(CNN) – McCain senior domestic policy adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin said Tuesday the BlackBerry mobile e-mail device was a “miracle that John McCain helped create.”
Addressing the nation’s economic crisis, Holtz-Eakin told reporters traveling with the campaign “there’s no magic solution. And I don’t think that it’s at this moment imperative to write down exactly what the plan has to be.” He also said a president isn’t someone who needs to be heavily involved in policy specifics, which should be handled by “quality” advisers, and echoed McCain’s assessment that there might be a need for a “9/11-style commission” to determine what went wrong with the nation's economy, and to issue recommendations.
He added, though, that McCain — who has struggled to stress his economic credentials this cycle - did have experience dealing with the economy, pointing to his time on the Senate Commerce Committee. Pressed to provide an example of what McCain had accomplished on that committee, Holtz-Eakin said the senator did not have jurisdiction over financial markets - then held up his Blackberry, telling reporters: “He did this.”
“Telecommunications of the United States, the premiere innovation in the past 15 years, comes right through the Commerce Committee. So you’re looking at the miracle that John McCain helped create,” said Holtz-Eakin. “And that’s what he did. He both regulated and de-regulated the industry.”
During the 2000 presidential campaign, Al Gore drew controversy when he said that during his time in Congress, he “took the initiative in creating the Internet” – based on his work promoting funding and early research in that area.
UPDATE: The Obama campaign responded to the comments minutes after they were reported. “If John McCain hadn’t said that ‘the fundamentals of our economy are strong’ on the day of one of our nation’s worst financial crises, the claim that he invented the BlackBerry would have been the most preposterous thing said all week,” said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.
Meanwhile, McCain senior aide Matt McDonald said that the senator "laughed" when he heard the comment.
"He would not claim to be the inventor of anything, much less the BlackBerry. This was obviously a boneheaded joke by a staffer," McDonald said.
From CNN Politics
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OBAMA=MOSES-–MCCAIN=JOHN THE BAPTIST
AMERICA VOTES IN BLACK AND WHITE!
I wonder if Faux News will make as big a deal over this gaffe as their lie that Al Gore claimed he invented the internet? What am I saying... of course, they will NOT.
126 days till the end of the Bush administration.
McCain will be another of the worst economic disaster this country has ever seen if he becomes president. People need to take off the Republican or Democrat blinders and listen to the issues. McCain doesn't know anything about economics and is too old to play catchup now, he just wants to be president and that's it.
More LIES. No more McCain.
Man, you liberals need to learn to take a joke.
McCain laughed when he was told of the statement... i seriously doubt mccain has any fantasies about him "inventing" the blackberry.
get a sense of humor, you idiots.
I cannot believe the level of ignorance in the comments posted here.
Nowhere did the article state that McCain "invented" the Blackberry.
It clearly states that legislation McCain worked on made it possible for devices like the Blackberry, become a reality.
Was it a bit exaggerated? Sure, but tell me something in politics that isn't.
Blame the writers of the article for the sensational headline.
Innuendo is a great tool when it comes to writing trash.
PEOPLE,
SAY NO TO FED commiting tax dollars (in they call "liquidity") to bailout the war-profiteering loan-sharks on wall street!!!
lehman is not the only or last pigs that tried to dump their 600 billion debt on taxpayers!
there's a long line of much worse and bigger thieves twisting washington's arm!
CALL AND WRITE TO YOUR REP IN WASHINGTON NOW
before they LIQUIFY YOU to secure their immoral financial and military empire!!!!
and take a look at your portfolio: you hard earn money invested in these crooks are already worth nothing!
DO NOT THROW GOOD TAX MONEY BEHIND THE BAD MONEY that has already evaporated!
well, the wealth you thought you had made by investing in this scam
NEVER EXISTED in the first place.
invest in substance, such as
land and building, and
pay off your mortgage asap!
and most of all, DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM CORPORATES,
unless your life depends on it!
liana....
McCain is responsible for his advisor's comments!
out of touch.... period.
Where are you, McCain supporters? The polls say you are there, but I haven't met any of you yet!
Ahh.....no wonder users refer to the devices as "crack berries". You must be on "crack" to believe this statement from the campaign is true.
No way..no how....no Palin Administration.
Enough is enough!
Obama/Biden 08
McCain voted for the Blackberry...
The thing is, he thought he was ordering dessert.
like others have said, the blackberry was developed in Canada, and seriously didn't McCain say he didn't know how to send an email anyway? it was lame when gore said he invented the internet and for john mccain to claim something as ridiculous is just plain nuts.
The thing is, Al Gore actually WAS involved with the internet while it was in it's infancy. But, this is really a non-story compared to Ms. Palin's dodging the truth about Troopergate. After eight years of this, we need more? The only explanation is, we must be a society of masochists.
...and Al Gore created the Internet, right?
Baldwin/Castle 08!
I can't believe the way CNN is distorting the facts on this one, including the headline. Especially the headline, since that is what drew me and no doubt others into this silly, sensational nothing of a story. I'm a member of the media, and I write headlines every day. Obviously, I labor more over whether what I write is true and accurate and fair than CNN, the home to the No Bias, No Bull mantra that proves more comical every day. Good luck staying out of courts with careless work like that, fellas. (And I use the word fellas, b/c of all the Palin bashing out there; surely women who have had to claw and fight and scratch and hiss their way to any sort of higher ground in this business environment would not turn on one of their own, would they?) Oh, I forgot about Campbell Brown. There goes that.
Excuse me? I heard he has trouble with email!
Uh, so why have a president when we can just have a White House full of advisers and lobbyists?
With John McCain that is what we'll have–just advisers and lobbyists making decisions for the President. Face facts, I don't trust my grandfather to drive my car, why would I trust him with the future of me and my children?
This has to stop. Americans, you need to wake up! Obama is our only hope at this point...and no, he didn't invent blackberries!
Once again, the McCain campaign conterdicts itself by saying
"...And I don’t think that it’s at this moment imperative to write down exactly what the plan has to be.” He also said a president isn’t someone who needs to be heavily involved in policy specifics"
Isn't this exactly what McCain and his advisors have been saying about Barack Obama...that's he is just an "empty suit", "all rhetoric", "no solutions"
oh yea.. his WIFE/IN-LAWS have a distributorship deal also !!!!
Swwet Jesus, another miracle by McCain. Is this one like when he said he helped create the laws on Wall Street, and now he can fix them, just like he knows where Bin laden is and how to get him, but won't unless he is elected. Dear God, America !! WAKE UP!!
Jesus! The way I understand it is that he helped make it possible for it to be created. And who cares. What does this have to do with anything? Lets report on real issues. What is he going to do about the economy and Wall Street? How will he reform politics and create transparency with a VP who is starting to look less like Tina Fey and more like Dick Cheney, everyday?
People please. McCain did in fact invent the Blackberry in 12,000 BC combining the raspberry and and the extinct petroleum berry.
And Obama-philes are still wondering what Obama has done for the past 20 years.
John McCain, "I've heard of the internets".
LOL!
The only bonehead is McCain saying our economy is strong.
Thanks, but no thanks George McCain! I know the facts and it was actually created in Wasilla, Alaska (population 5)
this guy is a joke!