Coral Gables

McCain Over Miami

The Arizona senator swings through South Florida

By John Hood

Sen. John McCain stumped in Coral Gables on Sunday. Photo by John Hood

It’s a long, long way from the Big Easy’s Ninth Ward to the Biltmore in Coral Gables, but on Sunday Sen. John McCain took it all in stride. What with a $2,300 a head “finance reception” awaiting him in the Danielson Gallery, how could he do otherwise?

But when the Republican Party’s presumptive presidential nominee entered the startlingly sparse press conference, it wasn’t loot or reconstruction that he had on his mind — it was Obama, whom he proceeded to skewer multiple times.

Why? Apparently because McCain believes it’ll be Barack he’ll be duking it out with come November; that, or he’s in cahoots with Hillary.

No matter. According to McCain, the junior senator from Illinois is “out of touch” and has been so from the get go. He’s “out of touch with the economy” (for, among other things, reportedly wanting to raise the capital gains tax); he’s “out of touch” with Middle Americans (why else would he call some of them “bitter”?); he’s out of touch with Iran (sitting down with Ahmadinejad? — c’mon!), and now he’s out of touch with “low-income Americans” for not supporting the gas tax holiday that both McCain and Hillary are pushing for the coming summer.

“Obviously, Sen. Obama doesn’t understand this would be a nice thing for Americans.”

Throughout the conference, though, McCain kept a kinda eerie cool, speaking softly, seriously and making eye contact with everyone in the room, except for his wife. Kinda like Clint after a long hard day at the corral — or the gunfight.

Yet, as cool as McCain was, it’s evident he can still get heated. In fact, when one intrepid reporter dared raise the question of conflict vis-a-vis flying in the plane of his wife Cindy (who, by the way, was standing silently by her man’s side) and his claim on campaign finance reform, that famous temper of his seemed about to flare.

“We haven’t done anything wrong…. Next.”

The nexts — and the lasts — were pretty much a given: Social Security (“It’s not gonna be there [if we don’t] fix the system”); Cubans (“Isn’t it remarkable they’ve never had cell phones?”); flag pins (“I don’t always wear one, [so] I don’t criticize Sen. Obama for not wearing one”); South Florida Jews (“I want to show the American people that I want all of their votes”); the draft (“The all-volunteer force is working”) … you get the picture.  

Whether or not McCain gets the chance to prove that his plans really will create “a country of opportunity for all Americans” is still to be determined. One thing’s for sure though — McCain’s gonna give it everything he’s got.

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