As Commerce Committee chairman, McCain left mixed legacy

To those who express doubts about his economic acumen, Sen John McCain has a simple answer: "I was chairman of the Commerce Committee, which oversights all of the commercial aspects of America's economy," he said in a "60 Minutes" interview that aired Sunday. It's a bit of an exaggeration — the Senate Commerce Committee doesn't have primary jurisdiction over the financial services industry, which is at the heart of today's economic crisis — and it's also a more complicated story than McCain's declaration might suggest. Sen McCain wielded the gavel at the Commerce Committee from 1997 to 2001 and again from 2005 to 2007. Supporters credit him with being open-minded and say he ran the committee with a steady, moderate hand during his stints in the chair. But critics who worked with the committee at the time contend that McCain avoided policy debates and sometimes seemed apathetic — and that his staff was too cozy with lobbyists. Experts who have worked with the committee or follow its deliberations paint a picture of McCain's tenure as unremarkable and sometimes contradictory — and often (but not always) fueled by a deregulatory bent.