John McCain Does Not Use a Computer

You read that right. The man who bristles any time someone implies he's too old to be president hasn't made the technological leap into the 1980s. See the video at Mother Jones. Add to this George W. Bush's admission that he doesn't use email and Sen. Ted Stevens' description of the internet as a "series of tubes" and you wonder if the Republicans have a fundamental problem with technology. Maybe that has something to do with why - as Adam Thierer points out - the Republican revolution of 1994 had big promises for freeing up the internet, but failed in spectacular fashion to deliver.

Among the Republicans' accomplishments:
- Increased internet and media censorship
- Forced access provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996
- Creation of the e-rate program
- Prohibitions on internet gambling
- High-definition television spectrum giveaway
- Growth of the Federal Communications Commission

Update: Here's McCain aide Mark Soohoo trying to defend his boss's tech rep at the Personal Democracy Forum in New York. (via The Politico)

"You don’t actually have to use a computer to understand how it shapes the country," Soohoo says.

"You actually do," former Edwards blogger Tracy Russo responds, suggesting he try to explain Twitter to his grandmother and then ask her how that applies to governing.

"John McCain is aware of the Internet," says Soohoo. "This is a man who has a very long history of understanding on a range of issues."