ABC "Good Morning America" - Transcript
MS. SAWYER: Good morning to you Senator McCain. So the comeback kid huh? How old do you feel this morning?
SEN. MCCAIN: I was just going to say the noun "kid" does not fit very well. "The Mac is Back" is our phrase. Feeling very good. Very grateful to the people of New Hampshire. Now as you know we're onto another state. I came back to tell them the truth and to have lots of town hall meetings. We had over -- our 101st yesterday -- day before yesterday. And we ran a positive campaign.
MS. SAWYER: Let me ask you about the exit polls and some of the things they seem to be showing. They showed that among voters who say that they're voting for a candidate who says what he believes, you defeated Governor Romney 53 to 13. That's massive. This is the question -- is Governor Romney authentic or not?
SEN. MCCAIN: Well, I think it's clear that Governor Romney has changed positions on a lot of issues, but I think he's a very fine person and works very hard. I think he's very sincere. But also I think that has to do with the fact that we ran a positive campaign. And obviously there were a slue of negative ads, so I think that contributed to the positives that we had going in to the election yesterday.
MS. SAWYER: You have stuck with the surge, and stuck with your position on the surge in Iraq from the beginning. And as you probably know, one of the most viewed videos now on Youtube is the video of you saying -- interjecting -- when someone talks about being in Iraq for 50 years, and you say could be 100 years. Explain that.
SEN. MCCAIN: Could be 1,000. Could be 1,000 years or a million years. We have bases in Kuwait right now. We have bases in South Korea and Japan, Germany. I mean it's a strawman. It's a fallacious argument by people who don't understand that it's not American presence, it's American casualties. If we can get American casualties down and eliminate them, Americans are not concerned -- in fact, they may be glad we have a secure base in that part of the world as we do in Kuwait. The success of the surge will bring the casualties down and will gradually eliminate them as the Iraqi military gradually takes over those responsibilities. So -- and it's a very dangerous part of the world. Look what the Iranian boats did with our Navy ships in an international waterway. Look at Pakistan.
MS. SAWYER: Well, Senator McCain, again, it's quite a victory for you and I understand that you're a man, according to the Washington Post at least, who hedges his bet on superstitious possibilities. Is this right? You have a lucky compass, a lucky feather, a lucky penny, a lucky rock and some magical shoes?
SEN. MCCAIN: (Chuckles.) Most of those -- some of I've lost. But yes I am superstitious because I'm the luckiest guy you've ever known, Diane. It had to have a lot of luck involved for me to be talking to you this morning, including last night's results.
MS. SAWYER: Do you have any of them with you this morning as you head into Michigan?
SEN. MCCAIN: Lucky penny -- I have a lucky penny.
MS. SAWYER: All right. Well, again, thank you very much for being with us. And congratulations on last night.
SEN. MCCAIN: Thank you, Diane.