Are presidents like kings, girl asks McCain

by Jill Zuckman

File this under 'kids say the darndest things.'

Sen. John McCain, who is campaigning in Cincinnati today, met with Spencer and Piper Macke, the two young children of Fox 19 reporter Tricia Macke following a town hall meeting at Xavier University.

Piper, who is in kindergarten, asked: "Um, is the president like being a king?"

McCain laughed before responding. "Is the president like being a king? I think there have been some presidents who thought that," he said. "Uh, we won't mention any names."

He continued: "No, I don't think being a president is like being a king because in the old days kings had all power, and these days kings have very little if any power. They are there for people to respect and admire. But I think our president and our system of government is that we are equal with the congress and with the judiciary, the judges.

"So we are kind of co-equal branches of government, and so I don't think the presidency is like a king. We all have to work together. Especially the president and the legislature, because the president can't make the law. The legislature makes the law and the president signs it into law and then makes sure, should make sure, that the law is put into enforcement."

Well, Piper asked, "What does the president do all day?"

"Oh, you know I have not spent a lot of time in the White House," McCain said, "but its my understanding that the presidents, depending on what their agenda is, a lot of times they spend times in meetings. Sometimes they go on foreign travel and meet with heads of other countries. President Bush just came back from a trip to Europe where he met with the president of France and the Prime Minister of England and other world leaders.

"There are other times that he travels around. If he is seeking re-election, sometimes he spends time campaigning. But his major job is to work with the congress and to shape legislation on issues that are important to the country. To make everybody's lives better. To make sure they have a good education. To make sure that people can engage in business and other pursuits free of government interference and lead better lives for themselves and their children. That has to do many times with working with the Congress to pass laws to fix problems that exist today.

"Today, people in Ohio are having grave difficulty making their home loan payments. We had everybody, you know, when you go to the bank, and you get a loan so they can buy a house and you have to pay back that loan. And today there are many, many people in Ohio who are in danger of having to leave their homes because they can't afford those payments. And that's a serious problem. So the president and the Congress has to work together to come up with a way so that a lot of these people, or all of them if we could, could remain in their homes and make afford the payments that they have to make. And those are one of the, for example today, one of the areas that I believe the President of the United States and members of Congress are working hard on."

On second thought, maybe kindergartners should be asking more questions of the candidates!