John McCain
McCain Gets an Earful on 'The View'

By Robert Barnes and Michael D. Shear
Washington Post First

Republican presidential nominee John McCain told the hosts of ABC's "The
View" today that his running mate Sarah Palin had never sought earmarks
from Congress while she was governor of Alaska, even though she had in
fact asked for about $200 million for projects in her state and employed
a lobbyist to help.

McCain at times faces tough questioning and commentary from the five
female hosts of the popular morning show, with Joy Behar questioning two
ads he is running against Democratic rival Barack Obama.

"We know that those two ads are untrue,'' Behar said. "They are lies.''
She was referring to two heavily criticized McCain ads, one that
criticizes Obama's support of sex education, and another that says he
was being disrespectful of Palin for his comment that McCain's call for
change was like putting lipstick on a pig.

McCain said they "are not lies" and defended them.

Barbara Walters jumped in to note that McCain had made the lipstick on a
pig comment, too, about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's health care proposal.

"About health care," McCain said, referring to his own comments. "He
(Obama) chooses his words very carefully. He shouldn't have said it."

McCain has portrayed Palin as a reformer unwilling to accept pork from
Washington.

But Walters and Behar pressed.

"She also took some earmarks,'' Walters said.

"A lot," Behar added.

"No, not as governor she didn't,'' McCain responded.

The Obama campaign quickly produced a sheaf of newspaper articles
indicating otherwise, such as a Sept. 2 Washington Post article that
said the governor's administration "remains eager for many other
earmarks. In February, Palin's office sent Sen. (Ted) Stevens a 70-page
memo outlining almost $200 million worth of new funding requests for
Alaska."

Walters was a particularly aggressive questioner, about Palin's
qualifications and whether McCain was still the maverick he claimed to be.

She asked repeatedly what Palin was supposed to reform about Washington.

"The Republican Party. The Democratic Party. She's going to reform all
of Washington," McCain said.

"What specifically?" Walters asked

McCain mentioned Palin selling the state airplane.

"She sold the airplane at a loss," Walters said.

Behar jumped in: "You used to be sort of the maverick. Then you sort of
turned."

Asked McCain: "In what way?"

Behar said, "You sort of became more in lock step..."

"I'm the same person as I always was," said McCain.

McCain also drew scattered boos from the audience when he said he
thought Roe v. Wade was "a very bad decision.''

Things got a bit better when Cindy McCain joined her husband on the
show's final segment.

Asked why McCain should be president, she said, "for the obvious
reasons" and then said he is a "measured man" who always puts his
country first.

Host Elisabeth Hasselbeck asked Cindy McCain whether there were were
areas where the two disagreed.

McCain leaned over and said, "Never."

She answered, "He and I do see eye to eye on most things."