McCain supports shield, Obama opens up at AP lunch

Talking to more than 100 reporters, editors and other newspaper professionals in Washington, D.C., today, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said he supports the federal shield law pending in Congress.

“Despite my concerns,” McCain said, “I’ve narrowly decided to support this bill.”

All three presidential candidates are speaking at the Newspaper Association of America’s (NAA) and American Society of Newspaper Editors’ (ASNE) annual Capital Conference Saturday through Wednesday.

McCain said he worries national security may be jeopardized if the bill passes, but thinks the ethical injustices that are revealed through anonymous sources narrowly trumps this concern.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) also spoke at the conference today during the sold-out Associated Press luncheon. He covered everything from the Iraq war to the excitement surrounding his campaign to transparency in government.

“I want to open things up,” Obama said. “I want transparency.”

He also said he supports a bill that would create a searchable Internet database where all citizens, not just the media, could go to track federal spending.

Although he didn’t directly say whether he would vote for the shield law, he did say the courts should be able to determine whether a confidential source should be revealed or not.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) will speak at the NAA and ASNE luncheon tomorrow.