If you've not read the story, Doug Holtz-Eakin claims that John McCain is responsible for creating the BlackBerry. Join me below the fold for an exploration of who this guy really is...
But really, who is Doug Holtz-Eakin? If you believe Matt McDonald from the McCain campaign when responding to Doug's dubious claim, Holtz-Eakin is "a staffer". Yup, just a guy with no power and in no position to advise the candidate...
Really?
Fortune
June 30 2008
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McCain's senior policy advisor
So, which one is it? Is he just a lowly staffer who has no real impact on John McCain's policy? Or is he the senior policy advisor that Fortune suggests? Which one, John?
If you trust the media and every single bit of news up until today, it looks like the McCain campaign's trying to cover for today's gaffe, though this isn't the first time Holtz-Eakin's screwed up:
LA Times
June 18, 2008
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a senior advisor to McCain’s campaign, acknowledged in a conference call to reporters that new offshore drilling would have no immediate effect on supplies or prices.
But he added: "There is an important element in signaling to world oil markets that we are serious."
Yes, this is the same advisor who suggested we could Jedi mind trick the rest of the world into lowering gas prices because by 2030 we could produce some gas from that offshore drilling.
Another note-worthy contradiction:
Time July 28, 2008
"The choice in this election is stark and simple," John McCain said at recent Denver event, repeating a phrase that is a staple of his stump speech. "Senator Obama will raise your taxes. I won't."
Seems clear enough, right? You already know the old argument: Republicans cut taxes, Democrats raise them. Except it's not true, at least not in the way that it seems. But don't take my word for it. Here is Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McCain's chief economic policy adviser. "I used to say that Barack Obama raises taxes and John McCain cuts them, and I was convinced," he told me in a phone interview this week. "I stand corrected [about Obama's plans]."
Now, I love it when the opposition roots for us. I also love it when they make our job easier:
Of particular note in the latter of these two videos is Holtz-Eakin's assertion that Main Street's been "hanging in there particularly well". This was less than a month ago and correct me if I'm wrong but financial crises don't just happen in less than a month barring earth-shattering, act-of-God catastrophes. That's something that differs from Lehman Brothers et al. being greedy and getting stung for that greed. But remember, this is a guy who's just "a staffer", right?
He's got no say in this campaign.
Neither does she...right?
UPDATE: TAH from SLC's got a diary up about Phil Gramm's involvement in this economic crisis that's worth reading.
UPDATE 2: More shenanigans by Holtz-Eakin.