This March 3, 2008 file photo shows Sen. John McCain with former Sen. Phil Gramm in March 2008. (Photo credit: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images)
by Frank James
It was really only a matter of time. You can stick the word "former" in front of Phil Gramm's old title of "national co-chair" of Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign because Gramm has quit in order to give McCain's critics one less lightning rod.
Gramm, who caused an uproar after suggesting Americans were in a "mental recession" and that the U.S. was a "nation of whiners" issued his statement of retreat late Friday, the equivalent of slinking away in the dead of night.
Gramm said:
"It is clear to me that Democrats want to attack me rather than debate Senator McCain on important economic issues facing the country. That kind of distraction hurts not only Senator McCain's ability to present concrete programs to deal with the country's problems, it hurts the country. To end this distraction and get on with the real debate, I hereby step down as co-chair of the McCain campaign and join the growing number of rank-and-file McCain supporters."
Gramm, a crusty former Republican senator from Texas and erstwhile economic professor, was an adviser to the McCain campaign on economic issues. So his characterization of the economy's condition as well as the character of his compatriots was a clear problem for McCain.
Not the least of McCain's problems was that because economic issues are seen as the unofficial Republican nominee's Achilles heel (few doubt his national-security chops) Gramm, a fierce free-marketer, was suspected correctly or not of having an huge role on the McCain campaign's economic thinking. So what Gramm said received a lot of attention.
So he had to go. And, now, he's gone. At least as co-chair. Doesn't mean you can't pick up the telephone and give the candidate a few idea about getting the nation out of its mental recession.
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Comments
"It is clear to me that Democrats want to attack me rather than debate Senator McCain on important economic issues facing the country.
It's clear to me you would rather call us whiners than explain your role in the housing and oil crisis. Hit the road Jack.
Posted by: bill "Hussein" r. | July 19, 2008 10:40 AM
It was bad judgment on McC's part to have him on the team in any capacity,
"Mah mommah tole me..." Gramm has been the Master of Disaster for a long while. Including opening up the "Ennron loophole".
Posted by: ornery | July 19, 2008 11:02 AM
Wait until the McSame & Graham/Mrs. Enron loop hole details come out.
Posted by: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot | July 19, 2008 12:05 PM
Now, who's whining?
Posted by: Jim | July 19, 2008 12:42 PM
Why isn't Gramm under house arrest at least for malfeasance and lawbreaking at UBS?
Oh, I forgot, it's OK if you're a republican.
Posted by: athena | July 19, 2008 12:50 PM
Al Gore's speech can defuse our crisis of confidence--fear--that is paralyzing us and making us worry that Barack Obama will 'take away our guns' as they say in a lot of areas now. We need to focus on REAL THREATS---like global warming and a lack of an energy policy.
So of course big media (big power) IGNORED Gore's SOLUTION SPEECH:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt9wZloG97U
and McSame is talking about a car out of Detroit.
Make the guy watch Who Killed the Electric Car, somebody--please!?
http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectriccar/
Posted by: geraldine "hussein" too | July 19, 2008 12:55 PM
Be serious.
Gramm is the guy who wrote the law that overturned Glass-Steagall, paving the way for the Mortgage Crisis.
He also passed a law helping Enron get into the mess it got into.
A few comments aren't going to cause him to quit now.
He quit because there's more UBS dirt coming down the pike and he's up to his neck in it.
Posted by: Ron S. | July 19, 2008 1:54 PM
Gramm sure has a stupid look on his face!!!! ...So does McCAIN. Together they have looks on their faces as if they're saying "how DARE you think you're gonna take our God -given right from us???"
Posted by: MLD | July 19, 2008 2:11 PM
RonS is onto something. Gramm quit the Senate under a cloud as I recall. Some close associate(s) indicted or about to be. Also some scandal brewing which kept him from getting job as Prez of a university in TX, as I recall. Texas political corruption is so byzantine.
Anyway, when he's standing behind McC he sort of cocks his head and slumps his shoulders and looks like he should be interviewing the Geico Gekko. Maybe he will get that part.
This is McC's Johnson (as in the VeepVetter who had to resign).
Posted by: ornery | July 19, 2008 9:45 PM
Gramm sure has a stupid look on his face!!!! ...So does McCAIN. Together they have looks on their faces as if they're saying "how DARE you think you're gonna take our God -given right from us???"
Posted by: MLD | July 19, 2008 2:11 PM
Naw, they're just checking the shuffleboard score.
Posted by: DD | July 20, 2008 2:13 AM
There goes McCain's economics guru. He may nor have helped us "whiners" much, but Gramm has had an undeniable talent for facilitating corporate fraud.
Posted by: Tom O | July 20, 2008 2:19 AM
http://ml-implode.com/
Here's a list of Gramm's clients.
Posted by: Jim | July 20, 2008 10:29 AM
Here's an interesting story on Phil Gramm's economic stimulus plan for the porn industry:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-blumenthal/phil-gramm-may-be-gone-bu_b_112781.html
Posted by: Bubba | July 20, 2008 11:41 AM
That Gramm; What a cracker.
Posted by: C.Morris | July 20, 2008 9:34 PM