COLUMBUS, Ohio — Fiscal conservatives often have a tough time campaigning in front of interest groups, since most interest groups want the same thing–more government money–that fiscal conservative candidates want to limit.
So it was that John McCain arrived at The Ohio State University Thursday, before a crowd of yellow-clad supporters of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a group devoted improving the treatment and prevention of cancer. Not long into the event, the eponymous bicyclist, who was on the stage with McCain, asked the candidate a pointed question. Would he promise to reverse the trend of recent years under George W. Bush of decreasing funding for the National Cancer Institute?
McCain, with his own yellow LIVESTRONG bracelet peaking out from beneath his suit jacket, said, “We will reverse that trend.” But when pressed on how much more he would spend on cancer research–would he double it? triple it?–McCain balked, choosing instead to speak about the government’s need to be more fiscally responsible.
“One, we’ve got to pay for it, and two we have to apportion it appropriately. So it’s easy, particularly for liberals, in all candor, to go out and say, I’ll give you all this. Do you know the debt we’ve laid on you future generations of Americans? … I think we need some fiscal responsibility in Congress also.” Even in front of a crowd filled with cancer survivors seeking more funding for a disease that kills 560,000 Americans a year, McCain got some applause for these lines.
McCain also said he opposed new taxes on tobacco products, something he supported in the late 1990s, because he said he did not trust Congress to spend the money properly. “I’d have to be assured that that money would be put in the right place, and to tell you the truth I am not confident that the Congress of the United States would do that. Because does anybody here have confidence in Congress. Please raise your hand?”
None of the people in the crowd raised their hands, but then McCain didn’t give anyone much time to respond. About 30 minutes later, when the candidate left the stage, the auditorium of hundreds gave him a standing ovation, just as they did when he entered. Armstrong plans to make sure that Barack Obama, who is traveling in Europe today, answers a similar set of questions before election day.