JOHN MCCAIN ON MTP. On NBC’s Meet the Press, moderator Tom Brokaw sat down with John McCain. Brokaw said that this was a live interview from Waterloo, Iowa. The two exchange pleasantries then Brokaw pulled out the latest NBC News/Mason-Dixon poll, showing Obama with an eleven point lead in Iowa, 51-40. Brokaw asked him if he felt more like Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams or George Clooney in A Perfect Storm? (Yes, that was his first question.) McCain answered that he feels like “Knute Rockne at halftime when he said we’ll go out there and get one for the Gipper” [Knute Rockne All American (1940)]. He said that the polls show him further behind than he actually is, and this depends on turnout. He predicted that “we’ll be up very late on election night.”

Brokaw asked McCain about his relationship with President Bush. McCain pointed out that he has been saying for the past eight years that spending has been out of control; that he fought against the “failed strategy in Iraq”; that he’s supported actions to fight “climate change.” He said that he understands shows like MTP having to use brief clips of comments, but he stressed that he is “not George Bush.” He reminded us that he “was not popular within my own party.” (He mentioned BCRA and working on immigration with Teddy Kennedy.) He said he likes and respects President Bush but that he has been telling him that “we’re on the wrong track” for years.

Brokaw pointed out that McCain talks about Obama’s lack of experience then showed an NBC/WSJ poll which showed that those surveyed like Obama on every issue they polled except Iraq. McCain said that he disagrees with the poll; there are others which show him faring much better.

Brokaw pointed out that such economic experts as Paul Volcker, Robert Rubin, and Christopher Buckley (!) endorse Obama and his economic policies. McCain countered that Obama’s record is his own, not Rubin’s or anyone else’s: “He has started out in the left hand lane of American politics and has remained there.” The most liberal United States Senator, just ahead of Bernie Sanders.

Brokaw asked him about the government buying the shares in banks and his own “bad mortgage” buying program: Isn’t that rewarding people who have done the wrong thing? McCain explained that we are in a financial crisis. The role of a government, McCain said, “is to intervene when a nation is in crisis.” (In fairness here, Brokaw’s trick was to counter the contention that Obama has socialist tendencies by describing the reaction to the recent crisis as McCain’s own socialism.) McCain argued that his plan for purchasing mortgages would allow a turnaround.

“You have to have different roles of government in different times.”

He described himself as a “strong conservative” and argued that at times like these, government has to help.

McCain argued that in the Great Depression, some of the things government did worked and some didn’t. The government, he argued, could not sit back on do nothing.

Brokaw argued that if we don’t give them another $15-billion, the U.S. automotive industry will cease to be. McCain argued that we should give them the $25-billion already promised to them first.

Brokaw accused McCain of defending Sarah Palin. McCain shot back: “I don’t defend her. I praise her. She needs no defense.” So Brokaw displayed another poll. Brokaw asked about the RNC buying her wardrobe. McCain said that she’s lived a frugal life and she and her family are not wealthy. Americans now care about staying in their homes, their jobs, and their health insurance. “She is a role model for millions of Americans.”

Brokaw read from the Arizona Republic’s endorsement of John McCain, published today, and read from the Associated Press account of John McCain being shot down over North Vietnam 41-years-ago today. To my surprise, Brokaw did not retrieve an NBC News/Mason-Dixon poll describing this is something or the other.

RUBIN AND HOLTZ-EAKIN ON FTN. On CBS’ Face the Nation, host Bob Schieffer talked to two economic surrogates: Bob Rubin for Obama and Douglas Holtz-Eakin for McCain. Starting with Rubin, Schieffer asked about the bailout plan so far not doing what was promised. Rubin argued that the credit market has been recovering but that we need to do more. He thinks it “imperative” that we have another huge stimulus package and we should fix the foreclosure problem. All in all, RUBIN said, give it time. We will be saved by “the power of public policy.” (The government.) Rubin advocates Obama’s tax rebates and thinks the government can stem the “crisis of confidence” if government acts. He thinks “it can be stemmed in a matter of months.”

Schieffer then switched to Douglas Holtz-Eakin. Holtz-Eakin asked where we place our faith, Washington and Wall Street, which have failed us, or in small business. He said McCain wants to help small businesses and homeowners, adding that “getting mortgages off people’s backs” would be the greatest stimulus off all. Schieffer talked about unemployment at 6% with some saying it will rise as high as 10%. Holtz-Eakin said that McCain could most quickly create jobs with real, comprehensive policies. He said that Rubin had mentioned the credit markets loosening, which Holtz-Eakin said that this was positive. Holtz-Eakin hopes that “by this time next year,” he and Schieffer can talk about the recovery.

PAWLENTY AND RENDELL ON FTN. Schieffer then talked quickie politics with Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty (for McCain) and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell (for Hillary Obama). Schieffer asked Ed why he was nervous when Obama had a ten point lead in PA. Ed said that he doesn’t believe the polls and he needs Obama and Biden in Pennsylvania. Ed joked that he’d have to start charging Governor Palin the confiscatory State income tax, she’s been here so long. He described the excitement generated by Obama as “off the charts.”

Turning to Tim Pawlenty, Schieffer questioned the Palin choice, citing Tom Ridge’s sour grapes. Pawlenty argued that Palin “has brought a lot of strength to the ticket,” pointing out that her appeal “transcends any one State.” Schieffer accused McCain of “trying to run against his own party,” and Pawlenty said that McCain has been pointing out that he is “not just a continuation of President Bush’s term.”

KYL AND BAYH ON LE. On CNN’s Late Edition, host Wolf Blitzer opened by playing a clip of Barack Obama claiming that John McCain wants to cut taxes on corporations, accepted it as truth, and asked Senator Jon Kyl if he thought we should cut taxes on corporations. Kyl pointed out that McCain wanted to cut taxes on small business, and that high corporate taxes make corporations flee.

Senator Evan Bayh said that Obama wants to cut taxes on individuals. He said that John McCain wants to continue the policies of Bush when “the American people want change.”

Blitzer argued that tax cuts were wrong in an “economic crisis.” Kyl said that Obama’s tax increase on the wealthy would create the largest debt In this country’s history. We have to keep the tax rates, he argued, “right where they are.”

Blitzer played a clip of McCain making the same argument as had Kyl, and Bayh argued that Obama’s tax plan would be the best for the deficit. He said that if we had a surplus, Obama would cut taxes for everyone.

Bayh argued that McCain had to embrace the Bush policies to win the Republican nomination. Kyl said that no George Bush policy caused the current crisis, as it was caused by Congress and the Democrats’ treatments of Fannie and Freddie.

MCCAIN ON LE. Wolf Blitzer interviews John McCain about the economy last week and aired part of it this morning on LE. McCain talked about how we wouldn’t be discussing this crisis if Congress had done what he proposed and regulated Fannie and Freddie.

McCain compared homeowners to “innocent bystanders” in a “drive-by shooting.” Blitzer asked him if having the government purchase these “bad loans” were not more government intervention in the economy, and McCain said that difficult times require drastic measures. He said that the “first role of government is to help people.”

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I’ve heard the term “uncurious” thrown around a lot in the past month, even more in the subsequent seven years, and those using it often seem not to understand its meaning in a thoughtful context. I can say this, however: the absence of what is not asked often leads those who substitute wildness for curiosity to construct parallel universes in which the “truth” is directly related to so much that just isn’t so.

Forgive me. It has been a long morning.