Subject: [big campaign] Tracking Update: McCain Speech, Town Hall Meeting Fresno, CA 06/23/08
From: "Cammie Croft" <[email-masked]>
To: "big campaign" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:45:29 -0400
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

Hello All,

Just off the phone with our tracker Andres who is on the ground in Fresno
today.  Below are the notes from our call.

*BIG HIGHLIGHTS
*

   - Clean Car Challenge - McCain offers a $5,000 tax credit for
   zero-emissions cars
   - $300 million Prize! 'for the development of a battery package that has
   the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available
   plug-in hybrids or electric cars'
   - When directly asked, McCain maintains that he does not support drilling
   in ANWR
   - Claims Senator Obama does not support nuclear energy -- hits him on
   that point
   - Reaffirms anti-choice position
   - McCain talks about putting the responsibility of health care in the
   American people's hands
   - Promises to mention 'Asian-Americans' in speeches from now on after
   being prompted by a 'passionate' audience member
   - McCain forgets an audience member's question (see question #12)
   - McCain ends question and answer period by hitting Obama for not
   attending the town hall with him (Note: McCain holds media availability
   immediately after town hall hitting Obama again on the issue)

*Fresno, CA - McCain Speech, Town Hall Meeting 06/23/08*
(Disclaimer: The following are notes, not direct quotes. If you'd like a
quotable transcript or video of any part below, please email us.)

*Background Details:*
- Approximately 350 in the audience; standing room only but small venue,
elementary schools have bigger auditoriums only maybe 250 seats. Risers
bisect the room in 2/3rds standing only behind risers
- Almost entirely white crowd with a few hispanics and a couple African
Americans
- Hand-made campaign signs on the sides of the auditorium
- Reform, prosperity, peace slogan signs behind and on podium
- Well staffed, more professional feel from the staff.
- Little press mostly local - channel 30, channel 47 cbs, univision, local
newspaper,

*FULL Speech:
*LINK:
http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/News/Speeches/65ee015f-0eb2-46e3-b7c5-5e9da01d08d4.htm

* Remarks By John McCain on Energy Security and Our National Security *
* *
June 23, 2008

ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain delivered the following remarks as
prepared for delivery at a town hall meeting in Fresno, CA, today at 10:00
a.m. PDT (1:00 p.m. EDT):

Thank you all very much. I appreciate the kind introduction from Jim
Woolsey, and the warm welcome to Fresno State. I'm here to listen about
energy issues as well as to talk. So let me just offer a few ideas before we
begin our discussion.

All across this state and nation, people are hurting because the price of
gasoline is higher than it should be, and more than many folks can afford.
Because of far-off events in the world oil market, a barrel of oil has more
than doubled in a year. And the bad effects of that are spreading across our
economy. The cost of business is rising, the cost of food and other
essentials is rising, the whole cost of living is rising. What isn't rising
is the value of your paychecks and the rate of America's economic growth.
Back in the 1970's, they used to call this "stagflation." And it feels the
same today, because the unwise policies of our government have left
America's energy future in the control of others.

America imports about one third of its oil from Canada and Mexico and no one
need worry about a reliance on friendly, stable neighbors, and partners in
NAFTA. The Middle East and Venezuela are a different story. We import
roughly a quarter of our oil from them, and they have a disproportionate
impact on world prices. When we buy foreign oil from these and other
sources, there are many consequences -- all of them far-reaching and none of
them good. Worst of all, by relying on foreign oil, we enrich bad actors in
the world, some of whom finance terrorists.

Some in Washington seem to think that we can still persuade OPEC to lower
prices -- as if reason or cajolery had never been tried before. Others have
even suggested suing OPEC -- as if we can litigate our way to energy
security. But America is not going to meet this great challenge as a
supplicant or a plaintiff. We are not going to meet it with words at all --
we are going to meet it with action.  We're going to produce more, conserve
more, and invent more. And to a large extent, this strategy hinges on
innovations in the cars and trucks we drive.

Ninety-seven percent of transportation in America runs on oil. And of all
that oil, about 60 percent is used in cars and trucks. Yet the CAFE
standards we apply to automakers -- to increase the fuel efficiency of their
cars -- are lightly enforced by a small fine. The result is that some
companies don't even bother to observe CAFE standards. Instead they just
write a check to the government and pass the cost along to you. Higher end
auto companies like BMW, Porsche, and Mercedes employ some of the best
engineering talent in the world. But that talent isn't put to the job of
fuel efficiency, when the penalties are too small to encourage innovation.
CAFE standards should serve large national goals in energy independence, not
the purpose of small-time revenue collection.

Innovation in the use of alternative fuels in transportation presents the
greatest opportunity for energy independence. At the moment, entrepreneurs
and engineers are trying to figure out which among the various alternatives
to oil works best. Alcohol-based fuels are the farthest along in both
development and commercial use. Some, such as ethanol, are on the market
now, and new sources of ethanol are on the horizon that will not require the
use of so much cropland. Corn-based ethanol, thanks to the money and
influence of lobbyists, has been a case study in the law of unintended
consequences. Our government pays to subsidize corn-based ethanol even as it
collects tariffs that prevent consumers from benefiting from other kinds of
ethanol, such as sugarcane-based ethanol from Brazil. The result is that
Americans take the financial hit coming and going. As taxpayers, we foot the
bill for the enormous subsides paid to corn produ cers. And as consumers, we
pay extra at the pump because of government barriers to cheaper products
from abroad.

Here's a better way. Instead of playing favorites, our government should
level the playing field for all alcohol fuels that break the monopoly of
gasoline, lowering both gasoline prices and carbon emissions. And this can
be done with a simple federal standard to hasten the conversion of all new
vehicles in America to flex-fuel technology -- allowing drivers to use
alcohol fuels instead of gas in their cars. Brazil went from about five to
over 70 percent of all new vehicles with flex-fuel capacity. It did all that
in just three years. Yet those same automakers that helped Brazil make the
change say it will take them longer to reach the goal of 50 percent new
flex-fuel vehicles for America. But I am confident they can do more, and do
it faster, in the interest of our energy security. And if I am elected
president, they will. Whether it takes a meeting with automakers during my
first month in office, or my signature on an act of Congress, we will meet
the goal of a swift conversion of American vehicles away from oil.

At the same time, smart policy can also help to broaden the market for
energy-efficient cars. Right now we have a hodgepodge of incentives for the
purchase of fuel-efficient cars. Different hybrids and natural-gas cars
carry different incentives, ranging from a few hundreds dollars to four
grand. They're the handiwork of lobbyists, with all the inconsistency and
irrationality that involves.

*My administration will issue a Clean Car Challenge to the automakers of
America, in the form of a single and substantial tax credit based on the
reduction of carbon emissions. For every automaker who can sell a
zero-emissions car, we will commit a 5,000 dollar tax credit for each and
every customer who buys that car. For other vehicles, whatever type they may
be, the lower the carbon emissions, the higher the tax credit. And these
large tax credits will be available to everyone -- not just to those who
have an accountant to explain it to them.*

Furthermore, in the quest for alternatives to oil, our government has thrown
around enough money subsidizing special interests and excusing failure. From
now on, we will encourage heroic efforts in engineering, and we will reward
the greatest success.

*I further propose we inspire the ingenuity and resolve of the American
people by offering a $300 million prize for the development of a battery
package that has the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the
commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars. This is one dollar
for every man, woman and child in the U.S. -- a small price to pay for
helping to break the back of our oil dependency -- and should deliver a
power source at 30 percent of the current costs.*

My friends, energy security is the great national challenge of our time. And
rising to this challenge will take all of the vision, creativity, and
resolve of which we are capable. The good news is, these qualities have
never been in short supply. We are the country of Edison, Fulton, and two
brothers named Wright. It was American ingenuity that took three brave men
to the moon and brought them back. Think of all the highest scientific
endeavors of our age -- the invention of the silicon chip, the creation of
the Internet, the mapping of the human genome. In so many cases, you can
draw a straight line back to American inventors, and often to the
foresighted aid of the United States government.

For all the troubles and dangers our energy vulnerability presents, we know
that we can overcome them, because we have overcome far worse problems and
met far greater goals. Together, we Americans can achieve anything we set
our minds to. I believe this about our country. I know this about our
country. And now it is time to show those qualities once again.

Thank you.

*Question and Answer*
1 Q) I've been listening to the experts on the energy crisis -- they say
speculators have caused prices to go up.  How come Congress hasn't done
anything about these speculators?
MCCAIN: I'm aware of that too -- but we don't know how much those speculator
costs are actually driving up the cost of gas.  But if there's anybody who
took advantage of Americans for themselves, then they should be held
accountable.

2 Q) What's your plan for bringing the troops home?  What is your time-line?
MCCAIN: Would you like me to talk about energy and global warming as well?
And by the way if I don't answer your question, you'll be able to follow
up.  Because that's what these town halls are all about -- the back and
forth.
This war has been badly mishandled for the past four years.  I went to Iraq
and saw that and came back arguing for a new strategy.  And our new
strategy, I know, called the surge is succeeding.  And let me tell you, I
hate war.  I believe that if we had done what many advocated -- set a date
for withdrawal, we would have risked a wider war.  Today the Iraqi
government is functioning, but they have a way to go.  The casualties and
attacks are gone.  Everything is in  our favor, but we're not done.  We
still have work to do.  So, I understand your frustrations and sorrow of the
war.  And I thank you for your commitment to peace.  I am also committed to
peace.  I believe we will withdraw over time -- and I believe we will come
home with victory and honor, without defeat.
FOLLOW-UP: For a country that's able to do all these wonderful things, I
think that we are also a country that can show with empathy for other people
of the world.  We went over there and invaded when this country was of no
threat to us.  We went to war on a lie.  We killed all these people over
there, our 4,000 dead soldiers.  We could have handled this in a much more
peaceful way.
MCCAIN: Thank you for your opinion.  I'd be happy to go over WMD's, etc.
But I feel the important part of this debate is -- we are where we are and
we need to figure out what to do NOW.

3 Q) In relation to ANWR - do we still have the luxury to put the
environment over our energy needs?  Also if you still have that belief, why?
MCCAIN: I believe in the long-term, I believe that climate change is real.
We have to go to green technology.  The states should decide if they want to
drill -- if California wants to do it, they should be able to.  The
moratorium on off-shore drilling should be lifted.
The problem I have with ANWR is that it is a pristine area and I'm not sure
it can be done in an environmentally safe way.
*Senator Obama says he doesn't support nuclear power -- I support nuclear
power.*

4 Q) What about alternative infrastructure?
MCCAIN: Absolutely and we have to provide those incentives.  All of the
alternate forms of energy - we should provide lots of incentives to pursue
them.

5 Q) Are there any plans for making higher percentage ethanol available for
U.S. citizens?
MCCAIN: I'll look into that.  But let me reiterate, I want to do flex-fuel
first.  I want to see us to the E-85 standard.
FOLLOW-UP: What are your plans for hydrogen?
MCCAIN: Can I say you're very smart?  Your parents investment in your
education has been well-spent.
There's a lot of challenges, but we have to continue to develop hydrogen
solutions.
Oh and another thing.  We are sitting on a lot of coal.  Why don't we have
more clean coal technology?
And electric cars -- we need more of those.  Right now, they're too
expensive, but just like with cell phones, the cost will come down.

6 Q) The right to life issue is very important to me.  Obama's vote against
legislation for the child that was born alive after an unsuccessful
abortion.
MCCAIN: I don't understand.  I don't understand how someone could vote
against a ban for partial-birth abortion.  *I believe in the rights of the
born and the unborn.*
Human rights extend around the globe.

7 Q) As a young person, my friends are defaulting to the democratic side
without event researching.  What are you going to do to sell your message to
the younger community?
MCCAIN: I try to go to venues that young people use for the sources of
information and knowledge -- like the Internet and Jon Stewart.  I am going
to give young Americans a safer and more secure America.  I know how to
reform Washington.  I pursued Mr. Abramoff and his friends.  I have fought
for reform the entire time I've been in Congress.  I'm going to fix
government so you have a more prosperous future.
FOLLOW-UP: The price of oil has gone up as the dollar has fallen.  Can you
comment on that?
MCCAIN: My view is that we are in spiral.  Our debt is rising, we're
borrowing to pay our debts and we're importing what we can't afford.  Our
dependence on foreign oil is an economic one and an environmental one.
You're right -- they are connected.

8 Q) What can Washington and you do to bring mass transportation to American
towns?
MCCAIN: I think mass transportation is good.  I think we have to focus on
those areas where there's real need and a willingness of local authorities
to contribute to building the system.  We have this great system on the East
Coast -- Acela.  I use that frequently.
It all has to do with cost per passenger per mile.  We have to recognize
that folks are not going to run a train from Florida to California -- folks
are not going to do that.  And we're subsidizing that.  We need to redirect
the money to more popular routes.
And if you want to do this, you have to stop this pork barrel spending.  Who
hasn't hard about the bridge to nowhere in Alaska?  It's outrageous.
I'm not ashamed to tell you that there's certain high growth areas that are
badly in need.  We gotta be fair to the American people.

9 Q) Do you have plans to regulate the actual fees for services in your
health plan?
MCCAIN: I think it has to be better policed and regulated -- more in keeping
with the actual costs.  But that's not the root of the problem -- Americans
are not as responsible for their health care as they ought to be.
FOLLOW UP: More specifics?
MCCAIN: *If that money was coming out of your pocket, you'd be more careful
about how you spent it*.

10 Q) What about the Asian-American vote?  We pay taxes too.  I feel like
Asian-Americans have been left out of the political process.  You and others
-- never mentioned 'Asian American.'  We feel that we are being left out.
Are you going to reach out to Asian-American communities?
MCCAIN: Yes.  Could I say that there are Asian-American members of Congress
and others who have contributed much to our country.  If I have gave the
impression that I've neglected the contributions of your community, my
apologies.*
*
*FOLLOW-UP: Lots of Asian-Americans -- but no mention.  Will you mention us
from now on?
**MCCAIN: I got your message loud and clear.  You listen to me in the
future.*

11 Q) How are we going to charge all these electric cars?  Think about it.
Reform that.
MCCAIN: Everyone remembers the rolling black-outs with large discomfort.
Right now, we have not built a nuclear power plant in more than 30 years.
It takes 5 years to build a nuclear power plant.  I want to assure you that
nuclear power has got to be a part of any plan to solve our energy needs.
The French -- 80% of their electricity comes from nuclear energy.  We need
to store and re-process like them.
FOLLOW-UP: Nuclear power is not the way to go.  We know that the half-life
of this radioactive material is a million years -- and we haven't figured
out a way to dispose of that.  We need to rely on changing our lifestyle and
conservation.
MCCAIN: I agree with that -- but I am not going to tell Americans that they
have to shiver in the dark.

1*2 Q) What lessons besides securing the borders have you learned?  And 2,
governor of Alaska for VP?
**MCCAIN: We are still in the process of the VP search.  Excuse me what was
your first question?
*
*QUESTIONER: Inaudible*
MCCAIN: There is the need for temporary workers.  The lesson I learned was
that Americans demand and want the borders secure first.  And we have the
technology to do that.  And we need to have a temporary worker program that
works.  Immigration is a national security issue and one of great
importance.

13 Q) I would like you to pursue solar energy and not nuclear because it is
hazardous.  Solar is cheap and very safe.
MCCAIN: I will pursue solar to it's fullest degree.  Some straight talk --
solar alone will not solve all of our energy needs.  It has to be part of a
multi-tiered solution.

14 Q) Many of us have long commutes.  The valley is so filled with commuters
without mass transit.  My gas prices have sky-rocketed.  There's an
immediate need -- and I don't see an answer to that.  Do you?
MCCAIN: I don't, but I'd like to get you some relief -- and that was my
gas-tax holiday.  All I wanted to do was give you a little relief for the
summer.  But I would also like to make sure that we don't raise your taxes.
I don't see an immediate relief -- but I do see an exploitation of our
reserves.
Who pays the most on a per capita basis for gasoline?  It's of people of low
income and fixed income with older cars.  And I liked to get them some
relief.

15 Q) What is your stance on the Palestinian-Israel conflict?  What are your
thoughts on bringing back the middle class?
MCCAIN: So many, millions of Americans are finding that they signed
documents they didn't understand and aren't able to make those payments
anymore.  I'd like people to be able to go and get a 30-year FHA guaranteed
loan.  So that's an immediate help, to keep Americans in their homes.  I
don't want to raise taxes -- I'm not gonna raise taxes on them.  I believe
that it's very important that we restore trust in government.  I will always
put my country first.  These are tough times.  I want to assure you that I
will do everything in my power to restore the American dream.  What I should
know is that you and your family is hurting right now, I'll reach across the
aisle and get problems solved for you.

16 Q) Veteran. Served with McCain.
MCCAIN: Thank you for your service.

Could all our vets raise their hands?  Thank you and God bless.

17 Q) I'm a veteran.  The forgotten war of Korea. What I want to hear from
you and your administration sir when you become president, are you going to
improve the conditions for the veterans that return with injuries?
MCCAIN: Yes sir, it's part of my plan.  The Korean war may be the forgotten
war, but those who fought in it will never be forgotten.  Thank you for your
service.
My friends, what happened at Walter-Reed can never happen again.  There are
numerous cases of PTSD and its terrible.  We have to change our system so we
are able to get care more quickly to our vets.  We have to expand the
capability of the VA.  I want to take every veteran that needs a routine
health care need, give them a plastic card so they are able to get health
care anywhere.

*Conclusion*
I hope you will ask Senator Obama to join me in a town hall meeting here in
California.

My friends, one thing I promise you, you can always count on, I will put my
country first.

-- 
Cammie L. Croft
Tracking/Media Monitoring Director
Progressive Media USA
[email-masked]
202-609-7679 (office)
206-999-3064 (cell)

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