|
Washington: Republican US presidential candidate Senator John McCain has admitted he never uses e-mail and has to be shown websites by his staff as he is only just "learning to get online".
If elected, McCain, who turns 72 this year, would be the oldest candidate to enter the White House. And in facing Barack Obama, who is 25 years his junior and making the internet a key campaign tool, he is risking claims he is stuck in the past.
The former US Navy pilot, who spent more than five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, did himself no favours when asked which websites he followed most keenly.
"Brooke and Mark show me Drudge [a news website]. Obviously, everybody watches, for better or for worse, Drudge," he said, referring to his aides.
When asked if he went online himself, the Arizona senator responded: "They go on for me. I am learning to get online myself and I will have that down fairly soon. I don't expect to be a great communicator. I don't expect to set up my own blog. But I am becoming computer-literate to the point where I can get the information I need."
When McCain conceded that he did not use a BlackBerry or e-mail, his aide interjected: "He uses a BlackBerry, just ours."
But McCain added: "I've never felt the particular need to e-mail. I read e-mails all the time but the communications that I have with my friends and staff are oral and done with my cell phone.
"But I do - could I just say, really - I understand the impact of blogs on American politics today and political campaigns."
Meanwhile, Obama always carries his BlackBerry with him and is often seen tapping out e-mails on his campaign plane.
Last month, Mark Soohoo, deputy director of McCain's e-campaign, was mocked for insisting: "You don't necessarily have to use a computer to understand how it shapes the country."
Jamal Simmonds, a Democratic strategist with close ties to the Obama campaign, was staggered, saying: "It's just amazing.
"It's very hard to even think about someone who doesn't know how to use the internet.
"It's like, 'Really? My five-year-old niece can use the internet'."
Simmonds added that the interview could also be politically damaging.
He said: "The tough part is that, if one of the concerns voters have is that you are out of touch with how they live, what they want and the problems they face, then this only reinforces that notion.
"He's a hero for what he did 35 years ago but that doesn't necessarily make him the kind of president we want today. Here's somebody who is in many eyes very disconnected from where people are."
|
