In what could be the final nail in the coffin of John McCain's hopes (such as they were) in the state of Iowa, we discover that yesterday's photo-op in the flood-ravaged areas came AGAINST the request of the state's governor, who was worried (as with Obama's canceled visit), that it would divert local resources:
An aide to Gov. Chet Culver said Thursday that Republican presidential candidate John McCain ignored the governor's request to cancel a campaign visit amid a massive flood recovery effort in the state.
"As a courtesy — and as we did for Senator Obama — we privately made an effort to make sure that Senator McCain knew that state and local resources were still being deployed to support the flood fight and that now may not be the best time for a campaign trip," Dillon said in a statement.
But old Johnny just couldn't resist the opportunity to exploit this tragedy for political gain. But wait, there's more...
The Des Moines Register has another doozy for its readers to wake up to today:
Republican presidential candidate John McCain opposed legislation last year that included money for flood control in Des Moines, which shows he is wrong to push for reforms to the congressional earmark system, a Democratic lawmaker charged Thursday.
Oops. Johnny Mac railed against this bill, claiming it was filled with pork. I think the citizens of Iowa are not going to be so receptive to the notion of critical infrastructure = pork.
Every member of the Iowa congressional delegation voted to override Bush's veto, the first override of his presidency.
McCain strongly backed Bush.
"This legislation is fundamentally flawed, authorizing nearly 1,000 new projects without any method for prioritizing the needs of our national water infrastructure," he told the Senate. He added that the bill was "full of pork projects and unchecked government spending."
So let's get this straight. McCain, as he did with the folks in New Orleans, voted against any federal spending on improving the infrastructure there. Then, once disaster struck, he decided to visit the area against the request of the state because it could be a distraction and divert critical resources, which contrasts with:
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama canceled a scheduled visit to eastern Iowa last week at the request of state officials.
Is it me, or is this a pretty big story? Certainly it should end any hopes of making Iowa a battleground state. But here's what I don't want to happen - I don't want this to only end up on Countdown. I want this to hit the wider media. So please, email it around to every blogger and news outlet you know...let's get the word out:
John McCain chose his own political gain over the well-being of the people of Iowa.