A very insightful, interesting, if rather long article in the Guardian today about John McCain. As with Rudolph Giuliani McCain’s public persona and previous legislative record are nothing like what he is claiming on the stump. For those who do not have the time to read the article, some fine examples include
The candidate whom the NRA opposed when he last ran for president, in 2000…So how did New John McCain get on this time in front of some 3,000 NRA supporters? He began by squinting into the teleprompter. And then he started pressing buttons. Button 1: “At the outset, let me recognise the life of a great American, Charlton Heston.” (Huge cheer for the film actor and NRA president who died in April.) Button 2: “I opposed the ban on so-called ‘assault weapons’ which was first proposed after a California schoolyard shooting.” (Another big cheer.) Button 3: he tells the crowd he stands for low taxes, less government, a bonfire of federal bureaucracy. Button 4: he vows to fight on in Iraq until the war is won. Button 5: he chucks in a reference to the greatness of America, and to God.
McCain was one of only two senators who opposed Bush’s first round of them in 2001, on the grounds that they benefited the rich and were “budget-busters”…What does he say now? He will make the tax cuts, which are due to expire in 2010, permanent, at a cost of $5 trillion over 10 years – equivalent to slashing three-quarters of the social security budget. To do otherwise, says New John McCain, would be tantamount to imposing a tax increase, and that he will never do.
Then there is the McCain-Feingold act, the legislation to clean up party finance by restricting the leverage of lobbies that he pioneered and which helped seal his reputation for bold reform and independence of mind. It passed in 2002. Skip forward six years and we now find his campaign team stuffed with lobbyists whose clients have included telecoms companies, tobacco giants, Big Pharma and defence contractors…Last month, the whiff of conflict of interest grew so strong that he was forced to impose new rules that purged several aides from his staff.
And finally, the best one yet
On a more personal level, they forget, too, that the angry streak that has been with him since he was two has its unpleasant side. It earned him the moniker “McNasty” at school and “Senator Hothead” on Capitol Hill…an incident from 1992 that [was] sourced from three journalists from the senator’s home state of Arizona. McCain’s wife Cindy was playfully twiddling with his hair one day. You’re getting a little thin up there,” she said. McCain grew red in the face and replied: “At least I don’t plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you c*nt.”
How lovely. What a wonderful thing to say to your wife. The Republicans used the term flip-flopper often in 2004 to describe John Kerry. Most politicians will at some point flip-flop on an issue to pander to a key demographic. Perhaps the Democrats should take this to heart and begin to investigate McCain’s past legislative indiscretions and ensure the American public see him for what he truly is: a Bush clone in ‘maverick’ clothing.