KEY POINTS:
Senator John McCain should have been fundraising in the Texas oil patch yesterday alongside his good friend Clayton Williams. In the town of Midland, Republican heavy-hitters were lined up to sign some equally weighty cheques for their man's presidential campaign.
Instead, the candidate was busy trying to salvage an already shaky reputation after America's female voters had been reminded of derogatory remarks that "Claytie" Williams made about women and rape nearly 20 years ago.
While running unsuccessfully against Ann Richards for governor, the Texan was overheard comparing rape to the weather: "As long as it's inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it."
Following the resurrection of this and other off-colour remarks, the McCain campaign decided abruptly to cancel the fundraiser at Williams' lavish Midland home. The campaign is also promising to hand back the US$300,000 ($396,000) Williams has already raised for the McCain campaign as it tried to contain the damage.
McCain's spokesman, Brian Rogers, said: "These were obviously incredibly offensive remarks that the campaign was unaware of at the time [the fundraiser] was scheduled."
The McCain campaign has been busy targeting supporters of Senator Hillary Clinton after the bitterness of the primary struggle with Senator Barack Obama. But while these women may be angry that Clinton has been blocked from making a historic bid for the White House, they are proving reluctant to support McCain despite a very public charm offensive about Clinton's attributes as a leader.
Obama has already moved into a 19 per cent lead over McCain among female voters.
Clinton's supporters are aware of a tasteless joke McCain made about Chelsea Clinton's looks in 1998. While the mainstream US media deemed it "too vicious to print", McCain's remarks at another Republican fundraiser still echo round the internet. "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly?" he asked his guests. It was, he said, "because her father is Janet Reno [US attorney general under President Bill Clinton]."
McCain later personally apologised to Bill Clinton for the remarks and went on to become a close friend of Hillary Clinton.
- INDEPENDENT
