The Wonk Room

McCain Campaign Attacks Wonk Room, But Offers No ‘Alternative Figures’ On Deficit Projections

Late last week, the Wonk Room reported a new analysis by the Center for American Progress Action Fund finding that John McCain would recklessly exacerbate the fiscal irresponsibility of the Bush Administration and create the largest deficit in 25 years.

When contacted by Slate magazine for a response to our deficit analysis, the McCain campaign offered this:

Spokesman Brian Rogers dismissed the CAP study as coming from “a left-wing Democratic front group” but did not provide alternative figures. “The fact that they falsely criticize Sen. McCain’s policy proposals is unfortunate, but it’s hardly surprising,” he wrote in an e-mail.

Well, needless to say, we don’t believe our analysis is false, and we are very open to a debate on its merits. Note that you can read our methodology in detail on page 3 of the report.

Unfortunately, despite supposed outreach to the lefty blogosphere and promises to run a different kind of campaign, the McCain camp seems more interested in attacking us than engaging in a substantive debate on our methodology or our conclusions.

We’ve contacted the McCain campaign for further comment on where they think our analysis went wrong, and we’ve been told that they’d “be in touch if they have a different comment” for us. We look forward to it.