McCain: Surprised how well Mitt did; don’t underestimate President

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) talks debate performance, future debates, potential poll bounce on Starting Point.

Sen. McCain says, “I was surprised at how well Mitt did. And I think it was very important because he came across as the person he really is, as opposed how he’s been portrayed by hundreds of millions of dollars of attack ads. And obviously I was surprised at the President’s poor performance. But part of it, Soledad, is that four years ago it was about hope and change. Now it’s about choice and the President had a record to defend and he didn’t do a very good job at it.”

He continues, “Last night was so bad if [it would have] been a fight, they would have stopped it.”

On future debates, McCain adds, “This President’s very smart. He’s very intelligent. He’s an excellent speaker. I think that he was fairly rusty. He’s had four years, relatively unchallenged in the things that he has said. And Mitt went through a very tough primary, as we all know. I think that showed up last night. I would not underestimate the President of the United States in the next couple of debates, and I don’t think Mitt will either.

Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien airs weekday mornings from 7-9am ET on CNN.