Stop John McCain

Karen Tumulty, Time

John McCain was a straight-talking upstart in the 2000 presidential election. Now he's poised to be the G.O.P. favorite for 2008, but at what cost?

As a rallying cry. "Common sense conservatism" doesn't have quite the ring of "Straight Talk Express." But the new slogan on the website of John McCain's presidential exploratory committee--a slogan he manages to repeat at least three times in every speech he gives these days--tells you all you need to know about how different this presidential campaign will be from his last one. McCain '08 will be a bigger, more conventional operation--a tank, not a slingshot. The prevailing wisdom about McCain used to be that his bipartisan appeal would make him a sure bet in a presidential race--if only he could get past the Republican primary. But as more and more of the party establishment climb aboard a campaign that McCain has not yet even formally launched, it's starting to look as if the opposite may be true. By trying to become the perfect candidate for the primaries, McCain could be creating difficulties for himself in a general election.

His hard-line position on Iraq is a perfect case in point. McCain has continued to press for more troops there, and spent last week dismissing the Iraq Study Group recommendation to bring them home as nothing short of a recipe for defeat. That's the kind of strong, consistent hawkishness that G.O.P. primary voters look for. "Besides," says McCain strategist Mark Salter, "it's what he believes." The problem is that exit polls in last month's election said only 17% of voters overall share that view, which could leave the other 83% wondering whether McCain's famous independent streak, so appealing on most issues, would be such a good thing to have in a Commander in Chief who has the power to take the country to war. Already there are signs that his image is taking a hit. In the CBS/New York Times poll, McCain's favorability rating slid 6 points, to 28%, between January and September.

McCain insists that he has always been more conservative than many of his fans believe him to be. But the most important perception people have about McCain is not about ideology; it's about integrity. After staking his reputation on the moral high ground by speaking truth to power on issues ranging from deficits to torture, McCain is uniquely vulnerable to anything that hints of hypocrisy--even on questions that ordinary politicians would get a pass on. To have a shot at winning a presidential election these days, for instance, it is nearly a requirement that candidates opt out of the federal finance system, forgoing its matching funds because it's too difficult to mount a credible campaign within the law's spending caps. But that move, however pragmatic, would look bad coming from an author of the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance-reform law.

Also, it's harder for McCain than most to explain away inconsistencies. How, for example, could a deficit hawk vote to make President Bush's tax credits permanent after opposing their passage in the first place as fiscally irresponsible? Or why, after declaring Jerry Falwell to be an agent of intolerance during the brutal 2000 primary campaign, did McCain deliver the commencement speech last May at Falwell's Liberty University in Virginia?

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The Conservative Case Against John McCain In 2008

There is no Republican up on Capitol Hill more disliked by his own GOP brethren than John McCain. That's why, despite the size of his fan club in the mainstream media, McCain seems rather unlikely to capture the party's nomination for President in 2008.

Here's a short, but sweet primer that may help explain why so many conservatives believe John McCain would be a very poor choice as the Republican nominee in 2008.

The Age Issue

John McCain will be 72 years old in 2008, which will make him 3 years older than Ronald Reagan was when he became the oldest man to ever be inaugurated as president back in 1981. In the Senate, where doddering fossils like Strom Thurmond and Robert Byrd can be elected over and over, McCain looks like a spring chicken in comparison. But, Reagan's age turned out to be a campaign issue and McCain, who would be 80 years old at the end of his 2nd term, would certainly have a lot of people questioning --with good reason -- whether he's up to the job. Were McCain to be the nominee, his age could be the deciding factor that puts a Democrat in office.

How Electable Is McCain Really?

The mainstream media loves John McCain and they regularly write fawning articles referring to him as a "maverick" and a "straight-talker." Because of this, McCain polls well among Democrats and Independents.

However, the reason McCain is so well liked by the media is because they're liberals and they love it when he trashes other Republicans. But, what would happen if John McCain actually became the Republican nominee? The same members of the mainstream media who gush over him today would turn on him in a Minnesota minute and once his great press ended, his poll numbers with Independents and Democrats would start to drop precipitously.

Moreover, it's no big secret that McCain is roundly despised by more than a few conservatives. The thinking there usually goes, "Well, what are they going to do, vote for Hillary?" No, they won't, "vote for Hillary," but will they contribute money to McCain, volunteer for his campaign, or defend him from attacks made by Democrats or the press? No, they won't.

More importantly, they may throw their votes away by voting Libertarian or for the Constitution Party in 2008. Given that the outcome of three of the last four elections may have been decided by these sorts of protest votes (for Perot in '92 and '96 and Nader in 2000), this is not an issue that should be taken lightly.

What's Wrong With Actually Having A Loyal Republican As The Republican Nominee?

One of the most galling things about the idea of having John McCain as the Republican nominee in 2008 is that whether he's a loyal Republican or not is a question that can't truly be answered. Back in 2001, there were rumors that McCain might, depending on how the election turned out, switch parties in order to help the Democrats retain the Senate. In 2002, there were rumors that McCain was considering switching parties and running for President as a Democrat. In 2004, "on several occasions," McCain talked with John Kerry about becoming his vice-president. Obviously McCain hasn't pulled a Jim Jeffords yet, but you have to wonder about where he really stands.

How Can You Be Pro-Life And Pro-Roe v. Wade At The Same Time?

Overall, John McCain does have a fairly solid pro-life voting record (The glaring exception is that he has gone off the reservation on embryonic stem cell research). However, McCain has specifically said, on more than one occasion, back in August of 1999, that he opposes overturning Roe v. Wade:

"I'd love to see a point where (Roe v. Wade) is irrelevant, and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary. But certainly in the short term, or even-the long-term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force X number of women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations."

"I would not seek to overturn Roe v. Wade tomorrow, because doing so would endanger the lives of women."

Has McCain also said he wants to repeal Roe v. Wade on many occasions? Yes. But, how can pro-lifers trust a man who has flip-flopped like John Kerry on Roe v. Wade to appoint the Supreme Court Justices who may end up deciding the issue? Simply put, we can't.

Kyoto By Any Other Name Would Still Smell As Rotten

John McCain has proposed a radical bill, the McCain-Lieberman Stewardship Act, that is not all that different from the Kyoto Protocol. McCain's bill would do cataclysmic damage to our economy. In the name of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by an insignificant percentage, that not even the biggest proponents of Kyoto believe would have a significant impact on the weather, here's the damage John McCain would be willing to do to our economy (from an article by Marlo Lewis in National Review):

"Proponents will undoubtedly argue, as they did last fall, that we need not worry about the bill's economic impact because Phase I (of McCain's bill) is just a "modest" first step in addressing global climate change. A recent Energy Information Administration (EIA) analysis suggests otherwise. According to EIA, Phase I would increase: gasoline prices by 9 percent in 2010 and 19 percent in 2025; natural-gas prices in the industrial and electric-power sectors by 21 percent in 2010 and 58 percent in 2025; and electricity prices by 35 percent in 2025."

Would you support a Republican candidate for President who pledged to sign America on to Kyoto Protocol? If not, then why support John McCain, who wants to do almost the same thing under a different name?

McCain Vs. The Bush Tax Cuts

Most conservatives believe the biggest domestic success of George Bush's first term were his tax cuts. John McCain voted against them, more than once, before finally flip-flopping and voting for them this year. Enough said.

McCain May Not Like Bush's Tax Cuts, But He Loves Illegal Immigration

McCain has teamed up with Ted Kennedy to propose a bill that rewards illegal aliens by allowing them to stay in the US permanently after they pay a modest fine, brings in hundreds of thousands of new guest workers as well, and does almost nothing to enforce immigration law or prevent new illegal aliens from entering the country. In other words, if you love George Bush's illegal immigration policy, John McCain is offering more of the same. On the other hand, if you believe we need to clamp down on illegal immigration, John McCain is not a candidate you should support.

The Gang-Of-14 Disaster

Just as Republicans in Congress were about to step in and put an end to the Democratic filibusters of judges once and for all, John McCain and the rest of the "Gang-Of-14" stepped in with a deal that kept the filibuster alive. This got John McCain and the other participants in the deal lots of favorable press, but the GOP paid a real price so that the "Maverick" could be in the spotlight again. Several GOP judges were thrown over the side and have, as of yet, never been allowed to get a vote.

Furthermore, the Gang-of-14 deal explicitly no long applies after the 2006 elections occur. So, if the Democrats gain seats in the Senate and decide to start filibustering again, it's entirely possible that this time, the GOP won't be able to muster the votes to stop them. That means that if a liberal Supreme Court Justice steps down during the last two years of Bush's term, because of John McCain and Company, it may not be possible to replace them with another Alito or Roberts. That's the price the party may have to pay so that John McCain can continue to be the New York Times' favorite Republican.

The McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Debacle

John McCain's signature piece of legislation is the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Bill, which was one of the worst pieces of legislation to make it through Congress in the last decade. The idea behind this nightmare, which was a failure on every level, was that it was going to, "take the money out of politics." Well, not only did McCain-Feingold fail to, "take the money out of politics," more money was spent than ever before during the 2004 elections. Moreover, the bill unconstitutionally curbed free speech, protected incumbents, gave a fund raising edge to the Democrats, and opened up the door to regulating bloggers. If McCain says that he'll do for America what he did for campaign finance reform, it should be taken as a threat.

Conclusion

That should give you a pretty good idea of what some of McCain's biggest flaws are, but what you've seen so far is by no means a comprehensive list. Keep in mind that McCain opposed Bush's attempt to protect marriage by enshrining it in the Constitution, committed adultery in his first marriage, attacked the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth, endangered the lives of all Americans by handcuffing our military interrogators, had a meltdown over a boxing commission...you can go on and on like this.

The long and short of it is that John McCain is a deeply flawed candidate who's unlikely to capture the Republican nomination, unlikely to win the presidency, and is unlikely to be a good President even if he somehow makes it to the White House.

Daniel J. Rabil

Back in its grander colonial days, Great Britain's ruling class had a term for the type of fellow who, when dispatched to some remote corner of the globe, repudiated his home civilization and zealously adopted the ways and customs of the non-Western locals. Such a person had "gone native."

Culturally, Washington is as remote from Arizonan ideals as Pakistan was to Mother England. And like those earlier colonists, Arizona Sen. John McCain has smoked Washington's political opium and "gone native." In fact, the word "McCain" is now so often paired with Rust Belt Democrats, you'd swear it was the maiden name of a liberal newlywed: McCain-Feingold; McCain-Kennedy; McCain-Lieberman.

First, Mr. McCain hogged the stage to push for the colossal tobacco tax grab in 1998. Then he slapped together a campaign-finance "reform" bill that spits on the First Amendment and squashes the only means conservatives have for getting their message across in a Democrat-controlled media. This year, he spitefully voted against America's first income tax relief since the Reagan years, despite Arizona's support for the tax-cutting president.

Arizona has a long history of supporting individual liberty, and I twice voted for Mr. McCain based on his dull but conservative record. But these are strange times indeed, with disputed presidential elections and a Senate that features party-switchers and jilted first ladies. And zinging around through it all, like a random enemy spaceship in a video game, is Mr. McCain blasting this, disrupting that, curbing this freedom, shafting that taxpayer. Since 1998 the "maverick" Republican has lurched from one left-wing cause to the next.

Now, in a continuing quest to become the senator from the New York Times, Mr. McCain has joined Sen. Joe Lieberman to co-sponsor the dangerous McCain-Lieberman gun-control bill. (You remember Joe, that "moral" guy who trashed all those absentee votes cast by sailors in Mr. McCain's old outfit, the U.S. Navy.)

Some perspective on Mr. McCain's priorities: Republican President George W. Bush squeaked into office thanks to Second Amendment voters in Al Gore's Tennessee and in normally Democrat West Virginia. Yet Mr. McCain has resurrected gun-control for the Democrats by pushing to close a so-called gun show loophole that would instead shut down or greatly hinder legal gun shows. Of course, less than two percent of guns used in crimes come from gun shows, and gun shows are particularly popular in Arizona. Mr. McCain's press materials claim that states without gun show background checks are "flooding the rest of the nation with crime guns." Yet Washington, which outlaws virtually all private guns, has 3.8 times the murder rate of Phoenix, where residents can buy a gun in minutes and huge gun shows appear regularly. Why does the senator insult his own state, when by his own hyperbole it's really the "crime states" that are flooding the "gun show states" with criminals?

Worse, laws like McCain-Lieberman are often deliberately used to persecute honest citizens. Ask Jerry Michel of Mesa, Arizona. Last fall the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms used the excuse of a trivial (and probably inapplicable) city pawnshop permit to invade and destroy Mr. Michel's federally licensed gun business. With tactics perfected at Waco, about 30 federal and local agents in macho SWAT gear used a trick to gain entrance to Mr. Michel's tiny showroom. Holding him at gunpoint, they then ransacked his shop and his home behind it. Eight months later the ATF still has Mr. Michel's property, though no charges have been filed against him. He is now broke and out of business.

That a rogue paramilitary force like the ATF not only still exists but is also today trampling on the rights of Americans should certainly rile an Arizona senator. After all, Mr. McCain's predecessor was the late Sen. Barry Goldwater, who was both tireless and courageous in his defense of liberty. But Mr. McCain has no time for protecting our freedom or serving his constituents. He's too busy boosting the ATF's budget and setting new legal tripwires to persecute honest Arizonans like Jerry Michel.

The talk around Washington is that Mr. McCain may jump to the Democrats or run as an independent for president in 2004 to help Democrats retake the White House. Whichever, The Washington Times reported recently that Arizona's Manchurian Republican is even using Democrat materials for his latest assault on his party's president. Regarding a Democrat health care bill he was co-sponsoring, Mr. McCain denied being spoon-fed by the left for his Senate attacks on Mr. Bush. "I have not coordinated with on anything," he said. When shown copies of his own press release and Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle's talking points issued the day before – identical in wording and sequence, Mr. McCain became flustered. "I had nothing to do with that," snapped Sen. Straight Talk. "I have no clue who did it."

What do you say about such a politician? Mr. McCain has betrayed his voters for personal power and the thrill of a liberal media buzz. So bizarre is the senator's unprincipled turnaround that an Arizona group has even launched an effort to recall him (recallmccain.org). Here's hoping they're successful.

Daniel J. Rabil is a former Arizonan who now writes from Washington D.C.

The Recall John McCain Committee Web Site (Click Here)

This committee was formed on June 5, 2001 for the purpose of recalling Arizona's United States Senator, John McCain. The grounds for recall as they appear on the petition are as follows:

John McCain has become increasingly obsessed with advancing his own personal agenda contrary to President Bush, party leaders and rank and file Republicans. In his insatiable desire for massive national media attention, he has all but forgotten the people of Arizona who elected him. The last straw was his vote against final passage of President Bush’s tax cut plan, the very centerpiece of George W. Bush’s successful presidential campaign. John McCain’s legislative judgment is no longer acceptable. He is continually sponsoring or cosponsoring legislation that will weaken the civil liberties guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.”

Besides Senator McCain's recent no vote on the tax rebate check that you will receive in the mail, here are some other examples of poor legislative judgment:

McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform will directly violate First Amendment Rights to free speech by prohibiting issue/candidate advertising by non-candidate groups (like this one), 30 or 60 days before an election. This is precisely when the majority of voters are seeking information about the candidates! Imagine the AARP being unable to inform its members on the principles promoted by each candidate before the election.

McCain-Lieberman Gun Show bill (S. 890) will infringe upon Second Amendment Rights to keep and bear arms by restricting the ability of law abiding citizens to freely assemble at gun shows and similar events. Gun shows would be outlawed without prior federal approval. It will require centralized registration of all vendors and attendees with the threat of imprisonment for the non-registered. "May I see your papers please?" We don't need more gun control we need more criminal control.

McCain-Kennedy Patient's Bill of Rights will result in further increases in the amount we pay and our employers pay for already too expensive healthcare insurance. The plan here is to promote the Nationalization of healthcare insurance, a step closer to Hillary Care. What small business owner that provides a healthcare benefit to employees can afford to be covered for $5,000,000.00 of liability when the trial lawyers get involved? With legislation like this, there would soon be no freedom of choice for healthcare.

John McCain does not represent the values that he claims - he is not anything like a Reagan or Goldwater Republican. None of the bills mentioned above do anything to reduce the size of the federal government, in fact, they would do just the opposite.

For more information please call The Recall John McCain headquarters at 602-234-5757.

The Recall John McCain Committee
8900 N. Central Avenue - Suite 206
Phoenix, Arizona 85020

James Barnes, National Journal

When the young Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville toured the United States in the early 19th century, he made an observation about presidential elections that still rings true: "For a long while before the appointed time has come, the election becomes the important and, so to speak, all-engrossing topic of discussion."

National Journal's latest survey of Democratic and Republican Insiders -- members of Congress, party activists, fundraisers, consultants, lobbyists, and interest-group leaders for whom presidential politics is an "all-engrossing topic" -- finds that Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican John McCain continue to be viewed as the candidates most likely to clinch the major parties' 2008 presidential nominations.

The Insiders' assessments of the 2008 contests have changed considerably since May [PDF]. Back then, Republican Sen. George Allen of Virginia was ranked second by his party's Insiders, after having been in first place throughout 2005. But on his way to losing his bid for a second term, Allen tripped repeatedly over his own feet -- and has now vanished from the top 10. Another Democrat, former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, ran second in May but disappeared from the Insiders' top 10 after formally announcing that he will not run. Meanwhile, political phenomenon Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who in May made his first appearance on his party's top-10 list by grabbing the lowest rung, has rocketed to the No. 2 spot -- putting him just ahead of former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina but still well behind Clinton.

Insiders were asked to list and rank the top five contenders for their party's 2008 presidential nomination. In tallying scores, a first-place vote was worth 5 points; a second-place score, 4 points; and so on. National Journal's top 10 rankings are based on each candidate's overall score. In all, 220 Insiders participated in this survey: 70 Congressional Insiders (36 Democratic lawmakers, 34 Republican ones) and 150 Political Insiders (73 Democrats, 77 Republicans).

GOP front-runner McCain, who at 70 has taken to joking that he's "older than dirt," contrasts starkly with the trio of Democrats viewed as having the best chances of winning their party's nomination. Not only is he considerably older than any of them, the Arizonan also has 20 years' experience in the Senate -- more than Clinton, Obama, and Edwards combined. Sen. Clinton, her party's solid front-runner, is hot off a landslide re-election in New York to a second term. Obama has been in the Senate only since January 2005. He was an Illinois state senator for eight years. Edwards served a single Senate term. Likewise, Warner is relatively inexperienced: He had one four-year term in Richmond.

Inexperience isn't limited to the Democratic field, however. The No. 2 ranking Republican, Mitt Romney, has been in elected office only four years -- as governor of Massachusetts. "Experience," observed Democratic pollster Mark Mellman, "is something that is overvalued by people who have it and undervalued by people who don't."

McCAIN, John Sidney, III, a Representative and a Senator from Arizona; born in Panama Canal Zone, August 29, 1936; attended schools in Alexandria, Va.; graduated, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md. 1958, and the National War College, Washington, D.C. 1973; pilot, United States Navy 1958-1981, prisoner of war in Vietnam 1967-1973; received numerous awards, including the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, and Distinguished Flying Cross; elected as a Republican in 1982 to the Ninety-eighth Congress; reelected to the Ninety-ninth Congress in 1984 and served from January 3, 1983, to January 3, 1987; elected to the United States Senate in 1986; reelected in 1992, 1998 and in 2004 for the term ending January 3, 2011; chair, Committee on Indian Affairs (One Hundred Fourth Congress; One Hundred Ninth Congress), Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (One Hundred Fourth through One Hundred Sixth Congresses, One Hundred Seventh Congress [January 20, 2001-June 6, 2001], One Hundred Eighth Congress); unsuccessful candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000.

See how John McCain voted on key votes -- the most important bills, nominations and resolutions that have come before Congress, as determined by washingtonpost.com.

Full list of votes by John McCain (Click Here)