McCain conference today with security advisers

RK


Sen. McCain is doing right, but he missed the most crucial issues. He should be open to media Questions.


Sen. John McCain is holding a national security roundtable at the University of Tampa with Gov. Charlie Crist, Sen. Joe Lieberman, former Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge and a smattering of generals and admirals. A crowd of Republican notables is waiting for him in another room. Once done with the roundtable, he’ll make a statement on the same subject. No questions from reporters, we’re told. The crowd waiting for McCain, all invitees and GOP insiders and high-level state and local campaign officials, are solidly pro-McCain. One thing some of them can’t figure out is why, just six days before the election, McCain is holding an event in Tampa that’s closed to most of the media and the public. “I don’t know. I’ve been asking the same question,” said Pinellas County Republican Party Chairman Tony DiMatteo. Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe, McCain’s county co-chairman, emphasized that national security concerns could affect voter decisions. “It’s a very important issue at a time when people are beginning to focus” on the election, he said. As to why McCain would hold a closed event, he said, “McCain doesn’t always do things that appear on their face to be purely political—he just does what seems right.” McCain held a similar event at UT during his primary campaign, but it was open to local media.