Base closures needed, McCain tells New Hampshire

John McCain Monday told members of the Rochester Rotary Club in New Hampshire that he "does not want to see" the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard closed, "but warned that future military base shutdowns are necessary."

"We just don't need the number of bases that we had during the Cold War," he said. McCain, on the Portsmouth base, said, "I think it certainly has a role in future national defense. But so does every base in America. They're all good bases. The question is how they stack up in the process when they're compared with every other base in America. . . . I have five bases in Arizona. I know that one or more of those would be at great risk if there was a base-closure commission. . . . But I have to tell you, we have to have a reasonable, logical system to reduce the number of bases" (Kerr, Manchester Union Leader, 1/18).

Meanwhile, McCain said that he can "identify" a gay person "by behavior and by attitude." The issue came up on board his campaign bus where McCain said he had served in the Navy with "many gays, although they had not told him of their sexual orientation."

Later, outside the bus, McCain was asked how he could tell his fellow servicemen were gay. "Well, I think we know by behavior and attitudes. I think that it's clear to some of us when some people have that lifestyle. But I didn't pursue it, and I wouldn't pursue it," he said. Asked again, McCain said, "I said I had suspicions, and I think that-I was told that they were. But, look: That, to me, was something-and still is something-that is private. It's very different from a manifestation of that behavior in the line of duty."

Human Rights Campaign Communications Director David Smith retorted, "He has one up on me, because I can't tell just by behavior and attitudes. . . . He is clearly stereotyping based on mannersims. This is a form of prejudice, and illustrates the struggle that gay people face." (Allen, Washington Post, 1/18).