McCain Supports Waterboarding. A Maverick No More.
Talk about hypocrisy. Republican nominee in waiting, John McCain had a golden opportunity today to illustrate how he values principal over ideology, and his willingness to thumb his nose at the Republican establishment to do what he knew was right. He failed.
McCain voted against an intelligence bill that would have banned waterboarding.  Wow. What happened to McCain’s own time in a Vietnamese prison camp? Does that experience get sold out in order to buy the conservative vote this November?
The Maverick, folks, is nothing but fiction.
The Anti-McCain Movement
They cite his Ideology, but conservatives really just don’t like him.
  The conventional wisdom is that conservatives oppose John McCain because they feel he is too liberal.  While he has staked out positions at odds with the conservative establishment in campaign finance reform, amnesty for immigrants, support for cap-and-trade, and opposition to the Bush tax cuts, he really has not strayed from the conservative line much more than George W. Bush - no child left behind, immigration reform, prescription drug benefit, farm subsidies, steel tarrifs - who is held close to the conservative heart (though not as much as he was).  The ideological argument just doesn’t make a ton of sense in explaining the animosity McCain’s own party feels for him.  More likely it is that they just don’t like the senator.  There are rumblings about McCain’s temperament that have been around for years and even questions of his mental fitness due in part to his years in a Vietnamese prison camp.  Many of these whispers, which have been spreading around the internet recently, have originated in conservative circles.  Conservatives have also never forgiven McCain for his behavior in the 2000 primary.  His references to Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell as agents of intolerance caused the evangelical wing to view him as an enemy and his television commercials comparing George W. Bush to Bill Clinton were widely hailed in his party.  Causing even greater distrust, though were McCain’s staunch opposition to the Bush tax cuts as tax cutting is the hallmark of the conservative agenda.  What does this all mean?  Well, if one looks a little deeper at McCain’s supposed “big night” last night they’ll see that most of his victories came in states that republicans tend to lose in the general election.  The so called “red states” went mainly to Mike Huckabee.  There is no way a republican can win in November without winning the south and with the widespread distrust of John McCain in those regions it seems very plausible that those voters might just stay home this fall.  If that happens we will be looking at a President Obama or a President Clinton.  It’s hard to imagine that is more preferable to republicans than a President McCain.Â
Mitt Romney - Lies, Lies, and More Lies
The Republican’s held their final pre-Super Tuesday debate this past Thursday at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California and against the backdrop of a reassembled Air Force One, Mitt Romney stretched, distorted, and manipulated the truth, attempting to shield himself from his competitors attacks. Among his many Fibs:Â
McCain Party Switch Story Resurfaces on Heels of Super Tuesday
Interesting timing—this story released in today’s issue of The Hill—detailing John McCain’s dalliance with the Democratic party after his brutalization by George W. Bush in the 2000 South Carolina Primaries. The courtship, it is reported, followed Jim Jeffords abandonment of the GOP, a move that shifted the balance of power in the senate.Â
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The story itself has been around for years, the curious factor being why it has resurfaced at this moment, on the heels of a race defining primary day this coming Tuesday. It shows the distrust and hostility towards McCain, inherent in his own party. In a year when Democratic turnout is expected to be spectacularly high, can McCain realistically expect to compete bearing such animus from his own party?
GOP debate in Florida, Deferential - Romney Wins
I was amazed at how deferential the republican candidates were to each other. It was remarkably polite in contrast to the recent democratic debates. No question Mitt Romney was the winner of this debate. He was smooth, intelligent, and I must say made sense. He certainly made the argument that he would be the best candidate to run against the Clintons. I’ve been an ardent foe of Romeny to date, but this was the first time I found him appealing, almost - I can’t beleive I’m saying this - Reaganesque.
John McCain on the other hand bombed. He lacked energy and didn’t seem to hit on the answers that the public wanted to hear. Ron Paul as always made sense, but does it matter? Huckabee is sort of likable, but he told me flat out I shouldn’t vote for him. Rudy? Done.
The True Cause of our Economic Crisis: You Must Watch This!
Romney’s last Gasp: Michigan
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Mitt Romney has declared Michigan to be the site of his campaigns revival and has poured all his resources in that coming primary, but despite his efforts the response has been tepid.Â
McCain leads polls in SC. Huckabee 2nd.
A FOX News/Opinion Dynamic poll released yesterday has John McCain leading in South Carolina, the site of his campaigns death in 2000. His 7 point advantage over rival Mike Huckabee comes on the heels of his dynamic win in the New Hampshire primary.
- McCain 25
- Huckabee 18
- Romney 17
- Thompson 9
- Giuliani 5
- Paul 5
