Blitzer claimed McCain "likes straight talk"

On the January 15 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, host Wolf Blitzer teased a report on Focus on the Family chairman James Dobson's statement that he "would not vote for [Sen.] John McCain [R-AZ] under any circumstances" by claiming that "Senator John McCain likes straight talk" -- a reference to McCain's self-styled reputation as a "straight-talker," the theme of McCain's failed 2000 presidential bid.

As Media Matters for America has noted, however, McCain has offered anything but "straight talk" on all manner of issues. He has displayed stark inconsistency on issues ranging from the Iraq war and the Bush administration to his opinion of certain conservative Christians -- a noteworthy fact during a report on Dobson's comments about McCain. The Associated Press reported on August 28, 2006, that McCain "would consider" speaking at Bob Jones University, "a school he criticized during the 2000 presidential campaign for its ban on interracial dating and anti-Catholic views." On May 13, 2006, McCain delivered the commencement speech at Rev. Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, even though McCain denounced Falwell in 2000 as an "agent[] of intolerance."

From the January 15 edition of CNN's The Situation Room at 4 p.m. ET:

BLITZER: And coming up, Senator John McCain likes straight talk. But you can bet he won't like what a leading Christian conservative is saying about him.

—S.S.M.