McCain Cancels - Cites Claytie's 1990 Gaffe
ABC News Blogs are reporting that John McCain has canceled his scheduled appearance in Midland.
Sen. John McCain on Friday abruptly canceled a Monday fundraiser that had been scheduled at the home of a Texas oilman, after ABC News contacted the campaign inquiring about a verbal blunder the Texan made during an unsuccessful 1990 campaign for governor.Clayton Williams stirred controversy during his 1990 campaign for governor of Texas with a botched attempt at humor in which he compared rape to weather. Within earshot of a reporter, Williams said: "As long as it's inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it."
Just about any political junkie can remember all the way back to the 1990 Governor's Race, you know the now famous quote...but apparently John McCain and the rest of his staff didn't. I can't believe this is still making hay some 18 years later.
UPDATE:The Democratic National Committee is now pushing McCain to give back the $300,000 reportedly raised by Claytie.
"Mr. Williams' comments are not only outrageous and disgusting, they degrade our values as Americans," DNC spokeswoman Karen Finney said in a statement Saturday. "John McCain should make it clear that he understands just how offensive these comments are by not only canceling a fund raising event but also returning the money Williams raised for his campaign."
Yeah, a little colorful Cowboy metaphor at the Ranch over 18 years ago qualifies as "outrageous and disgusting" and "degrades our values as Americans"!?
Talk about a hypocrite. I couldn't begin to list the scores of elected Democrats and Democrat supporters who in word and deed have done things that are "outrageous, disgusting and degrading to our American Values" in this election cycle, much less since 1990. Add to that, most of those folks are celebrated by the liberals.
UPDATE: Houston Chronicle's Texas on the Potomac Blog reaction. Along with CNN, and just about every news/blog in political punditry.
Exit Question: Why didn't Giuliani back away from Claytie?
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8 Comments
McCain was probably afraid to face Claytie after those outrageous comments he made about the oil business. I'm sorry Claytie won't have the opportunity to confront him. Anybody remember the last time McCain had anything good to say about a Republican?
No one really understood why his people would have picked Midland for a visit anyway. The town is too closely associated with Bush and oil.
OK first of all it had nothing to do with Mr. williams. The event had outgrown his house and they changed the place and the date!!!
With the lynch mob mentality that's out there right now about the oil business amongst the ignorant masses, McCain figured the last thing he needed was to mix a cultural snafu about gender issues with the most unpopular demographic of Americans right now-- the run check crowd.
Snub to us small producers aside, I don't care if he shows up in person. The only thing I care about is that he won't slap us with the WPT, and for reason's sake let's hope he shows some sense and opens the outer-continental shelf and ANWR.
The insanity in Washington is at a fever pitch, and if you want to know who the Jacobins want to thrust under the guillotine, I suggest you stand up, walk to the nearest mirror, and take a long gaze.
Incredible. I know several folks who were planning to attend (as was I were I not out of town) and certainly had contributed to the $300,000 Claytie is apparently claiming to have raised, as you could't get past the front door without a sizable contribution. The money is not the issue here. Those donations can be remade to the campaign, bypassing Clayton Williams.
The key issue here is that the folks I know that were going to attend were looking forward to discussing energy policy with McCain. He is thumbing his nose at the independent producers, both in his campaign in general and in cancelling this event.
The campaign would be wise to reschedule an event for Midland that doesn't include Mr. Williams. If McCain will listen and pledge to not completely bag on the oil business (that fuels American freedom), he'd raise a boatload of money.
And the Dem-ocrites continue to amaze...
Seems McCain is coming to Midland, just not next Monday.
I hope he does come to town. There is nothing on his website yet. And Midland was part of a big fundraising swing through Texas this week. His last Texas stop currently posted is Houston on Tuesday night.
I think we'd have heard about it if the only issues with the Monday noontime event were the size of Claytie's house. I'd imagine an alternate location could have been found, like the Claydesta building. If there is just a change in "place and date," it ought to be posted by now, 24+ hours after the initial cancellation. I'm skeptical. But that's one of my good points!
Stunningly inept -- you'd either have to have advance people under the age of 30 or over the age of 90 not to remember how Claytie's campaign against Ann Richards was derailed by that remark. Fortunately in Texas, McCain can afford an early goof like that and still survive, but if that's the level of local political knowledge his people have in the rest of the country, Maverick's in for a long summer and fall.