IF IT’S SUNDAY…. I was beginning to think they’d forgotten about him.
The producers/bookers of the Sunday morning public affairs shows went the entire month of July without having Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on at all. It was tempting to think maybe the Sunday shows had begun to realize that their near-obsession with the failed presidential candidate was a bad idea.
Alas, the streak ended this morning.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Sunday called a series of tax breaks to be proposed by the White House this week “a deathbed conversion” and slammed Democrats for wanting to let tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans expire.
“They’re just flailing around,” McCain said on “Fox News Sunday.” “We always like to see deathbed conversions… but it isn’t going to resolve this incredible uncertainty out there.” […]
“Let’s get the old class warfare out there, let’s attack the rich,” McCain said dismissively, before claiming all of the Bush era tax credits should be extended.
And just think what our discourse would be missing if we didn’t have these brilliant insights on the airwaves. “Class warfare”? How clever and fresh. The Bush tax cuts that McCain voted against now need to be extended? How compelling.
For those keeping score — and you know I am — this was McCain’s 24th appearance on a Sunday morning talk show since President Obama’s inauguration. That’s an average of more than an appearance a month, every month — more than any other public official in the country.
Since the president took office 21 months ago, McCain has been on CNN’s “State of the Union” four times (1.10.10, 10.11.09, 8.2.09, and 2.15.09), CBS’s “Face the Nation” five times (1.24.10, 10.25.09, 8.30.09, 4.26.09, and 2.8.09), NBC’s “Meet the Press” five times (6.27.10, 2.28.10, 12.6.09, 7.12.09, and 3.29.09), and ABC’s “This Week” four times (7.4.10, 9.27.09, 8.23.09, and 5.10.09). His appearance on “Fox News Sunday” this morning is his sixth since Obama’s inauguration (9.5.10, 4.18.10, 12.20.09, 7.2.09, 3.8.09, and 1.25.09)
McCain lost a presidential election; he’s not in the GOP leadership; he’s not especially influential with anyone; he’s not playing an active role in shaping any legislation; his re-election appears secure; and he doesn’t appear to have any expertise in any area of public policy. The Sunday shows seem to book him out of habit. It remains farcical.
