John McCain Sits Down With Women Of "The View"

Presumptive GOP presidential nominee "Jack Mac," as host Whoopi Goldberg dubbed him, spoke to the women of ABC's "The View" this morning.

Asked about Colin Powell's comments characterizing the U.S. military as stressed and stretched, McCain said the military is indeed overstressed. But, he said, "there's only one thing worse than an overstressed military, and that's a defeated military." When subsequently asked if he would push for a draft, McCain said no.

McCain also addressed charges that he wants to stay in Iraq for 100 years – and the notion that he is a "warmonger."

"The key is American casualties," McCain said. "We're in South Korea, we're in Germany, we're in Japan. We're in many countries around the world because America is a great force for stability and security. But Americans are satisfied with that. What they don't want is Americans to be killed or wounded. And I was taking about after this war was over...I was talking about an American presence."

McCain was asked if he would go to the Olympic opening ceremonies. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have called upon President Bush to boycott them.

"I would say, right now, this depends on Chinese behavior," McCain said. "Unless there is some progress with the Dalai Lama, including conversations with him, including stopping this brutal crackdown that we're seeing in Tibet, then I would make the decision not to go. But I would say to the Chinese, look, clean up your act here. This is not acceptable."

"Unless they change something pretty quickly, I would not go to the opening ceremonies," he added.

Asked about the possibility of choosing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as his running mate, McCain said he had not spoken to her. He called Rice "a great American," but said "we're not really in that process."

There were also some lighter moments in the discussion. Asked about his bowling score, for example, McCain quipped: "I think it's a little better than 37" – a reference to Obama's recent poor showing on the lanes.