Republican Lawmaker Slams McCain: "I Don't Know That McCain Is That Influential" in the GOP

Posted by Ali Frick, Think Progress at 5:07 AM on June 25, 2009.

Ever since Iran’s disputed presidential elections this month, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has been a ubiquitous presence on TV, slamming President Obama’s response to the crisis and trying to pump up his own profile. This morning on C-Span’s Washington Journal, a caller asked Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) why anyone should listen to McCain. Akin suggested that the GOP has already tuned him out:

CALLER: Why is [McCain] considered a leader? … Why is his point of view so important, and why should Obama listen to him? [...]

AKIN: I don’t know that McCain is that influential within the Republican Party per se.

Watch it:

Yesterday, a reporter asked President Obama whether McCain’s criticisms of his handling of the Iran situation had “influenced” him at all. “What do you think?” Obama replied:

I think John McCain has genuine passion about many of these international issues, and I think that all of us share a belief that we want justice to prevail. But only I’m the President of the United States, and I’ve got responsibilities in making certain that we are continually advancing our national security interests and that we are not used as a tool to be exploited by other countries.

Ali Frick is a Research Associate for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.