In a 2007 debate, John McCain had the following to say about the qualifications of mayor and/or governors for national office.
I have had a strong and a long relationship on national security, I’ve been involved in every national crisis that this nation has faced since Beirut, I understand the issues, I understand and appreciate the enormity of the challenge we face from radical Islamic extremism.
I am prepared. I am prepared. I need no on-the-job training. I wasn’t a mayor for a short period of time. I wasn’t a governor for a short period of time.
Of course, this is just a tiny bit different from what he has been saying since selecting Sarah 'OJT' Palin as his VP choice. McCain campaign manager Charlie Black said Sarah Palin will:
" learn national security at the foot of the master for the next four years, and most doctors think that he'll be around at least that long"
And just yesterday, McCain had this to say about mayors, but in the telling, trashes himself. From Steve Benen At Political Animal at The Washington Monthly:
At last night's forum on national service, John McCain made an unusual concession: "Listen, mayors have the toughest job, I think, in America. It's easy for me to go to Washington and, frankly, be somewhat divorced from the day-to-day challenges people have."
The context wasn't helpful. Instead of explaining how he really can relate to everyday challenges facing regular Americans, McCain simply moved on to talking about how much he admires mayors and others who get involved in their communities.
Now, I suppose I know what McCain was trying to say. His point, I guess, was that those who serve at the local level see firsthand the challenges people face in their daily lives, while for long-time congressman, like McCain, those problems can be more of an abstraction. I doubt he was literally admitting, on national television, that he's wildly out of touch. Nevertheless, that is what he said.
But apparently our friend Rudy doesn't agree with McCain when McCain says mayors and governors need on-the-job training and he, McCain, does not.
Speaking on Face The Nation Sunday, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani said that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who was announced Friday as presumptive GOP nominee John McCain’s running mate, is more qualified to be president than Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.
"You know why? She had to make decisions," Giuliani told Face The Nation anchor Bob Schieffer. "All Senator Obama has had to do is talk. That's all he does." (snip)
Citing her executive experience, the Republican National Convention keynote speaker called Palin "somebody of accomplishment" because "she's vetoed legislation, she's taken on corruption, and in her party, and won. She took on the oil companies and won. She administered a budget successfully."
He also said Obama "is the least experienced candidate for president in the last 100 years."
"I mean, he's never run a city, he's never run a state, he's never run a business, he's never administered a payroll, he's never led people in crisis," Giuliani said.
So which John McCain do you believe, the one that thinks a person with a few years as a mayor and less than two years as a governor of the third-smallest (population) state is qualified? The John McCain that believes that mayors and/or governors aren't qualified?
Or, like me, do you just have no idea what John McCain believes anymore.