Truth Alert: McCain's Freudian Slip is Showing (and Very Telling)

At the same time that former West Wingers Brad Whitford and Richard Schiff were stepping forward to say that they too had heard John McCain say that he didn't vote for George Bush in 2000, McCain was grabbing a shovel and digging himself deeper with yet another denial.

Appearing on The O'Reilly Factor, McCain told O'Reilly, "I voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004."

But on the way to that unequivocal refutation, his unconscious mind jumped up, started waving its hands and yelled: "Not so fast!"

O'REILLY: Did you vote for President bush?

MCCAIN: Of course not. I campaigned all over this country for him.

As dear old Dr. Freud would tell you, the unconscious is a powerful thing. And the new, do-and-say-anything-to-be-president McCain clearly couldn't keep the old, give-it-to-you-straight McCain - and the truth - from slipping out. "Of course not."

There was another interesting wrinkle in the McCain/O'Reilly Bush vote exchange: after asserting that he'd twice voted for Bush, McCain added, "And not only that, far more important than a vote, I campaigned everywhere in America for him." [emphasis added]

Do I see a fallback position coming? "Okay, look my friends, I was angry, I was contemptuous of him, I knew I was better than him, he'd attacked my family, and I couldn't bring myself to pull the lever next to his name. But I campaigned everywhere in America for him - and that's far more important than one little vote, right? Right? Isn't it..? My friends..?

Check out the video and transcript below.

UPDATE: I've said before that when it comes to the love affair between John McCain and the media, old loves die hard. The latest proof of this comes courtesy of The New Republic's Michael Crowley. Faced with the mounting evidence that McCain is lying about not saying that he didn't vote for Bush, Crowley scrapes the bottom of the logic barrel and wonders: "Is it possible McCain was talking to Arianna about the Arizona primary?"

Talk about bending over backwards to give McCain some wiggle room! The media-McCain dynamic is pure high school: the nerds are always so grateful when one of the jocks is nice to them.

Transcript:

O'REILLY: OK. Arianna Huffington says you didn't vote for Bush in 2000. She's one of these people who is going to come after you.

MCCAIN: Yes.

O'REILLY: On her website yesterday, somebody blogged that you collaborated with the North Vietnamese, and they didn't torture you. This is Arianna Huffington. Now Arianna Huffington flat out said you did not vote for President Bush in 2000.

MCCAIN: What can you say?

O'REILLY: Did you vote for President bush?

MCCAIN: Of course not. I campaigned all over this country for him.

O'REILLY: So you voted for President Bush.

MCCAIN: Of course. I mean, that's a ridiculous question.

O'REILLY: So she lied?

MCCAIN: Well, I don't -- frankly, I do not read Huffington Post. I spare myself from having that experience.

O'REILLY: You voted for Bush in 2000?

MCCAIN: I voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004.

O'REILLY: OK.

MCCAIN: And not only that, far more important than a vote, I campaigned everywhere in America for him.

O'REILLY: (INAUDIBLE).

MCCAIN: I enjoyed it. I campaigned with him. I did everything I could to get him elected and reelected president.

Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff

Comments

[HSimpson]

While this post kept me waiting for days to be able to comment I began reading other comments.
Its clear to me now that there is no real intelligent discussion of issues here, just extreme liberal rantings, many of which are hateful, demeaning, and otherwise distasteful. I try very hard to be informed, watching CNN, BBCA, FOX, and MSNBC, to get a feel for as many slants on the days issues as I can. This Post being mentioned from time to time I figured maybe I should check it out
People keep in mind that I am one of the "independant" swing voters that seem to be so crucial and coveted by both partys. I want you all to know that I can no more consider the tone here as serious grist for my decission than I would a Rush Limbaugh rant. Keep on preaching to the choir if
you feel its helping your cause, I won't be considering it myself.
By the way, I thought AA's were a group of people who meet in an effort to help each other stop drinking alcohol. Amazing how we talk about coming together while sticking little group tags on everyone.

[HopeGirl]

hhhhmmmmm lyin gis fine with you as long as its a republican-they all get a pass in your world.

I don't think you have the AA code right.

[HSimpson]

Where in my post did I even imply that lying was fine with me as long as its a Republican? In MY world? Truth is I;m not prepared to call anyone that was at this tea party a liar. Its honestly not a bomb shell story, not by a long shot. Maybe he said it in a joking manner, (ya know, "hey heres the man who campaigned for Bush" Mc: "no no I didn't even vote for the guy" ) I really don't know. Kinda sounds odd that he would campaign trying to convince others to vote for Bush and then deny him a single vote doesn't it? Maybe he said it sarcastically. Maybe he did not say it and those in attendance remember it wrong. Who knows? And who really cares? It was dinner table chatter not a "WMD's in Iraq" statement to a nation. Get a grip for cryin out loud. It was not an " I never had sexual relations with that woman" moment under oath. Nor was it a ( to paraphrase) " I sat in the pews for 20 years and had no Idea Rev. Wright felt these things. I'm just as shocked as you all are" Yea right gimmie a break. I don't give any of them a pass.
I just feel its much ado about err.....no­t much. What are ya gonna do as President? Thats what I wanna know.
And as for the AA thing? Really not interested in your code.

[NewtC]

You may be a swing vote, but you're not coveted by me if you base your vote on online commenter by people you don’t even know. Get a life and do your job as an American voter.

[JoshuaF]

He's definitely lying here. Besides Freud, one of McCain's dead giveaway signals that he's lying is the weird and continuous laugh thing. I've seen him do it several times in the last year during tough moments. When he's asked something he doesn't want to have to answer honestly he begins to laugh as a way to muddy the moment (just as he does in this clip) and he continues laughing for no apparent reason other than to cover his own discomfort and distract. Watch the clip again, and you tell me if that laugh isn't obviously a defense mechanism. It's like the bad guy in every movie who gets put on the stand and is grilled with questions that are too close to home. He always laughs as though it's all absurd and says something like, "Oh, this is ridiculous. I didn't kill that woman. I never even met her!" Then the lawyer pulls out a folder full of pictures of the man with the woman. Come on, Johnny. Come clean.

[Cobia]

So, we have a slight difference here between Sen. McCave and bush/cheney.
McCave only lies part of the time, and it's easily detectable. This is good, I guess.
"heh heh heh"

[nerakami]

Maybe O'Reilly should get his body language expert to dissect McCain's body language..­..

He seemd VERY uncomfortable in the intertview­...

[HopeGirl]

looked like the Straight Talk Express lost a bearing or two.

Picture for a moment what the MSM would do is a Dem candidate got caught in a bald faced lie-on tape. Lord. It would be madness.

[DrRJP]

Way to lose track of a conversation, Ariana! You have to stop cooking in aluminum pans!

Your "conscious mind" seems to have trouble remembering the context of them, as well as providing credible sources for the falsehoods you print.

Let me break down O'Reilly's discussion with McCain for you:

O'REILLY: Now Arianna Huffington FLAT OUT SAID you did not vote for President Bush in 2000.

MCCAIN: What can you say?

O'REILLY: Did you vote for President bush?

MCCAIN: Of course not. I campaigned all over this country for him.

McCain was responding you YOUR STATEMENT, when YOU said that McCain DID NOT VOTE for President Bush in 2000.

When he said, "Of course not," he was saying "OF COURSE, Ariana's remark is NOT true."

Which part of "Ariana's famous for making untrue remarks" did you NOT understand?

[raw915]

DrRJP has a new take on Bush's fuzzy math, or what?

[chinacatsunflower]

why does everything mccain says need further clarification? "i said this but i meant that"?

[yankhadenuf]

Maybe he should re-name his bus "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" ?

[JoshuaF]

Hmmm, DrRJP, allow me to take the liberty of explaining on Ms. Huffington's behalf. She called the gaffe a Freudian slip, meaning that Mr. McCain had one thing in his subconscious mind while his mouth was trying to say another, which often leads to just what happened..­. a truth emerging accidentally during a pressured attempt at obfuscating that very truth. So, it is you who is taking it out of context and giving it the improper treatment.

And besides, what possible motivation would Arianna Huffington have to completely and willfully fabricate something this straightforward? Do you think she simply woke up one morning this week and said, "You know what, I'm going to say that John McCain told me he didn't vote for George Bush. Staff, what do you think?" Staffers, "Great idea! That's perfect!!!" Arianna, "Thank you. Now, just like the LAPD did with OJ, will you please spread the word to every media outlet, all operatives in the DNC, and the pope immediatel­y." Staffers, "The pope?" Arianna, "You're right. He can't be trusted. Dick Morris. Now go my lovelies, fly, fly fly!!!"

[helonias]

Take you meds and take a nap. my friend

[NotaBeliever]

I'm wondering what anyone could possibly expect the man who is tied to George W. Bush, breastbone to breastbone with hoops of steel, to say. The vote is a private thing. That's why they do it in a booth with a curtain, except in my precinct where you're lucky if they have a pencil for you to fill in the ovals on the form. If McCain was stupid enough to tell people he didn't vote for his political bedfellow and mentor, that's just one more proof of his lack of understanding of How the Game is Played. Poor ole guy, sacrificed without remorse on the Republican presidential altar, just like Bob Dole. When they know they have a losing hand, they throw a sop to the guy who deserves some recognition, grinning behind their hands because he's the only one who doesn't know he doesn't have a chance of winning. The big question is: who will he take down into anonymity with him as his candidate for VP?

[Roxanna]

Seeing him with O'Reily and HOW HE SUPPORTED AND ENDORSED BUSH as he says speaks volumes about the fact that he will simply be another Bush.

Who needs another Bush???

[jrutle]

This whole thing doesn't pass the Colbert "truthiness" test. The most telling thing to me is its a reminder that McCain has been a foot soldier for a lot of bad causes - Republican trickle-down economics, imperial foreign policy, Charles Keating, and support for a man (Bush) who didn't deserve it, just to name a few. It will be interesting to see how he gerrymanders his way through this election explaining the decisions and reversals he's made. He does not show good leadership judgment and tends towards ethical lapses.

[Yatata]

Arianna, it would be wonderful if the Huffington Post covered Senator John McCain's recent opposition to the Fair Pay Act—a bill that would help guarantee women equal pay for equal work. The bill would have restored critical anti-discrimination rules that the Supreme Court struck down in a recent decision, and failed by just three votes.

McCain said that the solution to employment discrimination was for women to get more "education and training." which is puzzling due to the fact that today women outnumber men on college campuses. Study after study has shown that women are paid less than men for the same work, even when they have the same education and training.

It would be a great service to voting women everywhere to be aware of this recent development and know where John Mcain stands on equality and womens rights.

Thanks

[raw915]

See this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/23/mccain-opposes-equal-pay-_n_98342.html

[CocteausTwin]

Ms Huffington,

I do not seem easily to be able to find a means of contacting you. I apologize for speaking off topic. I am sick and tired of seeing Mr Edsall as the headline on your front page. His articles are making me physically ill. Do you agree with this type of journalism?

I abandoned MSM (twelve hours a day/ every day of the week) and came to your site for some sort of sanity. Ironically because of the MSM reaction spurred on by Ms Fowler's "bitter PA voters" story. Does someone who want some sibilance of truth, reporting that is simply reporting about reaction to their own work, have a place here?

Any kind of response or just reading this and taking any kind of action to adjust or reduce the prominence of these kinds of articles would help me feel like I wasn't simply conned into another MSM stream.

Thank you for your time and thoughts,

Michael

[HopeGirl]

Don't get me started on Fowler. Read her BIO. To be honest, the bitter thing was the least of her literary crimes.

I read most of the Post. It is a positive that you can comment instead of looking like a maniac raging at the TV. It helps.

[CocteausTwin]

:^) thank you I indeed needed some shared sanity.

[Veggee]

It was fair for Bill O'Reilly to tell John McCain, when referring to Arianna Huffington, that "she's one of these people who will come after you." That’s fair. However it was absolutely despicable for him to associate her with what a blogger wrote on her website. He told John McCain that "yesterday a blogger wrote on her website that John McCain collaborated with the North Vietnamese, and that they did not torture you...this is Arianna Huffington” Arianna Huffington did not say that and Bill O’Reilly purposely juxtaposed the blogger’s comments with Arianna’s. If John McCain had integrity, he would have called Bill O’Reilly on that, but he didn’t.

[combatveteran]

watch the media with this one

[SJeffH]

Watching this video, especially at the end, it appeared to me that even Bill O'Rielly was losing confidence in Senator McCain's answer. Regardless of whether you agree with O'Reilly positions or not, he is not stupid. He had to hear McCain going back and forth.

[ENK727]

Hey McPlain thanks for letting us know how instrumental you were in getting the worst president ever elected for two terms.

[Luca]

Arianna, you are blogging so much on this it seems suspicious. Is this the non-issue decoy to offset the Clinton blog tactics? I am starting to not trust your 'apparent' backing of Obama, and wondering if creation of the HuffPost is right out of the Rove playbook? Just curious.