not tell and that many of the Democratic candidates feel they can't tell without being tarred by Karl Rove as cowards or traitors.

Which is probably why Hagel won't win many delegates in the Republican primary if he chooses to run.

I wish more public figures in the Republican party carried themselves the way Hagel does. He ain't perfect and there are many policy issues I don't agree with him on, but I have to say that I respect him for his willingness to stand on principle and not cowtow to the Republican base. if there were more sane Republicans like him running the party, this nation would surely be better off.

Oh, and one more thing: I wonder if the media won't start playing up Hagel as the "real Maverick" in the GOP now that McCain's pandering to the religious right/Dubya people has permanently tarred him as a phony.