November 10, 2007

"As far as the Salt Lake City thing, he's a Mormon and the Mormons of Salt Lake City had caused that scandal..."

Said John McCain's 95-year old mother, Roberta McCain.
"I didn't mean to say it," she said as they stepped away from the cameras.

McCain told The Associated Press after the interview that his mother misspoke.

"Mormons are great people and the fact that Mitt Romney is a Mormon should play no role whatsoever in people's decision," McCain said.

"What she meant was the Olympics were screwed up by the people in Salt Lake when Romney came in and fixed the problems there. But I know my 95-year-old mother is certainly in favor of Mormons."
Old mothers can be a great asset for a candidate. They need to be a little mouthy to work, but that's going to mean that they're a risk. Of course, stirring up prejudice could be helpful, and when mom is 95, there's deniability galore.

ADDED: Video. I don't think ill of McCain's mother, but I hate to see hostility toward a religious group. To me, the fact that Romney is a Mormon only means that he's maintaining a family tradition.

22 comments:

Randy said...

Reporters should leave his 95-year-old mother alone.

"You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"
-Joseph Welch (June 9, 1954)

rhhardin said...

McCain Says Kerik Reflects on Giuliani (AP)

That's Keating Five McCain.

Robert Holmgren said...

If mom is put forth as an asset McCain is hardly in a position to walk away from what havoc may result--especially if mom admits that she has little control over what comes out of her mouth. Visually the 95 year old is certainly an asset. Unfortunately for McCain she looks like his wife.

jeff said...

Hey, it worked for Carter.

Robert Holmgren said...

Nothing worked for Carter.

Randy said...

Oh, give me a break! And give her a break. The woman is 95. Cut her some slack.

Maxine Weiss said...

"You have to realize, she was very pretty. She had a thin and delicate figure. She was going to be in this huge castle. I just figured she should look glamorous,"

Maxine Weiss said...

http://www.dailynews.com/ci_7411320

Unknown said...

Yeah, the Olympics.

Sure.

Unknown said...

Ronin,
Didn't the right jump all over the Democrats for having a ten old kid before the cameras a few weeks ago? (Malkin, O'Reilly, Rush)

Drag mom out...make sure you know what she'll say.

And I don't see the press jumping all over her.

Unknown said...

robert,
I thought it was his wife at first.

Unknown said...

There is nothing prejudicial about disliking mormons.

They are quite clear on their bigoted beliefs, and it is thus proper for me to dislike them all and to choose to never to associate with them.

Swifty Quick said...

I hate to see hostility toward a religious group.

Yeah but sometimes it's called for. The question is, is it called for when it comes to Mormons.

Ann Althouse said...

"Yeah but sometimes it's called for. The question is, is it called for when it comes to Mormons."

Obviously not. Mormons are good citizens. Who cares what cockeyed metaphysics they purport to believe in? It makes no difference in our world.

ron st.amant said...

Well, it's true that SLOC was corrupt but blaming 'the Mormons' is way off base. Firstly, Salt Lake City has probably the lowest percentage of Mormons of any city in Utah. As a former resident of SLC (and one who was there at the time of the Olympics and worked somewhat closely with organizers) there were just as many non-LDS working in SLOC.
Romney, to his credit, DID come in and correct things and the 2002 Games were a huge success, and he deserves credit for that.
I'm not Mormon, and I had preconceptions of them before I lived in Utah, but my time there changed my mind (as it often happens when one actually spends time among people considered 'different')
Yes, some of the beliefs seems bizarre on the surface, but (and I don't mean to offend anyone's religious beliefs in saying this...) are they stranger than a virgin birth? an ascension to heaven?
On the whole I found the Mormon people to be friendly, compassionate, genuine people who have the same religious prejudices as other religions do, but who are sincere in their belief and, perhaps given their history of persecution, far more tolerant of other religions that is given back to them.

John Burgess said...

Mrs. McCain lives in the same DC apartment building as my mother-in-law. Her reputation is as a harridan--well, actually, 'bitch on wheels'.

Ralph L said...

The McCains look like brother and older sister, not husband and wife.
John Burgess, could that explain why his father drank (and stayed in the Navy forty years)?

Robert Holmgren said...

Yeah, well the Irish are known for that. (This, of course, is commentary that requires an awareness of the story itself. Direct all complaints to the blog owner.)

M. Bouffant said...

I hate to see hostility toward a religious group. To me, the fact that Romney is a Mormon only means that he's maintaining a family tradition.

What if that "family tradition" were incest, or spousal abuse, or women not working outside the home? To name just a few "family traditions."

"Yeah but sometimes it's called for. The question is, is it called for when it comes to Mormons."

Obviously not. Mormons are good citizens. Who cares what cockeyed metaphysics they purport to believe in? It makes no difference in our world.


"Mormons are good citizens?" That's a rather sweeping statement, isn't it? If by it you mean they're comformists, easily susceptible to affinity scams from their fellow Mormons, forced to tithe on penalty of not reaching heaven, you may be correct, but that's certainly not my idea of a good citizen.

And their cockeyed metaphysics certainly make a difference in our world. Until about 30 yrs. ago the religion was overtly racist, and if you think the Fundamentalist LDS of Warren Jeffs & other polygamous groups aren't having an effect on the world, well...

Do you think Scientology or Catholicism, to name two other religions that have power & like to exercise it, are just cockeyed metaphysics?

John Burgess said...

Deponent saith not.

I don't know anything about that, only that she's considered to be a nasty piece of work.

MadisonMan said...

And I don't see the press jumping all over her.

Her brittle old bones would snap like dry kindling.

Unknown said...

Anti-Mormonism is the only respectable bigotry left in America.