A crowd of
Washington Democrats planned to greet the Republican presidential contender
when he landed in Seattle, not just to challenge his policy positions but his
support for the local economy.
McCain, you
see, was flying into Boeing Field on a Boeing 737 after having worked earlier
in this decade to kill a deal to lease Boeing 767 jets to the Air Force for use
as refueling aircraft. Two people went to jail and Boeing's then-chief
executive resigned over the controversial deal, subsequently shelved.
Earlier this
year, the Air Force decided to award a renewed $35 billion tanker contract not
to Boeing, but the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. - parent company
of Boeing rival Airbus - and its U.S. partner, Northrop Grumman Corp.
Some of
McCain's advisers lobbied for EADS, but the Arizona senator and former Navy
pilot denied interceding on their behalf and defended his oversight of the
tanker contract.
"I had
nothing to do with the contract, except to insist in writing, on several
occasions, as this process went forward, that it be fair and open and
transparent. That was my involvement in it," he said in mid-March.
