McCain in 2006:

Two years ago, just after Hamas won the Palestinian parliamentary elections, I [James P. Rubin, of the Washington Post] interviewed McCain for the British network Sky News’s “World News Tonight” program. Here is the crucial part of our exchange:

[James P. Rubin] asked: “Do you think that American diplomats should be operating the way they have in the past, working with the Palestinian government if Hamas is now in charge?”

McCain answered: “They’re the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another, and I understand why this administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas because of their dedication to violence and the things that they not only espouse but practice, so . . . but it’s a new reality in the Middle East. I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, that they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that.”

McCain in 2008:

US Republican presidential candidate John McCain said over the weekend that he would be Hamas’s worst nightmare, while Democratic rival Barack Obama was clearly Hamas’s choice for US president.

“I think it’s very clear who Hamas wants to be the next president of the United States,” McCain, the putative Republican presidential nominee, said in a conference call on Friday with conservative bloggers.

“I think that the people should understand that I will be Hamas’s worst nightmare,” he said in response to a question from Jennifer Rubin of Commentary magazine.

Campaign spokesman Brian Rogers said Hamas support “is a legitimate issue for the American people to think about.”

“The reason for Hamas’s praise of Senator Obama’s foreign policy is his commitment to meet unconditionally with Iran… It is not only responsible to raise these critical issues in this election, but it would be the height of irresponsibility not to have this discussion with the American people,” Rogers said.

Obama’s foreign policy represented a “radical departure” from current standards of dealing with “rogue regimes,” he said.

McCain suggested that the support stemmed from Obama’s willingness to have diplomatic talks with nations like Iran.

“I never expect for the leader of Hamas… to say that he wants me as president of the United States,” McCain said. “I think it is very clear… why they would not want me to be president of the United States, so if Sen. Obama is favored by Hamas, I think people can make judgments accordingly.”

[Previous stops on the Straight Talk Express: one, two, three and four.]

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Tagged: straight talk express 2008 elections john mccain barack obama hamas war on terra