More From the Crooked Talk Express

Can we finally do away with the myth that John McCain is not the straight talker he portrays himself to be. The straight talk express has been on a crooked path for quite sometime. Case in point is his September 24, 2002 statement on how the Iraq war will go.

MCCAIN: I thank you for the question because that keeps me awake at night. Because I know that as successful as I believe we will be, and I believe that the success will be fairly easy.

Compare that to his January 4, 2007 statement. McCain engages in revisionist history on his own record.

"When I voted to support this war, I knew it was probably going to be long and hard and tough, and those that voted for it and thought that somehow it was going to be some kind of an easy task, then I’m sorry they were mistaken."

The latest McCain folly occurred on the Straight Talk Express bus. The Maverick was asked his position on HIV prevention. Hilarity ensues.

Mr. McCain: “I haven’t thought about it. Before I give you an answer, let me think about. Let me think about it a little bit because I never got a question about it before. I don’t know if I would use taxpayers’ money for it.”

Q: “What about grants for sex education in the United States? Should they include instructions about using contraceptives? Or should it be Bush’s policy, which is just abstinence?”

Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “Ahhh. I think I support the president’s policy.”

Q: “So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just abstinence. Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?”

Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “You’ve stumped me.”

Q: “I mean, I think you’d probably agree it probably does help stop it?”

Mr. McCain: (Laughs) “Are we on the Straight Talk express? I’m not informed enough on it. Let me find out. You know, I’m sure I’ve taken a position on it on the past. I have to find out what my position was. Brian, would you find out what my position is on contraception – I’m sure I’m opposed to government spending on it, I’m sure I support the president’s policies on it.”

Q: “But you would agree that condoms do stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Would you say: ‘No, we’re not going to distribute them,’ knowing that?”

Mr. McCain: (Twelve-second pause) “Get me Coburn’s thing, ask Weaver to get me Coburn’s paper that he just gave me in the last couple of days. I’ve never gotten into these issues before.”

McCain's had to ask his aide press secretary Brian Jones what his position is on HIV prevention. Shouldn't McCain be asking himself that question?

Update: McCain made this statement to reporters.

“Everybody says, ‘We just want you to be like last time,’ ” he said amid a welter of microphones in what turned into a daylong conversation with reporters, punctuated by the occasional meeting with voters. “Last time we lost! But I haven’t changed any, and as we go through the town hall meetings and the debate, I can make that abundantly clear.”