Posted by Jed Lewison on Sat Jul 26, 2008 at 11:37 AM Pacific

War on his mind

During the Reagan Library Presidential debate on January 30, Janet Hook of the LA Times asked John McCain what made him more qualified than Mitt Romney to manage the eocnomy. McCain's answer: that his Navy and POW experience shows he's ready to lead, that he's ready to fight Islamic extremism, and that Democrats want a timetable for withdrawal which would be surrender in Iraq.

Full text below.

HOOK: What makes you more qualified than Mitt Romney, a successful CEO and businessman, to manage our economy?

MCCAIN: Because I know how to lead. I know how to lead. I led the largest squadron in the United States Navy. And I did it out of patriotism, not for profit.

And I can hire lots of managers, but leadership is a quality that people look for.

And I have the vision and the knowledge and the background to take on the transcendent issue of the 21st century, which is radical Islamic extremism.

I've been involved in every single major national security crisis since -- in the last 20 years. I'm proud to have played a role in those, and I'm proud to have played a role in making sure that we didn't raise the white flag and surrender in Iraq, as the Democrats wanted us to do and we would have done if we had set timetables for a withdrawal.

So, the fact is -- so the fact is that I have the qualifications and the knowledge and the background and the judgment. I don't need any on-the-job training.

I had the great honor of serving this country in uniform for 22 years.

I had the great honor of being inspired while I was in the prison camps of North Vietnam by the news of a governor and his wife who cared very much about those of us who were in captivity.

And when I came home, I was inspired by him, and I voted for him, and I supported him, and I was proud to be a leader in the Reagan revolution -- I mean, a foot soldier in the Reagan revolution, as we fought these wars together with unshakable courage and principle. And I'm prepared to follow in his tradition and in his footsteps.

Remarkable. Either he didn't understand the question, or he had nothing worthwhile to say.