Post Politics Hour

washingtonpost.com's Daily Politics Discussion

Don't want to miss out on the latest in politics? Start each day with The Post Politics Hour. Join in each weekday morning at 11 a.m. as a member of The Washington Post's team of White House and Congressional reporters answers questions about the latest in buzz in Washington and The Post's coverage of political news.

Washington Post national political reporter Michael D. Shear was online Wednesday, June 18 at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the latest in political news.

The transcript follows.

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Archive: Post Politics Hour discussion transcripts

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Michael D. Shear: Good morning everyone.

There's a lot to talk about today: Oil drilling off the coast, a foreign-policy dust-up yesterday, questions about preferential treatment by a mortgage lender -- and whatever else is on your mind.

So let's get started.

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Fossil, Ore.: Congress keeps holding committee meetings and "asking the tough questions," but little or nothing ever comes out of these meetings. The hearings on the price of oil are a great example. Any American could have looked at the bottom line of the oil companies and found the answer. What if anything ever comes from these hearings?

Michael D. Shear: The question is a reflection of how the American people hold the Congress in such low esteem. I saw a poll the other day that suggested approval ratings of just 13 percent for members of Congress.

In fact, some of the hearings -- like the ones with oil executives -- are just for show. But others have produced real results. I'm thinking for example of the Abramoff hearings that in fact uncovered corruption and led to actual arrests and convictions.

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Rhode Island: Hi Michael. Can you help me understand what the kerfuffle is over the Dodd/Conrad loan "deals"? I believe approximately every homeowner in the country was refinancing in 2003, many with loan terms not that much different than the senators'. I re-financed for a similar interest rate and had the points waived. Am I in trouble too?

washingtonpost.com: Senators Deny Knowing Of Home Loan Favoritism (Post, June 18)

Michael D. Shear: Not to worry, Rhode Island -- unless you are running for president, I think you'll be fine. And if you are running for president, you're probably still fine unless you somehow were treated in a "special" way by the mortgage lenders.

The issue here is, frankly, one of political perception. With the economy struggling, everyone is looking for someone to blame, and the lenders are easy targets, given some of their questionable practices. In the case of, for example, Chris Dodd, the question becomes what, if anything, he got from Countrywide as a VIP. He says he thought he only was getting "courtesies" while in fact he got a better rate.

I suspect we will see many more of these questions about the relationship between politicians and mortgage lenders.

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Tokyo: I'm confused about John McCain's cap-and-trade proposal. He has said he would not impose a mandatory cap at this time -- just targets. So what would be traded under his plan?

Michael D. Shear: Tokyo is wondering about a statement McCain made at a press conference the other day, in which he said he would not at this time impose a mandatory cap ... yet his own cap-and-trade proposal would in fact be a mandatory cap. It is indeed a mystery, and I suspect was a misstatement by the candidate. We're still trying to get clarification on that one.

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Washington: I truly wonder what makes McCain's "Sept. 10 mindset" remark so newsworthy. We all know that all Republicans think all Democrats are ignorant in how to deal with the war and terrorists. What is newsworthy there?

Michael D. Shear: I think the newsworthy thing here was the strident language that was used: "naive," "delusional," etc. While the sentiment isn't new, the idea of one candidate (or his surrogates) calling the other "delusional" is pretty amazing. In fact, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who backs McCain, today chided both sides for their intemperate language.

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Williamsburg, Va.: Polls have been coming out showing Obama leading in Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Colorado, New Mexico and Missouri, as well as all of the Kerry states. Could we be looking at an electoral college landslide? Does this make it less likely that a vice president (for either candidate) will be chosen to help with one state?

Michael D. Shear: With all due respect to our pollster, Jon Cohen, and others, the polls right now are merely an indication of the current thinking of the electorate. We have a very, very long way to go in this election before anyone can predict with any certainty something like an Electoral College landslide.

As for the choice of a vice president, history suggests that picking a candidate to help with his or her home state usually does not accomplish that goal.

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Kansas City, Mo.: Do you think Al Franken will write a response to Gerson's editorial about his vulgarity in today's Post, or just try to ignore it?

Michael D. Shear: My guess: He jokes about it on the campaign trail.

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Houston: I'm so sick of our political leadership -- by both parties. We haven't built an oil refinery in 30 years. We don't build nuclear power plants. We refuse to dig in our own soil -- we must protect the environment! -- but have no problem digging for oil in other countries. Neither of our candidates offer much hope, but Obama seems slightly worse on energy independence issues. Is that a fair assessment?

Michael D. Shear: I'm not the one to be deciding whether that assessment is fair or not. It's certainly true that refinery and nuclear power plant construction both have lagged, in part because of environmental opposition (in the case of nuclear plants). Sen. McCain makes a big issue out of building new nuclear plants. I'm not sure I've heard Obama talk as much about that issue.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Hey, Tom Sietsema isn't chatting today! So you tell us -- what's your favorite place to eat lunch around The Washington Post's building? Bonus points for naming a politician in your answer.

Michael D. Shear: Okay, here's a try: If I were dining with Rudy Giuliani today, I'd probably take him to a place called simply Brown Bag. It's on 14th or 13th street, I think, and you can build your own sandwich, pasta or salad. Good lemonade, too.

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Alexandria, Va.: I have to agree with an earlier poster: I also refinanced with Countrywide and got a better rate than either Dorgan or Dodd -- no points -- and I am just an average citizen. I think you're trying to make a nonissue into a story, and unfortunately there are some real aggrieved people out there who will buy into your tempest in a teapot. I will bet that even journalists call on people in the know when they want to get good information on mortgages, buying cars, plasma TVs, etc.

Michael D. Shear: Well, having refinanced a bunch myself earlier this year, the only person I knew to call was my mortgage guy.

I think the issue is not so much what rate anyone got. You may have gotten a better rate than Dodd just by shopping around. Rather, it's the perception that the chairman of the Banking Committee (which I'm assuming you're not) was cozy with the very mortgage executives who were making decisions that helped lead the country into a recession. It makes people wonder whether the foxes were asleep while they were guarding the henhouse. And that is a political problem for people like Sen. Dodd.

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Southwest Nebraska: Will there be any debates, town hall meetings, whatever, prior to Labor Day? How does it look like the debates will be structured? How many?

Michael D. Shear: There almost certainly will be some debates. Sen. McCain, of course, has challenged Sen. Obama to a series of weekly town-hall-style debates. So far, Sen. Obama has not accepted. But it's clear that these two candidates will meet, and probably often, in the coming weeks.

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Princeton, N.J.: It is simply false to blame environmental concerns for our lack of refining capacity. Oil companies have been buying up refineries and shutting them down, and have not proposed any new ones. Why should they? They are making obscene gobs of money in the present situation.

Michael D. Shear: Yes. I'm not an environmental reporter, but my sense is that there are lots of other reasons for the lack of refinery capacity and construction. That's why I said (or meant to say) that the environmental concerns were primarily about the construction of new nuclear facilities.

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Iowa: I am one of those despicable environmentalists. I do not think drilling for more oil off the coast is a long-term solution, but it's easy and painless (for all but the locals and the wildlife). We like easy "solutions," and I see McCain has changed his position. Brother Jeb is no longer governor of Florida, so I'm guessing it will happen. Do you think so? Have the tax benefits for renewable energy been renewed?

Michael D. Shear: Hey, Iowa.

I'm not sure about the tax benefits. I do think the dynamic in Florida will be an interesting one to watch. Former Gov. Jeb Bush was always opposed to drilling of the coast of his state, putting his brother in a bind. Now, Gov. Charlie Crist has reversed his own position and is backing Sen. McCain's call for a lifting of the federal moratorium, and clearing the way for the president to call for the same, probably today.

The question is, what is the political ramification of that? Will McCain's call for drilling help or -- maybe more likely -- hurt him in trying to get votes in Florida? Does this open up an opportunity for Obama, who was thought to be less competitive in Florida than the typical Democrat?

Time will tell.

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Yonkers, N.Y.: Is it possible that either candidate, or both of them, might avoid the public spotlight for a couple of weeks so that the voters can catch their breaths and not get royally sick of both of them? Isn't pacing part of a campaign, sort of like how they don't release two Tom Cruise movies within one week of each other?

Michael D. Shear: Amen to this, Yonkers. Those of us who have been on the campaign trail for many months certainly pray for such a thing. A pause for the good of the country would allow us to catch our breath as well. Alas, I think it's not to be. While the campaign is a bit slower, with a few days off here and there, the reality of modern elections is that no one on either side wants to give the other an opening.

So, as much as I don't disagree with your sentiment, I do not expect either to be out of the spotlight for much more than a day here or there between now and November.

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Oak Park, Mich.: The McCain campaign was declared dead after John Weaver and Terry Nelson convinced McCain to run as a conventional Republican. This strategy failed miserably because McCain is too genuine to play that role effectively. Then Rick Davis took over and let McCain be McCain, doing town halls, and being the scrappy maverick. Now that he has the nomination, it seems like they have returned to the same old failed strategy. What are they thinking?

Michael D. Shear: It is interesting to watch Sen. McCain adapt to being the head of his party. His aides are mindful of the problems that occurred when he tried to be the establishment candidate last year, but in some ways it is unavoidable to be a different kind of McCain now. It will be interesting to watch how he tries to hang on to the maverick image while being the leader of his party.

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Claverack, N.Y.: Seriously -- not that I care, but at this point, can't we conclude that Cindy McCain just doesn't cook? And shouldn't someone say that, if so, that's perfectly okay?

Michael D. Shear: The campaign appears to have a recipe problem, that's for sure. Claverack is commenting on the fact that, apparently, another recipe submitted as one of Cindy McCain's was taken, word for word, this time from a Hershey's site.

It's hard to imagine how that happens once, much less twice.

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Michael D. Shear: Sorry guys, gotta cut it a few minutes short. I'll make it up next time, I promise. Cheers.

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