So McCain heads out to help Arnold promote his special election agenda, then
ends up dissing him.
Sen. John McCain joined Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday to promote the California governor's November ballot initiatives, but afterward chided his carefully staged campaign events.
The Arizona Republican senator appeared with the governor before a crowd of about 150 invited women, who cheered wildly when Schwarzenegger arrived and frequently applauded as he touted the benefits of California initiatives on budget reform, teachers, and redistricting.
As at many of Schwarzenegger's campaign events, outsiders were not allowed to attend what the governor's office called a "town hall meeting" at a hotel near Oakland's airport. Union protesters gathered outside the venue carrying signs.
At a subsequent news conference, McCain, a possible candidate for U.S. president in 2008, said he had always favored town hall meetings open to the public, adding that some especially noisy dissenters had occasionally been ejected.
"The benefit of an open town hall meeting is one that you get to hear a lot of different views, and two it has credibility," said McCain.
When you are as unpopular as Schwarzenegger (3rd most unpopular), letting in regular Californians would be a guaranteed disaster. He needs his little bubble.
But like McCain says, such events have no credibility.