John McCain's son, Doug: 'It's going to be very close'

NORFOLK

Doug McCain, son of Republican presidential nominee John McCain, settled at the podium at the Town Point Club on Friday. He looked at his speech notes, then excused himself as he unfolded a pair of reading glasses.

"I'm going to have to," he said, putting on the eyeglasses. "This is a recent development. I was told 'When they go, they go,' and now I know that is right."

McCain, who lives in Virginia Beach, said he is increasingly trying to find time in his schedule as an American Airlines pilot to campaign for his dad.

He seemed assured in that role Friday speaking to the Downtown Republican Club, barely looking at the few notes he had jotted down, as he discussed media coverage, Gov. Sarah Palin and the federal financial bailout, among other issues.

McCain, who turns 49 today, said he was pleased with Palin's debate performance Thursday night.

"The mainstream media - and I don't like that term, but everybody seems to use it - they were so waiting for Gov. Palin to fall on her face and today to say 'This thing is over, Barack Obama has won,' " he said. "I promise you, on Election Night it's going to be very close."

By one scenario, he said, the Electoral College could wind up tied at 269 votes each - of 270 needed to become president - and the outcome could be determined by a few districts in Maine.

He said he met the Palin family in a plane sitting on the tarmac at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport.

"The kids were sitting back there and they literally looked like deer in the headlights," he remembered. "Finally, my brother, Andy, and I just said, 'Enjoy it. This may never happen again.' "

McCain recalled that a tight race would be a far cry from earlier this year, when his father's campaign was reeling and his funds had been exhausted. Then he won primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina.

"And so we called the same donors back: 'I think you're going to have to add a few zeroes to that check,' " McCain said, drawing laughter from the small gathering.

McCain said he had spoken with financial experts to try to understand the banking crisis and bailout, and said there is much to quibble with in the details of the plan. But he supports it.

"When the secretary of the Treasury comes out and says, 'We've got to do something,' I think we have to do something."

McCain is one of three children from his father's first marriage, and he went to the University of Virginia, then joined the Navy. He and his wife have two children: a son at Norfolk Academy and a daughter at University of North Carolina.

Even with campaigning and the traveling with his job, he's following his favorite sports teams. Last weekend, he sat in his hotel room in Tokyo, paid for a day-pass online "so I could watch the Redskins beat the Cowboys on my laptop."

Before he spoke to the group, he told a man seated with him for lunch that he had plans for the following day, to watch a team for which he had less hope than the McCain-Palin ticket.

"Unfortunately," he said, "I'm going to make the drive to Charlottesville for the game."

Lon Wagner, (757) 446-2341, Lon.Wagner@pilotonline.com