‘Look At My Record’

Are your relations with these people irreparable?
Not on my part. I'm not sure how they feel. I have been very careful to focus on Senator McCain and Governor Huckabee and their records. In fact, in the Senator McCain ads, I would begin by saying, Senator McCain is a man of honor, he is a national hero, but I disagree with him on these issues and describe accurately his positions and what my positions are.

Have they gotten personal in a way that you haven't?
There's no question that what has come back has been very personal.

They would probably argue that they are just cataloging your changes in positions.
That may be what they would argue, but when they don't catalog those accurately and distort what they are and try and make jokes or light of a person's character, it's very different and personal.

Where do you get whatever sense you have of how average people live their lives?
It comes from various parts of my life. One way was serving as a missionary for my church for two and a half years in France, living not just among the middle class but the poor. It gave me a great deal of perspective on people who were living close to the poverty line. And then in my community service as a lay minister of my faith and as an adviser and participant in charitable organizations, I was able to work with people who had real challenges and problems. And as a result of those experiences, most of my life I have been very close to people of a wide range of economic circumstances. The proof of the pudding is the effort I went through to get everybody health insurance.

Do you think George W. Bush has been a good economic steward?
Yes, I think George Bush has faced some extraordinary challenges that have tested his mettle. The first was a declining economy when he came in, which shortly thereafter got hit by 9/11 and the Internet bubble burst. And he was able to take swift action to get the economy to turn around … I likewise think that in the current situation, with us having been hit by the subprime-mortgage crisis spreading throughout our economy, that he has moved quickly to reach agreement with Congress to put in place a stimulus plan … Now, are there some things I would have done differently? Absolutely.

Such as?
I think we overspent. I think Republicans acted like Democrats and America lost … I also think the decision to add a multitrillion-dollar Medicare Part D entitlement was not the right course.

How about looking the other way when the mortgage industry went nuts giving subprime mortgages to people who probably shouldn't have had them?
There are many places where I would have expected the whistle to be blown first. The rating agencies.

If elected, what would be your first priority?
Get the economy on track.

© 2008