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Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain called Russia’s incursion into neighboring Georgia “the most serious international crisis since the end of the Cold War” in an appearance at the Aspen Institute on Thursday, but he said a U.S. military response was not “a viable one, or called for.”


“I think our goal has to be not to escalate this into a military conflict,” McCain said to an enthusiastic crowd of about 700 in the Greenwald Pavilion. “I think our goal has to be to defuse it.”

In a wide-ranging interview with Aspen Institute CEO Walter Isaacson, McCain hailed the military surge in Iraq as a success, but said the timing of a pullout should be based on advice from commanders. That was an apparent retort to Democratic opponent Barack Obama, who has called for a swift troop pullout.

McCain laid out an energy policy that includes a mix of fossil fuels, alternative energy and nuclear power. “Let’s try everything,” he said. “Let’s drill, and drill now.”

McCain drew hearty rounds of applause from a crowd comprised mostly of supporters when he called for more free trade and Social Security reforms.

His loudest applause came when he criticized Obama for his stance on Iraq. “I think he used the issue of Iraq for political reasons, to get the nomination of his party,” McCain said.

That remark came in response to a question from the audience, though, and for most of the appearance McCain avoided references to Obama, despite what has become an increasingly antagonistic campaign.

In a tête-à-tête with the candidate, Larry Gellman, of Tucson, Ariz., McCain’s home state, criticized McCain for hiring Republican operatives who, he said, painted Obama as a “traitor,” much as they had painted McCain in his primary campaign against President Bush.

“How could he hire the same people who did that to him?” asked Gellman in an interview. Gellman, a member of the Aspen Institute’s Society of Fellows, described himself as a “left-leaning independent” who had contributed to McCain’s last Senate campaign and voted for him, but is supporting Obama for president.

McCain’s appearance was sandwiched between high-dollar, high-altitude fund-raisers: A luncheon at a private home in the Vail area, a $1,000-a-head gathering at the Hotel Jerome and a dinner for 160 top fundraisers, dubbed his Trailblazers, at the Pine Creek Cookhouse.

McCain was joined by several prominent Republican politicians, including Gov. Jon Huntsman, of Utah; Sen. John Thune, of South Dakota; former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, McCain’s campaign co-chairman; and Sen. Lindsay Graham, of South Carolina.

At least some of the top GOP brass traveling with the Senator are thought to be on his running-mate short list.

Dozens of supporters stood outside the Hotel Jerome to greet him as he stepped out of his black SUV and shook hands with them. Supporters, some calling themselves “Pitkin County McCainiacs,” held signs and shouted “Vote for John McCain!” as afternoon rush hour traffic passed. Some passing motorists honked and cheered. Others shouted back “Obama!”

“He feels very honest to us and very forthright,” said Diane Ash, of Basalt, who said she is an independent. She was holding a McCain sign with her daughters, Morgan, 8, Hunter, 11, and husband Prentice.

This is McCain’s second appearance in Aspen in a month, and his third in a year. In July he met with the Dalai Lama and held a fundraiser at a private home. During his last appearance at the Aspen Institute one year ago, his campaign was in a dramatically different position. Then, his Straight Talk Express was losing its steam and he was trailing in the polls. Pundits were sounding the death knell for his candidacy.

He credited his turnaround to a “No Surrender Tour” he and Graham launched calling for a military surge to get the upper hand in Iraq after they visited U.S. troops in Baghdad.

“It really does put everything into perspective for you when you see these young Americans fighting for someone else’s freedom,” he said.

McCain criticized the Iraqi government for taking “two steps forward, one step back,” and for going on recess in August without setting a date for elections, but he praised the government for making strides and credited the surge with reducing casualties to what he said was the lowest rate since the conflict began.

McCain said he supports tax breaks for solar and wind power, but he also called for more oil and gas drilling, offshore drilling, clean coal, oil shale development and nuclear power. He won applause when he called for 35 new nuclear power plants by 2030, and when he said he opposes ethanol subsidies. He also called for a cap-and-trade approach to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

McCain, who was tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, said he supports closing the Guantanamo Bay prison.

“What is the moral imperative of the United States of America when we torture prisoners?” he asked. “I support closing Guantanamo Bay because it’s a symbol.”

He called for “meaningful sanctions” against Iran if it were found to be pursuing nuclear weapons, and suggested Russia could be kept out of international organizations like the World Trade Organization for what he said is an attempt to try to reestablish a “Russian empire.”

McCain also took a swipe at famously liberal Aspen: When audience members groaned that here they are paying far more than the $3.75 per gallon McCain mentioned, he laughed. “That’s the classic Democratic approach: Soak the rich,” he said.

Finally, he defended his choice of the pop song “Dancing Queen,” by the ’70s band ABBA, as one of his favorite songs.

“Everybody says, ‘I hate ABBA. Blah blah blah blah blah.’ How come everybody goes to ‘Mamma Mia?’” he asked, referring to the hit musical and film that features ABBA songs.

dfrey@aspendailynews.com