WSJ Columnist: Is McCain Losing It?

Wall Street Journal columnist Daniel Henninger looks at John McCain's tax policy and concludes, "This isn't a flip-flop. It's a sex-change operation." He continues:

What I'm asking is, does John McCain have the mental focus, the intellectual discipline, to avoid being out-slicked by Barack Obama, if he isn't abandoned by his own voters?

...

Why as well shouldn't the Obama camp exploit all of this? If Sen. Obama's "inexperience" is Mr. McCain's ace in the hole, why not trump that by asking, "Does Sen. McCain know his own mind?"

...

Yes, Sen. McCain has honor and country. Another month of illogical, impolitic remarks and Sen. McCain will erase even that. Absent a coherent message for voters, he will be one-on-one with Barack Obama in the fall. He will lose.

The Chicago Tribune's Frank James comments: "More evidence that Sen. John McCain is giving fits to many conservatives, like those who comprise The Wall Street Journal's editorial board: they're asking aloud if he's stupid."

Comments

[SeekerOne]

Graduating fifth from your class of 800+ means either you are intellectually challenged or emotionally incapable. Either way, that number alone disqualifies McCain as presidential material.

[Doofus]

Just because you're the son & grandson of Admirals means,
ironically or fortuitously, you're NOT getting kicked out of Annapolis
even if you are 'stupid', as the WSJ implies. That works for Yale, also,
for the son & grandson of political bigshots. Who knew?

[going2ireland]

I think you meant "Graduating seven hundred and ninety fifth from your class of 800+..."

[jsinclair]

Fifth from the bottom, of course. From basically 900 (finished 894 of 899).

And that's with, I'm sure, some preferential treatment along the way for the son/grandson of two admirals.

After 22 years in the senate, dealing with foreign and domestic policy (supposedly) daily, I can't understand why he doesn't seem to know more.

And, I seem to be alone in this, but I'm concerned about the mental capacity of anyone who, after years with computers in his senate office--all the help in the world from staff and Cindy--still finds it a challenge to try to "learn to go online" and hopes "to get that down any day".

If someone isn't very bright to begin with--and then deteriorates mentally and physically as they age--well, why isn't this getting more attention and arousing MUCH more concern????

[barackobama4prez]

He's demented, but also corrupt and a liar.

[loax]

90 % of us already had that figured out. Maybe the MSM is beginning to open its eyes to the hypicrosy of this man.

[Grunty1]

They see it and they know it. They just won't REPORT it.

[legoh]

I found the following quote very enlightening:

"The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine...He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me." - Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran (Republican)

I bet we can find a truck load of similar comments - from people who've actually seen him in action.

Let's start a collection, shall we?

[legoh]

here's another good one:

In January VoteVets.org chairman Jon Soltz addressed the issue of Sen. McCain's military service:

"John McCain is a true war hero, and we all respect his service. I don't doubt for a second that he cares for our troops. But, every time he opens his mouth, I'm less and less convinced that he realizes how dangerous his off the cuff words would imperil our men and women in harm's way, and our national security, if he said them as President."

[biglover]

I love Jon Stolz but I maintain he was never a war hero. A hero is someone who saves lives (like our firemen for instance). He was a POW not a war hero. They are not mutually exclusive, thank you very much.

[legoh]

In a July 5 NewsMax.com article, former Senator Bob Smith, a New Hampshire Republican who served with McCain on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said,

"I have witnessed incidents where he has used profanity at colleagues and exploded at colleagues.... He would disagree about something and then explode.

"It was incidents of irrational behavior. We've all had incidents where we have gotten angry, but I've never seen anyone act like that."

[legoh]

Interviewed in the living room of his northern Virginia home, Andy Card said he thought McCain could turn his anger on or off. McCain would say, "I don't want to deal with you anymore, or I don't want to deal with this topic anymore, or I don't want to deal with this subject or whatever."

Card said McCain would seem to "flip the switch and turn [his anger] off. It was less with me, and more what I was observing [at meetings]."

[cdub1991]

Isn't Cochran the guy that McCain "had words with" that time in the Senate coat room?

[ndnndpendent]

W lowered the bar significantly, opening the door and widening the horizons of the 'breezy.'

[Grunty1]

I didn't think it possible, but I have since come to the conclusion that Mc'Cain will be WORSE than GW...

[jsinclair]

I think so, too. And since I am confident historians will judge Bush to be the WORST president in our history (by far), what in the world does that say about McCain?

[lisak2008]

Not only is he stupid, he's also a liar who doesn't have the temperment to be President of the United States of Amercia! As Thad Cochran (R)Mississippi said "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine...He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me." Mine too!

[JJ30]

he probably is losing it but hey, he's closing in on Obama (according to the polls) so he must be doing something right. Very strange.

[Concerned1]

Polls don't matter at this point.

[MilesTone]

Al Gore was leading in the polls a few years back...guess what happened?

Polls don't mean a thing.

[Sabreen60]

This is true. But what gives me pause is that Dubya won/stole the election twice. That means that a lot of people voted for him. We still have those low information voters out there. Also, there is that 800 pound g o r i l l a in the room.

[jsinclair]

Except the polls were right. Gore -did- win the popular vote and would have won Florida by a large number if not for (1) sneaky butterfly ballots, (2) Republicans dishonestly disqualifying thousands of votes in Jacksonville (black voters, hmm), and (3) the SC intervening to overrule the state court ruling and throw the election to Bush.

Just saying. Gore won in 2000. But Bush took office, thanks to Republican dishonesty--a tradition he's continued for 7 1/2 years.

McCain is in the same tradition--lies, opportunism, stupidity, and greed. I can't understand why the polls are so close and, frankly, it worries me.

[JimR]

Summer polls are virtually useless.

[biglover]

All this talk about why Obama is beating McCain by a bigger margin - isn't it McCain who should be ahead by a huge margin. - after all he is the guy with 35 years of service - a POW "war hero" (Not) and the doll of the media. Why is Obama even ahead if McCain is so f'n great.

I think we are asking the wrong question of the wrong person here.

[DaOne]

C'mon Mc Cheese is Breezy baby!

[Coinyer101]

m a j o r b r a i n f a r t s .

[noamjunior]

McCain never had it to begin with

[sweetieheartsobama]

Does John McCain have the mental focus, the intelligent discipline..." NO!!!!

[LeawoodKansas]

Why the "if"?

He was never smart. (Graduated in the bottom 5 of his class in the Academy. The same Academy that had to admit him based on who he was, a legacy, and not on his academic qualifications.)

He was never disciplined. (Crashed 5 aircraft)

He had nothing to "lose" because he never had "it."

[atila]

we deserve a new view for this Country,we deserve an intelligent man and a visionary,i don't know why in the world some people still believes that just because he was a war hero(with all due respect)he is ready to run the most powerful Country in this new era.....

[larry278]

McCain's visions are compared to hallucinations(sp?) by his opponents. His opponents are right.

[ColoradoAngryRU]

I am sure this comment will upset some, but how does being a prisoner of war make one a hero? I always thought of heros as someone who would fall on a hand gernade to save his group, or a fireman who would enter a burning building to save another, or a stranger jumping into a raging flood to save a drowning person. I just do not accept that being taken prisoner makes on a hero. Yes spending 5 years in a Viet Nam prison camp cannot be pretty, but a hero it does not make in my book.

[Bertha40869]

Doesn't upset me even the slightest. Truth never does.

[JimR]

"In mid-1968, McCain's father was named commander of all U.S. forces in the Vietnam theater, and McCain was offered early release. The North Vietnamese made that offer because they wanted to appear merciful for propaganda purposes, and also wanted to show other POWs that elites like McCain were willing to be treated preferentially. McCain turned down the offer of repatriation; he would only accept the offer if every man taken in before him was released as well.

In August 1968, a program of severe torture began on McCain."

I call that a hero in my book, and I don't toss that word around casually.

[bdl0715]

I agree. Being a hero means you did something heroic. Being caught and held captive is not heroic. It is unfortunate and he should have not had to go through thata, but he did nothing heroic.

[biglover]

Read my posts ColoradoAngry. I have touched on this. He is no hero. He has done nothing heroic. Getting shot down is not being a hero. I am sure there are some in Vietnam who would call the people who shot him down heroes.

[Norsky]

He's not stupid. Just dealing with those short-term memory issues. Like my grandpa.

[kissmygrits]

yes, he's stupid... he nearly flunked out of the naval academy!

[politicalgenius]

If he's suffering from short term memory loss he's had for awhile. In his graduating class of 899, Johnny Mac graduated 894. But sheer definition, "DUBYA" is smarter (he graduated with a C- avg) and that's the part that scares me more than anything. Do we want another lose cannon who at ever turn butchers the English language? Give me the guy who was the editor of the Harvard Law Review; I'll take that guy on his worst day (57 States, the only gaffe the GOP has) over the guy who graduated in the bottom 2% of his class.

[PatriciaB]

Scary that he is dumber than Dubya!!!!!!! After 8 yrs of Dubya if Mc Confused manages to win in November ----God help us!!
Shouldn't there be a required entrance test for the presidency--like an above average IQ result at least???