McCain's Campaign Manager essentially says the brouhaha over Obama's Pastor is no big deal.
McCain's Campaign Manager, Charlie Black, was just on Morning Joe. They just played a clip of Obama's Pastor's comments about 9/11 for him, and they asked if John McCain is concerned that that man is Barack Obama's spirtual adviser.
He responded by saying:
Charlie Black: What Sen. McCain has said repeatedly, is that these candidates cannot be held accountable for all the views of people who endorse them, or people who befriend them. And fortunately, I heard you report earlier that Sen. Obama has repudiated these very unusual views. But what John McCain believes is that Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton should be held accountable for their public policy views. The things we've described before. Big government vs. small government...
Joe: So this isn't an issue for John McCain.
Charlie Black: I don't think Sen. McCain wants to get in the middle of a discussion about Sen. Obama's former pastor, or his faith. He believes that people who endorse you, people who befriend you, are entitled to their own views, but you are not personally held accountable. That when someone endorses you or befriends you, they are embracing your views - the candidate's views - not the other way around.
Sounded so reasonable that I would've thought it was coming from the Obama camp, not from the McCain camp.
This says to me that McCain's camp knows that their ties are even more troublesome than Obama's ties. I was worried about this situation, but this conversation has put me at ease.
Does this make any of you all feel any better too?