John McCain Has a Romney Moment

Back when we were kids, we wanted to be rich and famous. Now that we’ve gotten older, we realize that fame is overrated. Photographers and reporters follow you everywhere, feeding quotes and pictures to an adoring public like chunks of raw meat into a cage of lions.

New York Times reporter Elisabeth Bumiller threw us a pretty substantial hunk of Republican candidate John McCain this afternoon. She got the notoriously temperamental senator riled up by asking about his connection with Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry.

Aww, it’s just like the old times when Mitt Romney was yelling at Glen Johnson.

As talk has turned to the GOP nominee’s running mate, reporters asked McCain about his 2004 conversations with Kerry about joining the Democratic ticket. Bumiller dredged up a May, 2004 Times story in which McCain denied the conversation ever took place. That led to this memorable exchange.

McCain: “Why should I? Then there’s no such thing as a private conversation. Is there (inaudible) if you have a private conversation with someone, and then they come and tell you. I don’t know that that’s a private conversation. I think that’s a public conversation.”

Bumiller: “Okay. Can I ask you about your (pause) Why you’re so angry?”

McCain: “Pardon me?”

Bumiller: “Nevermind, nevermind.”

McCain: “I mean, it’s well known. Everybody knows. It’s been well chronicled a thousand times. John Kerry asked if I would consider being his running mate.”

We asked Kerry whether or not the conversation happened. His spokesman, David Wade, said, “Sen. Kerry believes that vice presidential conversations which were said to be private should remain private barring extreme circumstances.”

Oh fine. Be classy. We’ll just read Perez Hilton for the rest of the day, then.