At a health care town hall today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) broke out some of his campaigning skills, not the least of which is calming an angry crowd.
McCain spoke to a group of mostly older citizens opposed to health care reform. When he said President Obama respects the Constitution, the crowd booed. They booed again when he said, “I am convinced the president is absolutely sincere in his beliefs.”
“Wait a minute,” McCain said, putting his hand up to stop the boos, in a flashback to rowdy campaign rallies last fall. “He is sincere in his beliefs, we just happen to disagree. He is the president of the United States and let’s be respectful.”
Later, he said, “We don’t shout at my town hall meetings.”
But, McCain said, what he’s been seeing at town halls across the country is “the beginning of a peaceful — and I emphasize peaceful — revolt in America.”
In another flashback, McCain dusted off an old campaign joke about the fate of presidential candidates from Arizona.
“I still want your sympathy for the mothers of Arizona, because Arizona is still the only state in America where mothers can’t tell their children that some day they can grow up and be president of the United States,” he said, chuckling.
