July 18, 2007
Posted: 06:38 PM ET

A frustrated McCain said Wednesday he was done discussing his campaign woes.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A frustrated Sen. John McCain snapped Wednesday when asked by CNN about his troubled presidential campaign and vowed he would no longer answer questions on that topic.

“I’m not going to talk about my campaign anymore," McCain said in a sharp tone. "I’m finished with talking about it. I’ve talked about it for two weeks. I will not discuss it or any aspect of it. Thank you."

McCain’s patience may have been worn thin by his lack of sleep as he managed the Defense authorization bill through the wee hours of the morning.

The question that triggered McCain’s response was whether or not he was going to keep a scheduled meeting Wednesday with his congressional supporters to explain why his campaign is not in dire condition. Eileen McMenamin, the Arizona Republican's spokeswoman, declined to elaborate whether McCain would no longer talk – ever – about his campaign or just not talk about it while in the Capitol. But she did say he remains a candidate and will be back on the trail next week – with reporters in tow.

– CNN Congressional Producer Ted Barrett

Filed under: John McCain


Will - Miami, Fl   July 18th, 2007 3:09 pm ET

McCain obviously "snapped" sometime prior to the amnesty bill. No republican in his right mind (no pun intended) would have EVER dreamed of supporiting that bill (let alone coauthoring it)…

Brennan Morris, Dumfries, VA   July 18th, 2007 3:24 pm ET

Senator McCain seems to be wholly determined to doom any chance he has. This was the worst time for the Senator to look like an angry old man, who can’t handle a simple question. He has a fairly good record and is good man, but thus far has not shown it to any degree.

Mike, HI   July 18th, 2007 4:19 pm ET

This is the first time in a long time that I've liked something he's said.

JWH   July 18th, 2007 4:23 pm ET

John McCain is played out. His time was in 2000 before the Bush Administration turned Republicans into poo. Americans are obviously done with Republicans.

Mrs. America   July 18th, 2007 4:47 pm ET

Won't talk about his campaign? Good grief. I think the press should spend less time on his campaign (he's out of the race anyway) and more on viable candidates.

Quinn, Oakland, CA   July 18th, 2007 5:05 pm ET

That's perfect, John because nobody else is talking about your campaign either anymore.

Might as well pack it up and go home.

Dan, Leander, Texas   July 18th, 2007 5:09 pm ET

From the time in the last prez campaign that McCain rudely snapped at Maria Shriver, reporter, who was attempting to ask him a question while he walked, I knew this guy was definitely NOT presidential material. Just what we need, a president who would react in a knee-jerk fashion to Putin or another leader's statements by dropping nukes! No. Sorry John. You're never going to be president. If you can't control yourself, how can America expect you to run the country?

IV   July 18th, 2007 5:12 pm ET

John McCain is finished. There's no room for a pro-illegals amnesty candidate in the Republican primaries.

Republicans didn't buy your "maverick" talk in 2000, John, and they won't buy it now.

jack jett, Dallas   July 18th, 2007 5:13 pm ET

It would almost be sad if it weren't for the fact that becuase of him, thousands have been killled or shattered by a war that he supports 100 percent.

Speaks of family values while his campaign manager is trying to pay someone to GIVE them a hummer.

Good riddance, bad rubbish.

Bob, Centennial, CO   July 18th, 2007 5:32 pm ET

McCain's infamous temper reveals itself again. I would expect the MSM to respect McCain's impolite request to not talk about his campaign anymore. He has been toast ever since that bizarre Meet the Press interview in about March, 2007. And enough of his "American Hero" label. John Kerry is the true American Hero who served in Vietnam, earned a Silver medal, and came back to help stop that travesty. Saving American lives from being killed in unnecessary wars whether in Vietnam or Iraq is truly heroic, not someone who wants to keep feeding them into the never-ending meat grinder.

Connie, Tn.   July 18th, 2007 5:35 pm ET

Why don't he just fade away. That way nobody will be asking him any questions. He is so obviously out of touch. He should just be put out to pasture.

Kevin, Chicago, Illinois   July 18th, 2007 5:37 pm ET

McCain is "finished" simply because
his support for rewarding illegal aliens with USA citizenship completely turned off independents like myself.

It is wrong and unconstitutional to reward lawbreakers with USA citizenship.

Amnesty only encourages more future lawbreakers to break our laws. We should never reward illegal behavior.

Ginger Winchester, Stanton, California   July 18th, 2007 5:44 pm ET

The man didn't snap because he lacked sleep. He snapped because he has an extremely serious problem with keeping his cool. And now he is bankrupt and has no one left to yell at anymore.

What else do you expect from a man who has become nothing more than a tool for the GOP and Bush, who lives in complete and total denial of reality and the truth.

The guy is a powder keg and I seriously doubt he will survive much longer, as a senator and a candidate.

xona, los angeles, ca   July 18th, 2007 5:56 pm ET

Goodby Johnny, many have recently discovered about you
what most of us have known for years– you, sir - are a first-class moron.

McCain_4_President_Of_Iraq   July 18th, 2007 6:00 pm ET

Bomb, Bomb, Bomb…
Poor, Poor McCain

turned out to be a dud, dude.

Lighten up folks   July 18th, 2007 6:12 pm ET

Jack ~ Dallas,

Former Pres Clinton applauded the news of the hummer.

Al Gore is worried of it's affect on Global Warming.

John McCain apparently needs it more than his campaign manager.

David E Dillman, Berwyn, PA   July 18th, 2007 6:20 pm ET

I guess he'd make a good president, … if we don't give him more than two difficult days in a row, or a crisis in the middle of the night, … And make certain he gets his nap every afternoon. Did he have his meds with him overnight, … Yeah, that is probably the problem. Sorry John!

Missy Boston MA   July 18th, 2007 6:21 pm ET

At least McCain works hard ! Romney spends most of his time relaxing in NH- amusing his 5 jobless sons and his scary-ever-growing-brood of grandchildren. (Pix look like a bunch of creepy maggots, there are so many of them! ). Look at blog called "Five Brothers" - it is nauseating (these grown men!).

A.J., Seattle, WA   July 18th, 2007 6:24 pm ET

Of course he shouldn't have snapped, but it's not so surprising that a candidate who stayed up all night was a bit irritable. His campaign is having trouble, but he's still the Republican with the best credentials, and above all the most integrity. He has plenty of time to turn it around, and I hope he does.

Mark, NY NY   July 18th, 2007 6:26 pm ET

You'd like to apply for the job of leading the free world but you can't even manage a few hundred people and $25 million bucks? Yeah thanks, we'll get back to you.

MB   July 18th, 2007 6:29 pm ET

No john, YOU'RE FINISHED!

Hardy Habernan - Dallas, TX   July 18th, 2007 6:37 pm ET

When a candidate says they are not going to talk about their campaign anymore, they don't have a campaign anymore.

JimmyK Spring TEXAS!   July 18th, 2007 6:45 pm ET

“I’m not going to talk about my campaign anymore,….I’m finished…FINISHED!!!! Whaaaaaa!"
Loser

WashDCInformant   July 18th, 2007 6:56 pm ET

Since Walter Matthau passed away, I hear that Hollywood might have an opening for the sequel to "GRUMPY OLD MEN: III"

Crusty ol' John-Boi might wanna toss his hat in THAT ring.

Time wounds all heels. When he sold his soul, he did not read the fine print that there was an expiration date on his deal w/the Devil.

HAH!

Jeff Spangler, Arlington, VA   July 18th, 2007 7:02 pm ET

Wrong on the war, bad temper, too old, unelectable.

Herb Stiles, Hudson, NH   July 18th, 2007 7:03 pm ET

Doesn't matter to me here in NH. I voted for him in 2000 but I have two pictures hanging over my desk to remind me why I will never vote for him again. One is that gawdawfull picture of him hugging Bush and the second one is of him standing in the Baghdad market in a flak jacket surrounded by troops saying how "safe" it was.

B-Man   July 18th, 2007 7:09 pm ET

McCain sold his soul to try to win the White House. Now he will go quietly off into retirement. Bye-bye.

Therese Dawe, Lansing, Michigan   July 18th, 2007 7:39 pm ET

Sen. McCain jumped the shark when he did his little "stroll" through a Bagdad market. He thought he could pull the wool over our eyes, but he's just too old to get it, the American people now have the Internet and can fact check all the B.S. Buh Bye!

Carl-Georgia   July 18th, 2007 7:40 pm ET

McCain has now learned, "If you sleep with dogs, you get fleas".

He hopped in bed with "Shrub" and now he's getting what he deserves.

Shawnie - Grants Pass, OR   July 18th, 2007 7:42 pm ET

Please understand, I am not a McCain fan and never had any intention of voting for him, so this is an unbiased observation. Journalists have a way of asking questions that are lose/lose. In other words, if they want to put a negative spin on things, they can ask questions in such a way that the respondent only looks bad, no matter how he responds. Journalists also love to kick people when they are down, must be a power thing. And they have thoroughly chewed McCain up one side and down the other, to the point of unprofessional harassment. Leave the old man alone, let him bow out gracefully. And even if he wants to hang in there, it's just another six months…

R Smith Hilo, Hi.   July 18th, 2007 8:12 pm ET

Why does this guy keep running?
He runs every election season and fails to secure the nomination. What makes him think this will be different. He will fail… yet again. When will McCain get the message and stop wasting millions?

Shawn, Seattle (WA)   July 18th, 2007 8:15 pm ET

McCain doesn't want the media to talk about his campaign…fine. STOP covering him. He is insignificant and its unfortunate that his drive for power has driven him this far off course. Support Bush and see what happens…

Now will the media apologize for selling him to us all these years?

Anonymous   July 18th, 2007 8:24 pm ET

IV I agree there is no room for pro-amnesty republican candidates but thats the only ones the media is pushing. Like Lou Dobbs said, "the poll front runner in the Republican race is none of the above". The polls are conducted in a controlled manner to favor the Greed Factors choices, and exclude ones the voters would really prefer.

Leigh, SE Pa.   July 18th, 2007 8:25 pm ET

The only smart thing McCain ever did was marry money! He is a very tempermental man and I would never consider him for president…too unstable to lead and a Bush boy. He tries to come on soft spoken and repeats "my friends" but I see right through him! He should just go away!

Patrick Hudson, Seattle, WA   July 18th, 2007 8:32 pm ET

Jim Gilmore had a greater chance of becoming President than John McCain does.

Brooke Cox Pocatello, ID   July 18th, 2007 8:40 pm ET

I think the last thing in the world America needs right now is yet another president who lashes out at questions he's uncomfortable with. Being president is not a comfortable job, and John McCain has definitively shown he's not the right person for the job.

ronsupporter, miami, fl   July 18th, 2007 8:48 pm ET

McCain is "officially" done.

Nor Luap Suppor   July 18th, 2007 8:50 pm ET

McCain is officially done.

George Webb, Miami, Fl   July 18th, 2007 8:53 pm ET

Ron Paul will get the nomination. McCain has to go.

kansas city,o   July 18th, 2007 8:58 pm ET

angry white man ready to contiue the taught ways of mruder and deception allinthe name of freedom.by all means please continue your murderous ways senator and good luck in the polls.

Providence, RI   July 18th, 2007 9:32 pm ET

McCain is old(72), tired, frustrated, and angry by his unpopular positions on everything! "The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool". Shakespeare -As You Like It- Act V, Scene I. And that is John McCain. It is time for him to quit the race instead of snapping on innocent journalists.

Danielle - South Bend In   July 18th, 2007 10:24 pm ET

He reminds me of Katherine Harris. He's unspooling just like she did. The difference for me is, I used to respect him.

Omaha needs a job   July 18th, 2007 10:31 pm ET

Did you watch Mccains cellphone interrupt his speech? He's barely going through the motions. I sense political irrelevance coming into his future. Let this be a warning to all obstructionist republicans guilty of committing our blood and treasure to foreign wars. You devotion to an army of special interests and contractors will result in meltdowns just as ugly as this one. The mammoth is going extinct.

Chicago   July 18th, 2007 11:22 pm ET

An undercover cop of all people. How embarrassing. Most republicans are seriously repressed. Every now and then, one snaps and goes buck wild.

Innocente st paul mn   July 18th, 2007 11:29 pm ET

Behold John,you could not beat George so you joined him in cowboyism

Naples Fla.   July 18th, 2007 11:55 pm ET

I think He finally figured out that no one is listening to the Straight B. S. Express anymore!!!

donelikedinner   July 19th, 2007 12:03 am ET

move along, nothing to see here.

Charles De Montagne   July 19th, 2007 12:13 am ET

"Republicans didn’t buy your “maverick” talk in 2000, John, and they won’t buy it now."

Thats right! Republicans saw right through McCain and voted for a real conservative…George W Bush. Oh wait…

john crandell, sacramento, calif.   July 19th, 2007 12:50 am ET

ONE can understand his frustration if you consider what may really be in the works. Perhaps his obeisance to W over the past three years, his brown-nosing of a couple of American ayatollahs may yet get him a leg up on '08, i.e. - Big Dick suddenly resigns in the next nine months and W then nominates him to fill out Dicko's term. Perhaps all this was agreed upon three years ago; whatever, all the Kool Aid he and the Republicans have swallowed has taken it's toll. Their dream has become a shining delusion at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue and the six a.m. alarm keeps going off.

the ghost writer, Ithaca, NY   July 19th, 2007 1:13 am ET

John IT'S OVER!!! go home retire, go fishing, spend some wonderful moment with your grandkids and your family, and live a wonderful rest of you life. Next.

heather, anchorage alaska   July 19th, 2007 1:29 am ET

Good. This proves he doesn't take BS from anyone, including the media. Good for him.

Perry, Dallas, Texas   July 19th, 2007 1:59 am ET

Although I don't agree with everything he stands for, primarily his position on illegal immigration, John McCain is a great patriot. He has served his country heroicly in the military and has distinguished himself as a representative of the American people in the senate.

Not one of the so called liberal "front runners" are worthy to shine his shoes….an ambulance chaser, a muslim, and a socialist.

cowboyneok   July 19th, 2007 2:18 am ET

Get your new "Support our Poops!" Senator Vitter diapers! On Sale Now!

Nick, Atlanta, GA 30097   July 19th, 2007 2:49 am ET

I worked for McCain in SC in 2000. I still like the man, but he lost me forever when I saw him hug Bush during a 2004 campaign stop. Bush is evil, and that hug showed me that McCain has no principles. No wonder his campaign is imploding.

David Wyles, Playa Del Rey, CA   July 19th, 2007 3:27 am ET

John McCain is a crotchety, misguided old fool. His time has passed him by.

But, he's a hero, at least a former one, a prisoner in Vietnam for something like 5 years.

Can you imagine our present President, "AWOL" Bush standing up to torture or interrogation for more than 5 minutes? "Mommy, Poppy, these bad people are evil. Do something. Save me!"

Suzanne Rogers Minneapolis MN   July 19th, 2007 7:40 am ET

The image of McCain sleeping in his seat during Polosi's swearing in ceremony and state-of-the-union comes to my mind every time I see him now. Yes, I believe his time has come and gone.

Prathee,Fresno,CA   July 19th, 2007 7:50 am ET

McCain is a hypocrite.He tries to look like a moderate but he would always up end supporting end support Bush's policies.He wants people think himself as a moderate republican to get votes from independant and democrats.
By supporting a losing war shows that he lost his mind.He was part of a lost war in Vietnam and didn't learn any lessons from it.

eric, Milw. Wi.   July 19th, 2007 8:02 am ET

It's too bad he self destructed now, he was the only republican who saw the complexities of the issues and didn't try to sell the easy, old ideas of polarization or the alarmist view that America need be dominated by 9-11 …24/7

Christopher London   July 19th, 2007 11:49 am ET

PUT A FORK IN HIM…McCain is DONE, well done. McCain "was" a maverick and should have been the Republican Nominee in 2000 before he got steam rolled by the Neo-Con War Machine behind W. He saw the writing on the wall and during Bush's Presidency, he joined the most profound "Con-Job" ever put over on the American Public by the PNAC, NEO-CON Agenda. This period of American History will go down as one where corrupt forces aligned to take away power, freedom and the civil liberties of American people. Those who have defended this destruction of American Democracy, including McCain will not be treated kindly by historians. McCain is an example of what not to do when the corrupt grow more powerful. You do not join them, you challenge them. And it is the reason why Romney and others will go down and why the RNC is turning to empty suits like Fred Thompson, who plays an authority figure on TV but has the least accomplished record of anyone running for office. THOMPSON=LOBBYIST.

Eric Nustad, Royal Oka, MI   July 19th, 2007 12:28 pm ET

poor baby!

Listen, if you want to run the country, you have to answer for both the good and bad things that happen.

Or you be like President Bush and surround yourself with audiences of yes-men and veterans who will be jailed if they ask the wrong question.

Please retire and go home, Mr.McCain.

Rick, Chicago Illinois   July 19th, 2007 12:37 pm ET

Perry, Dallas, Texas … "John McCain is a great patriot. He has served his country heroicly in the military and has distinguished himself as a representative of the American people in the senate."

1) Who CARES if he served? So did Timothy McVeigh - is he a fine patriot too? This is all about recent history, not what he did decades ago.

2) What he's currently "distinguishing" himself as is an idiot with his support of immigration, and saying "Iraq is safe" as he walks around in full body armor with a regiment from Apocolypse Now in tow.

"Not one of the so called liberal “front runners” are worthy to shine his shoes…"

This from a guy who's supporters are so disillusioned with their current candidates that they're supporting someone who hasn't even declared his candidacy yet?

"an ambulance chaser, a muslim, and a socialist."

At least none of THEM are blowing up balloon animals at Chuck E. Cheeze's.

Save your breath for work!

nsr   July 19th, 2007 12:52 pm ET

Aw, come on, Senator! Your campaign's sure to bounce back when Americans see how hard you worked to keep us in Iraq!

Craig, Carlsbad CA   July 19th, 2007 1:16 pm ET

The striking thing about these comments to me on the 'left' is how totally lacking of sympathy the right has for a man that not only served years in a POW camp but refused to go home early because of his celebrity status as a son of an admiral and waited for his turn in line.

I dont agree with John McCain on most things but I am proud of him and glad our country makes people like.

The churlish comments made here by the right shows how far they have been infected by the Limbuagh-Coulter hate virus

Sandy, Denver, CO   July 19th, 2007 1:39 pm ET

McCain needs to face reality that we do not want him and just go away.

Thursday - hot and really steamy « Lobo’s Rants   July 19th, 2007 3:49 pm ET

[...] Oh oh - McCain decides NOT to talk about his campaign anymore. It seems the straight talk express is going [...]

Jason, Seattle, WA   July 19th, 2007 7:05 pm ET

People of America wake up!!!! Hillary, Guilliani, Romney, and McCain are NOT the answer. We have got to get away from these type of canidates if things are ever going to change in this country!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous   July 20th, 2007 1:48 am ET

Timber!

rachel krawczyk   January 29th, 2008 10:51 am ET

to john mcCain

1 qion how can you do it
lot of cares about baghbab
and american soldiers
came back our troop in our govermanmet military

sp you can to winner top vatrey

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