Text size:

McCain rejects adviser's "nation of whiners" comments

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

July 11, 2008

BELLEVILLE, Mich. - John McCain broke sharply from an economic adviser who dubbed the United States "a nation of whiners" in a "mental recession" as the Republican presidential candidate sought to counter criticism that he's weak on the economy.

"I strongly disagree" with Phil Gramm's remarks, McCain told reporters in what amounted to nothing short of a smackdown against one of his top surrogates and longtime friends. "Phil Gramm does not speak for me. I speak for me."

McCain said a person who just lost a job or a mother struggling to pay for a child's education "isn't suffering from a mental recession."

"America is in great difficulty. And we are experiencing enormous economic challenges as well as others," McCain said, seeking to stem the fallout from Gramm's comments.

Gramm, a former Texas senator who is a vice chairman of the Swiss bank UBS and has a doctorate in economics, made the remarks in an interview with The Washington Times.

"You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession," Gramm said. He noted that growth has held up at about 1 percent despite publicity over jobs going overseas, housing and credit problems and record oil prices.

"We may have a recession; we haven't had one yet," Gramm said. "We have sort of become a nation of whiners."

Campaigning in Fairfax, Va. yesterday, Barack Obama seized on Gramm's comments as he tried to paint McCain as out of touch."Let's be clear. This economic downturn is not in your head," Obama said at a town-hall event focused on helping women advance economically. "It isn't whining to ask government to step in and give families some relief."

In Michigan yesterday, McCain tried to counter the criticism from Obama, arguing that the Democrat opposes offshore drilling and nuclear power to try to solve energy woes.

Later asked if Gramm would have a role in a McCain administration, McCain raised the possibility of what could be seen as a less-than-desirable job. "I think Senator Gramm would be in serious consideration for ambassador to Belarus, although I'm not sure the citizens of Minsk would welcome that."