Sen. John McCain, at his alma mater, Episcopal High School, today confronted a student asking, what sort of meeting is this, anyway? AP Photo by J. Scott Applewhite
by Tom Brune
John McCain today brought his presidential campaign’s biographical tour to his high school, the private Episcopal High School in the comfortable Washington D.C. suburb of Alexandria, Va. In his talk he reminisced about his rascally behavior and emphasized the importance of the school’s Honor Code: “I will not lie, I will not cheat, I will not steal.”
But the warm, reunion-like feeling of the advertised “town hall” hit a cold chunk of truth when a female student rose to ask him the last, and only tough, question of the morning.
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“I think judging by the amount of press representatives here, also by the integration of your previous political endorsements in your earlier personal narrative, we can see that … political motivation isn’t completely absent. Yet we are told this isn’t a political event. So what exactly is your purpose in being here? Not that I don’t appreciate the opportunity, but I’d just like some clarification.”
McCain acted as if he had been caught red handed.
“I knew I should have cut this thing off.” (Laughter) “This meeting is over.” (Laughter)McCain went on to explain that the town hall was part of a series of visits he was making to highlight his biography and his vision for the future during his presidential campaign. He implicitly conceded the “town hall” was exactly what the student said it was – a political event.
He added more seriously: “I hope that attendance was not compulsory. If it was, I apologize to you for it if you were … unwillingly in attendance here.”
The speakers who introduced McCain made a point of saying that the high school was not endorsing him. But another student independently confirmed that administrators had told students that the assembly was not a political event.
Why the school’s administrators told them that is unclear, especially when the students provided a convenient back drop for photos and descriptions in political campaign coverage, but it sounds as though they certainly were not telling the students the truth.
Tom Brune reports for Newsday, which featured this in its political blog, Spin Cycle.