Vicsun wrote:Has McCain not publicly announced that if elected he will not seek a second term?
If he has, I haven't heard about it. Some reporters have claimed that McCain has
hinted that he would not seek a second term, but to my knowledge, he never came right out and said it, and they're basing their speculation on very flimsy evidence.
Back in January,
before McCain won the Republican nomination, before the first primary vote was even cast, and before he was tested as a Presidential candidate at his current age in this election cycle, a lot of people thought his age would be an issue. When McCain was campaigning in New Hampshire, a potential voter asked him whether he has the stamina to serve as President for eight years. He replied, "I was a POW." Oh wait, that's not what he said. Actually, he said, "If I said I was running for eight years, I'm not sure that would be a vote-getter." No, it might have hurt his chances among primary voters who were worried about his age, and I'm sure he wanted to avoid making it an issue by talking about two terms. A lot of people jumped on his remark and started saying that McCain "was leaving open the possibility that, if he is elected, he might not seek re-election." Really? I think that's a stretch, especially when you're talking about
John McCain. He will say ANYTHING to improve his chances of being elected, and that's ALL he was doing when he made that remark to a potential voter during the primary season back in
January. In the annals of off-the-cuff, non-committal remarks made by political candidates, it's ancient history.
Now that McCain is the Republican candidate, it's obvious that his age did not prevent him from winning the primaries. That makes his age less of an issue. If he can beat Romney, Giuliani, and Huckabee, then he's as fit as a goat. In the general election, his age might be slightly more important to "undecided" voters who don't know anything else to base their votes on, but Obama's race and his identity as a damn liberal Democrat are much more likely to sway "undecided" voters. That, along with his support for black uprisings, terrorism, socialism, high taxes, sex education for kindergarteners, and Islam, of course. There's no telling how those "undecided" voters are going to make up their minds.
But still, I mean, really, do you think people who are voting
against McCain are voting against him just because he's old?
Anyway, reporters also seized on another piece of "evidence" back in August. On "Fox News Sunday," host Chris Wallace was interviewing McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis. Wallace asked, "Is there any chance that Senator McCain will pledge to serve only one term as President and that there will be no politics in the White House?"
Davis replied, "Well, first of all, if you know John McCain, you know there's not going to be much politics in the White House anyway. I mean, he doesn't grade any of his decisions either as a senator or in the future as president on what the political dynamic is. You look at his history, whether it's campaign finance reform, or opposing this administration on detainee abuse and things like that, he does what he thinks is right for the country, and he's going to do that throughout his career no matter what office he holds."
Wallace asked again, "But is there any possibility, because I didn't get an answer there -- is there any thought -- is there any possibility that he would consider issuing a pledge, say, at the Republican convention, 'I will serve one term as President?' "
Davis replied, "Chris, you're going to have to come to the Republican convention to find out what's going to happen there. And I think everybody should tune in, because it's going to be an excellent event and very interesting to all viewers.
So Wallace said, "You're not ruling it out."
Davis replied, "I'm not talking about it at all."
Keep in mind that McCain himself was not speaking. Not exactly rock-solid evidence there.
Maybe McCain is thinking about serving only one term. But I think it's more likely that McCain doesn't want to talk about serving a second term just so he can
avoid questions about his age. That's probably a smart idea. McCain doesn't strike me as the type to pass up an opportunity for more power, or the type to admit that he has limitations, so if he could win this election, I'm sure he would seek a second term.
If you have seen or heard anything to the contrary, I'd like to know about it.
