Don’t Even Think About Asking a Real Question at a Presidential Q&A

May 9, 2008 by Holly in 2008 election, politics  

McCain Just about everyone who has been paying attention to politics lately has heard about how McCain called his wife a cunt back during his Senate bid in 1992. That priceless McCain anecdote has also received mass attention due to the publication of The Real McCain, a book by Cliff Schecter.

If you haven’t heard about this, here’s what you’ve missed:

“Three reporters from Arizona, on the condition of anonymity, also let me in on another incident involving McCain’s intemperateness. In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett. At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain’s hair and said, “You’re getting a little thin up there.” McCain’s face reddened, and he responded, “At least I don’t plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt.” McCain’s excuse was that it had been a long day. If elected president of the United States, McCain would have many long days.”

Due to the mass media and the vast majority of the American population getting their hands on this information, of course people are wondering if it’s really true; so what better a time to confront McCain about this than at a town hall meeting where he is openly answering questions?

At a Des Moines town hall meeting, Marty Parrish who entered the meeting as a member of the press, asked McCain is he had indeed called his wife a cunt and of course (after McCain had fumbled over his words and sounded more like a three year old who had done something wrong and was being questioned by their parents about it) Parrish was escorted out of the event and questioned by Secret Service.

PARRISH: This question goes to mental health and mental health care. Previously, I’ve been married to a woman that was verbally abusive to me. Is it true that you called your wife a (expletive)?

MCCAIN: Now, now. You don’t want to … Um, you know that’s the great thing about town hall meetings, sir, but we really don’t, there’s people here who don’t respect that kind of language. So I’ll move on to the next questioner in the back.



Funny, I don’t think his wife respected that kind of language, either.

I have a word of advice for all the politicians out there. Don’t do Q&A’s if you don’t want your dirty laundry brought up.

  comment Comments

Related Posts

  • Huh. I'm not sure if he handled that well or extremely bad. I'm leaning towards extremely bad, because if he had had a less supportive audience, it could have gone pretty terribly. The applause for his call to move on was kind of disappointing, but props to the man who asked the question!
  • If you don't mind, I submitted this story to Digg! Nice work.
  • He called her that because women view that word as a very strong negative. Just like men view being publicly humiliated by a trophy wife type (who should keep her mouth shut when at any sort of political event) as a strong negative. I fault him for making the comment out loud with others there, because it puts him at her level. I am sure he chose the words because of some sort of hardship he has encountered with women or that particular woman. All in all very bad on both ends. Perhaps he should choose a more suitable female companion. An awesome one like mine who is tactful enough to know when to keep the comedic insults inside...yet witty enough to decimate even me when it comes to telling a person off. On a reply to the comments so far, I think he did a good job of deflecting the question. What else could he have done really? besides he is trying to win people over so they vote for him. Honesty doesn't work when you are about that goal. (See: Mike Gravel).
  • It is interesting how many people took issue with the fact that I "quoted" John McCain, but none have taken issue with the fact that it was John McCain who USED the forbidden word in an abusive manner towards his wife.

    When people suggest I should not have used the actual word when asking the question, I just point out to them that I did not use the word: John McCain used the word and he used it on his wife. I was simply quoting him.

    If more of John McCain's dirty laundry were aired, he would have long ago ceased to be a presidential candidate.
blog comments powered by Disqus