John Lewis

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I listened to most of the Saddleback Forum, McCain and Obama's non-debate debate in the form of separate conversations with megapastor Rick Warren. I remember being vaguely impressed halfway through McCain's answer to this question:

Who are the three wisest people that you know that you would rely on heavily in an administration?

He started with Petraeus and I rolled my eyes; but his second choice was John Lewis, a genuine hero of the civil rights movement, one of those who were beaten by police on their way out of Selma on the march to Montgomery. That McCain would think to name John Lewis, over any of his Republican mentors or colleagues, was a surprise. I thought I might like to learn more about the McCain-Lewis connection - because basically I like reasons to think well of people - but then I got distracted by some other shiny piece of Internet.

Turns out, well:

In response to McCain's latest invocation of his name, Rep. Lewis said in a statement requested by Mother Jones, "I cannot stop one human being, even a presidential candidate, from admiring the courage and sacrifice of peaceful protesters on the Edmund Pettus Bridge or making comments about it." But, he added, "Sen. McCain and I are colleagues in the US Congress, not confidantes. He does not consult me. And I do not consult him."

If McCain really wanted to rely on John Lewis's wisdom, maybe he could have asked for it sometime.

McCain's third pick was Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay. Obama, declining to limit himself to three advisors, mentioned his wife, his grandmother, and bipartisan colleagues Sam Nunn, Dick Lugar, Ted Kennedy, and Tom Coburn.