McCain Invented Blackberry? Adviser Says He Helped

MIAMI — Move over, Al Gore. You may lay claim to the Internet, but John McCain helped create the BlackBerry.

At least that's the contention of a top McCain policy adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin. Waving his BlackBerry personal digital assistant and citing McCain's work as a senator, he told reporters Tuesday, "You're looking at the miracle that John McCain helped create."

A McCain aide later dismissed the remark as "a boneheaded joke by a staffer."

McCain has acknowledged that he doesn't know how to use a computer and can't send e-mail, one of the BlackBerry's prime functions.

Holtz-Eakin's argument is similar to one advanced by Gore, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2000. Gore once boasted about "taking the initiative to create the Internet" through technological and educational policies. He later was mocked for claiming to have invented the Internet, although he never made such a claim.

Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, said McCain's service on and leadership of the Senate Commerce Committee put him at the intersection of a number of economic interests, including the telecommunications industry.

The Arizona senator's handling of regulation and deregulation of that industry in particular left him with the skills to help revive the economy amid a mortgage crisis, an energy crisis and a Wall Street meltdown, the adviser said.

"He can and has the judgment to put people in place with technical expertise, with the history of experience in the areas necessary, that we're going to get reforms," Holtz-Eakin said.

Senior McCain aide Matt McDonald said that the senator "laughed" when he heard the comment about the BlackBerry.

"He would not claim to be the inventor of anything, much less the BlackBerry. This was obviously a boneheaded joke by a staffer," McDonald said.

In a statement, Democratic candidate Barack Obama's campaign spokesman Bill Burton said: "If John McCain hadn't said that 'the fundamentals of our economy are strong' on the day of one of our nation's worst financial crises, the claim that he invented the BlackBerry would have been the most preposterous thing said all week."

Comments

[hydrogeoman]

Gore NEVER said he invented the Internet..­.

http://www.snopes.com/quotes/internet.asp

Why can't the media get it correct for once?

[milo h minderbinder]

While that is true, and the media and general public often get it wrong, in this case they used the exact quote from Gore. "I took the initiative to create the Internet" from your link.

[buddydave]

John McCain invented snarky bloggers.

[Xysea]

No, he just gives them so much to work with. :)

[franklin opt]

That's enough potty humor, young man.

[rosal]

Yeah, without him they wouldn't be necessary. Sane people produces sane bloggers

[ganerd]

He admits he doesn't have the intelligence to use the Internet..­.how could he create ANYTHING??

Except maybe a mess with the country.

[milo h minderbinder]

Did they get this on video, or was this just talking to print media?

[Bad actor]

Can't they get anything right ? It was dillberry and not blackberry. R

[nobullshit]

Wow, not only are they stealing Obama's campaign slogans, they're stealing Al Gore's boasts. Vote Rethug and they'll steal from you too!

[gopSTEALSyourTAXmoney]

Randy Rhoads is on NOW talking about the Republicans trying to steal the votes again.

[tsloan]

Thanks but no thanks on that bridge to another Great Depression.

McHoover/Palin 08

[DWHarper]

Lets get to the roots of the mortgage banking crisis...

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, also known as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act, Pub. L. No. 106-102, 113 Stat. 1338 (November 12, 1999), is an Act of the United States Congress which repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, opening up competition among banks, securities companies and insurance companies. The Glass-Steagall Act prohibited a bank from offering investment, commercial banking, and insurance services.

Voted for by John McCain...
Authored by his former chief economic adviser and now closeted adviser Phil Gramm...
So who is gonna fix the mortgage banking crisis? The guy who authored the crisis and the guy who voted for it or the guy who has the intellectual ability and philosophy to change it?

[Dayahka]

Next thing you know he'll say he helped God invent the Universe.

[Juanon]

Well, he's almost old enough...

[bolingo]

aaah, so mean, but I'm tempted to laugh...lo­l!!! ok, got it out of my system..ag­eism is not cool..

[Paul Peete - Huffpost Blogger]

They are getting desperate now. Palin is proving to be a good speech reader but empty dress, and McCain is showing he's "insane in the membrane". So essentially the Black, Schmidt, Davis, Shuenemann, Holtz=Eakin team of attack dogs have nothing left but lies to fight with. Look for the real venom to spew forth like Lava from a pent up Volcano.
I have the dirt on a career of crooked deals on McCain and we have to get it out from here on.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-peete/mccain-for-sale-to-the-hi_b_126375.html#postCom

[JonW]

McFuzzy inventing Blackberry. What a yuck!!! Sounds like his staffer is dumber than soup (to quote a recent TV program). Mc Fuzzy inventing vacuum as the space between his ears, i could go along with!

[hillaryj]

McCain only idea of a blackberry would be on his toast.....­..........­..

[EquinsuOcha]

IT'S A SERIES OF TUBES!

http://tubesdance.ytmnd.com/

[Daw8it]

is McCain Canadian , the was inventing by a Canadian company. I thought he was born on in panama.

[Turningfool]

Thank God we can get away from the economy, health care, etc. and back to the issues that really matter!

[Xysea]

A-freakin'-men. Hilarious!

It's about the issues, people. McCain can't run on the issues, hence the distractions. Don't be distracted!

Vote Obama/Biden '08!

[ds2oo8]

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