The Trail

REBUKE FROM AN ALLY

McCain Backtracks on Earmarks and Bridge

Sen. John McCain yesterday attempted to clarify comments about last summer's deadly bridge collapse in Minneapolis, saying he never intended to say federal budget earmarks led to the disaster.

Responding to reporters's questions as he traveled through Iowa, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee said he meant to say only that earmarks divert money from necessary projects toward unneeded pork-barrel ones.

"When you divert money to projects that are unneeded and unwanted, any project that is deserved is not going to receive the funding that's necessary," he said. "And I will maintain again that I believe that when you fund a bridge to Alaska or you fund a highway in Florida that the people there don't even want, then money is diverted from much-needed projects."

In Pennsylvania on Wednesday, McCain said the Interstate 35W bridge collapse in August happened because lawmakers have consistently spent taxpayers' dollars on items aimed at bolstering their political standing at home. "The bridge in Minneapolis didn't collapse because there wasn't enough money," McCain told reporters. "The bridge in Minneapolis collapsed because so much money was spent on wasteful, unnecessary pork-barrel projects."

That had prompted a mild rebuke from Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), a national co-chairman of McCain's campaign. He told reporters they should not necessarily accept the senator's analysis that the bridge's collapse stemmed from wasteful spending.

Pawlenty, who is often referred to as a possible running mate for McCain, said people should not draw conclusions about the bridge collapse until the National Transportation Safety Board completes its probe of the incident.

The probe has focused on a possible design flaw in the bridge. Pawlenty said he called McCain's aides to remind them that the safety board will be issuing a report in a matter of months.

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, a Democrat, also questioned McCain's response. "I'm surprised he is saying something different than the governor, who has said that this wasn't about resources," Rybak said.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, echoed Rybak's remarks. "John McCain's comments regarding the I-35 Minneapolis bridge tragedy are disappointing and inappropriate," he said in a statement. "I agree with Mayor Rybak that it's wrong for Senator McCain to try to use a catastrophe that killed 13 people and injured hundreds to score political points. Senator McCain should apologize to the people of Minnesota for his remarks."

McCain was not the first presidential candidate to mention the I-35 bridge. In defending his opposition to the idea of a gas-tax holiday, Barack Obama said last weekend that the proposal would rob the government of funds for road construction and added, "Remember that bridge in Minneapolis?"