The Awkward Moment at McCain's High School Speech
As we reported earlier, Sen. John McCain gave his second address in his "Service to America" tour at his former school, Episcopal High in Alexandria, Virginia. For the most part, the speech -- which was about the importance of honor -- went off as planned.
Ah, but the best laid plans can sometimes go astray.
It was the last question of the day. Katelin Halldorson, a junior, asked Sen. McCain the following question:
"I think judging by the amount of press representatives here and also by the integration of your previous political endorsements in your earlier personal narrative, we can see that this isn't completely absent - er, political motivation isn't completely absent yet we were told that this isn't a political event. So what exactly is your purpose in being here, not that I don't appreciate the opportunity but I'd just like some clarification."
And there was the awkward moment. McCain tried to answer:
"I knew I should have cut this thing off. This meeting is over. (Laughing from crowd.) This is an opportunity and part of a series of visits that I'm playing - paying. It started in Mississippi where my family's roots are back to the middle of the 19th century to here. We're going from here to Pensacola, FL and to Jacksonville, FL and a couple of other places where - we're going to Annapolis where I obviously attended the Naval Academy ... And it's sort of a tour where we try to not only emphasize the values and principles that guided me and I think a lot of this country in the past, but also portray a vision of how I think we need to address the challenges of the future."
Then he apologized to the students: "I hope that attendance here was not compulsory. If it was than you - I apologize for if you were, if you were unwillingly in attendance here... And with that I would like to say thank you."
You can hear the exchange of the audio clip above.
As Anna Marie Cox wrote at Time's Swampland blog, "My thought, for what it's worth: after a lively discussion about honor, Katelin reminded McCain what he was really there for: politics -- a pursuit that's quite distinct, to say the least, from honor."
3:35 PM ET | 04- 1-2008 | permalink
