MTP Transcript for Nov. 12

MR. RUSSERT: It sounds as if McCain is saying either send more troops in, secure the country and win, or make the decision and get out.

SEN. McCAIN: I think that that’s pretty much my position. Maybe it’s more nuanced than that. I’d be glad to hear what the Baker proposal—commission proposal is. I’ll be glad to listen to different ideas. But I know this, that unless we do something different, then obviously there is going to be failure in the region.

MR. RUSSERT: Many people are looking very closely at these election results, and what it means for bipartisanship in Washington. And people are scrutinizing you very carefully. The last time you were on, we talked about your relationship with Jerry Falwell, who you had called an agent of intolerance, and then went to his university and tried to make—reconcile with him. You...

SEN. McCAIN: After he came to my office and said he wanted to put our differences behind us.

MR. RUSSERT: Let me ask you about John Bolton, ambassador to the United Nations.

SEN. McCAIN: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT: The president wants to reappoint him, renominate him.

SEN. McCAIN: Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT: He does not have the votes. Lincoln Chafee, the former—the Republican senator said he’d vote against him. So now the White House is toying with the idea of making him a deputy United Nations ambassador or a, a, a—using a, a mechanism that is outside of the confirmation process of the U.S. Senate—U.S.—United States Senate. Would that be a wise thing to do now that the Democrats have control?

SEN. McCAIN: First of all, I think John Bolton has done a fine job. I think he’s been a good rep, fine representative. I think he deserves to be renominated, including the fact that the president should be able to appoint his team, unless there’s some overriding reason not to. There’s no overriding reason not to appoint—reappoint John Bolton. I strongly support him.

I don’t think I would do that, because I think that many in the Senate would view that as, as flaunting the process that is reserved to the Senate. But I certainly hope that my Democrat colleagues would agree that this, that this man has done a fine job and deserves to be renominated.

MR. RUSSERT: But the president...

SEN. McCAIN: To be reconfirmed. To be confirmed.

MR. RUSSERT: The president should avoid using a loophole in order to keep him in position?

SEN. McCAIN: I don’t think he should, to be honest with you. It wouldn’t be the first time that it happened, but I, I’d like to see us have, at least the Democrats allow us an up-or-down vote. He deserves that.

MR. RUSSERT: One of the first thing the Democrats are going to do is pass a bill to increase the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25.

SEN. McCAIN: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT: Will you support that?

SEN. McCAIN: If there are some protections for small business. It’s a fact that small business people have to be able to sustain increase in payrolls, and it’s—we should be able to sit down and work that out.

MR. RUSSERT: In Arizona this Tuesday, you raised it from $5.95 to $6.75 without any of those protections for business.

SEN. McCAIN: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT: Did you vote for that?

SEN. McCAIN: I did not, because I didn’t see that they had protections for small business people. But I think it’s something that can be worked out. One of the problems you have with, with ballot initiatives is that they’re either yes or no. And I think most Americans, because small business—most Arizonans, because of our strong base of small businesses, would, would approve of some kind of relief for small business people.

MR. RUSSERT: Now that you’re running for president, perhaps, it’s difficult walking this balance, where in order to win the Republican primary, you have to move to the right, and then to win the general election, move back to the center. Is that a problem for you?

SEN. McCAIN: No, I, I—people know me too well, my friend. I’m not moving any way. We just had a discussion about where I should move to or not. I, I have been pretty steadfast in my views. I am a proud conservative, both economically and socially. And I am a conservative Republican, and I will remain so in the school of Ronald Reagan—who, by the way, brought our party back after a defeat in 1976 and gave us hope and optimism. And I believe this party will rebound. I believe that we will get our bearings straight and we’ll get back on course, because I believe America is still a conservative right-of-center nation, and our message, our Republican message, is best.

MR. RUSSERT: For example, ethanol. In 1999, the Iowa presidential debate, I heard you say, “I’m going to tell you things you don’t want to hear.”

SEN. McCAIN: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT: And now John McCain is embracing ethanol.

SEN. McCAIN: I’m not embracing ethanol. I said when oil is $10 a barrel, ethanol doesn’t make much sense. When it’s $40 a barrel, it does make sense. I do not support subsidies for ethanol and I have not supported it and I will not. But ethanol makes a lot of sense, particularly our dependence on foreign oil, and my believe that—my belief that climate change is real and is part of the solution to this climate greenhouse gas emissions problem.

MR. RUSSERT: But that is a profound change, senator. You did say here—I’ll read it to you. “‘Ethanol is a product that would not exist if Congress didn’t create an artificial market for it. No one would be willing to buy it,’ McCain said in November 2003. ... ‘Ethanol does nothing to reduce fuel consumption, nothing to increase our energy independence, nothing to improve our air quality.’” And when oil was $60 a barrel, you issued a press release saying that ethanol would result in higher gasoline prices for your constituents. You’ve changed your mind, which...

SEN. McCAIN: No, I, I, I don’t, I don’t think I said that at $60 a barrel. I said it when it was $10 a barrel or $9 a barrel. But I think it has a profound influence when, when oil is as high as it is.

MR. RUSSERT: In 2000, you avoided the Iowa caucuses, by and large, and focused on New Hampshire. This time, will you go all-out in Iowa, if you run?

SEN. McCAIN: We haven’t decided to run or not, but we’d have to—that would have to be a consideration. I understand that, that it becomes of some more importance. But that’s some—that’s a tactical decision you make after you make the initial decision to run or not.

MR. RUSSERT: People listen to things that you say very clearly because you may be a presidential candidate. When John Kerry made his comments about troops...

SEN. McCAIN: Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT: ...he said it was a botched joke at the president’s expense. Matt Dowd, someone who polled for the president, who you know well, said clearly John Kerry made a mistake. He was not in any way trying to denigrate American troops.

SEN. McCAIN: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT: And yet you denounced Senator Kerry. Very strong words. He owes an apology for...

SEN. McCAIN: Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT: ...because of suggesting that there are deficiencies in the education of our soldiers.

SEN. McCAIN: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT: Did you really believe that John Kerry, a man who thought about having you on the ticket in 2004, was criticizing American Troops rather than simply botching a joke?

SEN. McCAIN: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I read his statement. I read it carefully. I saw no reference to the president of the United States. Even though if it was—had something to do with the president of the United States, it was in bad taste. He said he’d botched a joke. I said he should apologize. I’ve made misstatements in, in the past and I have apologized. After he apologized, I said that it was over. It did not make our troops and the men and women in the military happy to read that statement, either.

MR. RUSSERT: But did you seize on that in order to help bolster yourself with conservative Republicans?

SEN. McCAIN: I felt that it was insulting to the men and women in the military, particularly those who are serving in Iraq. I said that they deserved an apology. They got one. And then I said, it was over.

MR. RUSSERT: What now? What does John McCain spend his time on? Will there be an attempt to once again have a vote on an office of public integrity in the Congress? Independent, to take ethics out of the Congress into an independent board?

SEN. McCAIN: We need an independent board, in my view, to decide whether the Ethics Committee should take up and investigate charges or allegations. I think we all realize the dissatisfaction that many of us have with the Ethics Committees in Congress. And so I feel that to have an outside board that when an allegation’s made, they say this deserves to be investigated by the Ethics Committees, then I think that’s an appropriate way to go. I hope we’ll pursue that. I hope we’ll pursue lobbying reform, other ethics reforms, earmarking—elimination of earmarking. The system of earmarking is corrupting. There’s sufficient proof of that now to—for anyone’s satisfaction. And we need the kind of leadership in both the House and the Senate that will address those.

MR. RUSSERT: Senator John McCain, we thank you for joining us and sharing your views, and we look forward to your decision—final decision in January.

SEN. McCAIN: Thank you.

MORE FROM MEET THE PRESS

Meet the Press Section Front

Remembering Tim Russert July 13: Carly Fiorina, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), politcal roundtable June 29: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D-WY), Gov. Bill Ritter (D-CO), Chuck Todd June 22: Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), political roundtable June 15 transcript, video NBC's Tom Brokaw to moderate 'Meet the Press' through election   Images: The life of the political journalist   Slideshow: A look back at 60 years of 'Meet the Press' Find ‘Meet the Press’ in your area Sign up for our e-mail newsletter Meet the Press Section Front   Add Meet the Press headlines to your news reader: