McCain the Clueless

By Ron Beasley

Every time John McCain opens his mouth I am amazed at how out of touch he is and I have to wonder how he could possibly be elected.  Of course we all know about the occupation of Iraq - over two thirds of Americans want us out now and McCain is the advocate of a permanent occupation.  And over the last couple of days we have learned that Saint John's economic adviser in none other than Phil Gramm who is vice chairman of UBS and a former lobbyist for that bank. We have also learned that UBS is in deep trouble as a result of it's involvement  in the US housing bubble.  Just how bad is it for UBS?  They have recommended that their employees get out of and don't go to the United States to avoid indictment.

But believe it or not it gets even better.  Few states have been not been impacted by outsourcing. So why does McCain think that 80 percent of Americans thin the US is on "the wrong track'?

McCain explains why the U.S. in on the "wrong track"

In Miami last Tuesday, John McCain delivered a ringing endorsement of free trade:

We have made progress toward this vision by expanding the benefits of free commerce, through [the North American Free Trade Agreement], the Central American Free Trade Agreement, and our free trade agreements with Peru and Chile. But the progress has stalled; our longstanding bipartisan commitment to hemispheric prosperity is crumbling. We see this most vividly in Barack Obama�s and Hillary Clinton�s opposition to the free trade agreement with Colombia. The failure of Congress to take up and approve this agreement is a reminder why 80 percent of Americans think we are on the wrong track.

Now John McCain is either unbelievably out of touch or he really doesn't want to be elected.  Andrew Leonard continues:

It is absolutely nuts to think that one of the reasons Americans believe the country is "on the wrong track" is because Congress won't pass the Colombia free trade agreement.

Quite the contrary -- my guess is most dissatisfied Americans believe that free trade agreements are an example of how the U.S. is steering the economy off the road. You can make a decent argument that they might be wrong to believe that, but you can make no argument of any coherence in support of the idea that Congress newfound hesitation to approve trade agreements is upsetting to the vast majority of Americans who believe the country is headed in the wrong direction.

It is inconceivable that John McCain can win Ohio against either Obama or Clinton if he continues to spout such preposterous nonsense.

Indeed!