In last night's debate I saw something in McCain's behavior that was inexplicable on its face, but very telling if you think it is a window to his thought. I recoiled when this moment transpired and thought it was bizarre. I haven't seen anyone talking about it, though I think it was yet abother WIERD moment.
The second question of the debate came from Oliver Clark, a young African American male in Section F. The question went to Senator McCain. Oliver Clark stood up and asked how the bail-out will help average people who are feeling the economic crisis. McCain answered the question by addressing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
McCain looked at Oliver and said (and I am paraphrasing based on several viewings, these are not exact quotes): "I'll bet you may not have ever heard of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before the bail out."
My initial reaction was "What did he just say to the questioner?" Doesn't that sort of underestimate the knowledge and intelligence of the person asking him the question? I mean, the guy did ask about the finanical crisis, why would you "bet" that he never heard of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before. The visual of the senior white male dismissing the knowledge of the younger Afircan American questioner sent through my mind a wave of suspicion about McCain's thought process and choice of words. But OK, maybe he was just trying to be folksy and talk about how this took the average American by surprise.
But then came strike two which was even more bizaar! And this is what became all the more telling.
McCain started talking about his freshly unveiled new economic bail-out plan. He said we need to buy up bad mortgages and renegotiate the principal balances, and then he actually pivots away from Oliver Clark and turns to Allan, the older white male across the room who asked the first question and says "We need to buy up bad mortgages and renegotiate the principal balances so that Americans like Allan over here can realize the American dream and stay in his house."
Wh, wh, what?!?!?! He just pivoted away from the young African American male who asked the question and says that we're going to do this additional bail-out so that Allan, the older white male over there can have the American dream and keep his house? Did I just miss something? Why not address that to Oliver Clark?!?! Why not say, "So that you can realize the American dream and keep your house"?!?! Oliver Clark asked the question and when McCain starts talking about home-ownership and the American Dream, he made the effort to pivot away and refer by name to Allan, the older white gentlemen across the room?!?!
Why would McCain do this? Why wouldn't he answer the question and refer to the person who asked it? In John McCain's mind, couldn't Oliver Clark, young African American male in Section F, be a home-owner? Maybe in John McCain's world African Americans don't own homes and it never occured to him to refer to the questioner when talking about a home ownership and the American Dream?
After strike two, I became more suspicious of McCain's thought process. Those two inappropriate moments put together in one interaction with Oliver Clark, young African American male from Section F, made me wonder whether this was a window into McCain's inner thought process about the questioner that stood before him. I hate to be as cyncial as my first reaction was. I hate to impute racism, agism or classism to McCain based on my psychological take on these Freudian demonstrations. But man, I can't think of a rational explanation for why McCain would dismiss Oliver the questioner's knowledge of the financial system right from the start and then go out of his way to turn away from the questioner and refer by name to Allan, the older white guy across the room, when talking about home ownership and the American Dream. If McCain was playing poker last night, he seemed to broadcast a couple of "tells" about the cards he is holding in his hand.