Read the complete transcript.
GIBSON: You said irresponsible to measure the drapes. But do you have in mind a spreadsheet of people that you would bring into a McCain administration?
MCCAIN: Oh, sure. Yeah. Yeah. A long list of these or acquaintances and people that I've known for a quarter of a century, but there's also people who are wise people who may not come into the official position -- Henry Kissinger. Henry Kissinger is a man I've admired and respected ever since the day I came out of prison camp in Vietnam. I call Henry all the time.
Now, is Henry and I always in agreement? No. George Schultz, secretary of the Treasury, secretary of state, probably wouldn't want to come back and work in Washington, but I'm in constant contact with him.
GIBSON: But are these new faces we would see in a McCain administration? You've talked about change?
MCCAIN: Well, Democrats as well as Republicans. And if I start going down a list of names -- but they are respected people in America.
GIBSON: But it would be a nonpartisan Cabinet?
MCCAIN: Oh, sure.
GIBSON: Democrats?
MCCAIN: Of course.
GIBSON: More than just a token?
MCCAIN: No, no. A lot of Democrats. But I think the key now, restoring trust and confidence. How do you do that? By having trusted and respected people in your government, people -- Meg Whitman, founder of eBay. People say, gee, that's the person that turned the 10-employee business into one that employs 1.3 million people in America. That's a person -- a woman we can identify with, a leader we can identify. Those kinds of people.
Of course, I would look to Silicon Valley as well. Some of the success stories there. John Chambers, the CEO of Cisco. Fred Smith, who's made a great success out of FedEx. Obviously, I would want the advice of someone like Warren Buffett and Paul Volcker and others who are respected Democrats. Rubin is another one. Others that Americans can say, hey, this will give us some confidence and trust back.
GIBSON: Clean break, though? No holdovers from the Bush administration?
MCCAIN: I think that Secretary Gates, as secretary of defense, has done a fantastic job. And I think that people all agree with that. I'm not sure that he would want to stay permanently. That is one of the toughest jobs in America. But I'd like for him to at least stay on for awhile while we arrange whatever transition may be necessary.
Quietly, he's taken on some of the bad practices in the Pentagon itself. He's quite a guy.
GIBSON: First priority of a -- President-elect McCain.
MCCAIN: Any president. Any president is to ensure America's security. You've got -- that is a first priority of any president throughout our history, particularly, in the 20th and 21st centuries. We're in two wars. We face the existential threats of radical Islamic extremism.
So, obviously, that has to be any chief executives first responsibility. The second -- and, obviously, right now, the highest priority of the American people get the economy out of the ditch and moving again and create jobs. And national security and military security and economic security are not -- they are inextricably tied. No nation in history has had a terrible economy and maintained its military strength.
GIBSON: What would you want out of a lame-duck session of Congress? Second stimulus package?
MCCAIN: No. I'd like to sit down and talk with the members of Congress and find out exactly what's needed. But I'll tell you one thing. I'd lay down the law. No more pork. No more pork. We can't afford it. We -- we can't afford it.
Now, that will be a big fight that I will have with my own party as well as the Democrat Party. But there's a 9 percent approval rating of Congress today. We just had one of our most senior -- the most senior Republican in the Senate convicted by a jury of his peers. OK? We have members of Congress residing in federal prison. There are investigations going on.
And I can tell you what my friend Tom Coburn says, earmarking is a gateway drug. And it leads to corruption and I've seen it. And we've got to stop it. And don't think that it's, quote, always been there. It hasn't. It's grown worse and worse like any other evil that goes unchecked. So we'd take that on right away.
No comments:
Post a Comment