Weigel

John McCain Explains Why He Voted Against DISCLOSE

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 26: U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) speaks during a news conference June 26, 2012 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The Republican senators discussed their accusations of national security leaks from the Obama Administration. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

On the way into the Cheney luncheon that I wrote about earlier, Sen. John McCain stopped to talk to reporters about why he’d vote against the DISCLOSE Act – twice in two days.

“The fundamental here,” he said, “is the way you do any reform is on a bipartisan basis. This is totally a partisan bill. We all know that. It’s not going to pass. It’s for a political purpose. I resent that, having been involved, with Sen. Feingold, in campaign finance reform that was indeed meaningful. Unfortunately, the United States Supreme Court gutted it. But the fact is, everybody knows it has to be done on a bipartisan basis. They have chosen to attack this issue on a partisan basis, for partisan reasons.”

Another reporter followed up: Would McCain introduce his own reform bill?

“No, because I don’t have any agreement from a Democrat. I can’t find a Democrat who’d agree to rein in the influence of the trade unions. When a Democrat is willing to do that, I expect to join him.”