'There are legitimate questions as to whether he’s out of his depth or not' [Robert Costa]
Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) to National Review Online . . .
On Sestak:
“Oh my,” McCain laughs, his voice dripping with jest. “Can’t we just trust their words? I mean, what’s the matter with you? If Robert Gibbs says nothing untoward took place, then that, of course, satisfies any concerns I might have.” More seriously: “All I can say is this: Imagine if this was the Bush administration. The media wolf pack would be in full cry. But this is something we’ve grown used to. We have a compliant media. The good thing is that the American people have figured it out. They’re not being guided by the views of the mainstream media. If they were, the president’s polls wouldn’t be where they are.”
On President Obama’s visit to the Senate:
“The president had very strong disagreements with Senator Barrasso and Senator Corker,” McCain says. “Barrasso was chronicling how Obamacare was a failure and the president just ripped into him, saying ‘you know, John, there’s no press here.’ That took me aback. You think Barrasso thought press was in there? Then the president spoke repeatedly about how he’s supposedly taken on the left wing of his party. Please, does he really want our sympathy? It’s laughable.” Is the president as serious as you once thought? “There are legitimate questions as to whether he’s out of his depth or not,” McCain says.
On Mitt Romney:
“Nobody did more for me between the time I won the nomination and Election Day than Mitt Romney,” McCain says. “He did everything the campaign asked, from giving speeches everywhere to media. Cindy and I have developed a friendship with him and Ann since the campaign. They’ve stayed at our place in northern Arizona for a weekend and he stops by to see me whenever he’s in Washington. It’s a very good relationship.”
Is Romney using his political winter effectively? “Yes, very much so,” McCain says. “He’s doing the right things with his abilities — not too much, not too little, and traveling around to the early primary states. And, as I know, you always have a certain advantage the second time around, even if you support the surge.”
On writer Joe McGinniss, Sarah Palin’s new neighbor:
“How low can you sink?” McCain asks. “There should be an outcry amongst the media. What he’s doing is just terrible. It’s unbelievable that somebody would sink that low.
