sen john mccain

Things Are TIght In Nevada

A new poll finds a tight three-way race among Democrats and a narrow lead for Arizona Sen. John McCain among Republicans ahead of Saturday's Nevada caucuses.

Among Democrats, the poll by Maryland-based Research 2000 for the Reno Gazette-Journal found Illinois Sen. Barack Obama at 32 percent, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton right behind with 30 percent and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who many professionals and pundits have already written off, at 27 percent.

Lieberman Gives Out His Endorsement

To none other than John McCain:

Sen. John McCain, trying to keep momentum in this state's critical Republican primary race, brought in something unusual on Monday â€” an endorsement from the other party.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the Democrats' 2000 vice presidential nominee, said he was intending to wait until after the primaries to make a choice for the 2008 presidential race. But McCain asked for his support and no Democrat did.

Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, said he chose his longtime Senate colleague because he has the best shot of breaking partisan gridlock in Washington. Both men also support the war in Iraq.

I wonder how Bill and Hillary feel about this? Remember when Joe was running for Senate and the Clintons came to his aide, even after he dumped the Democratic party? Yeah - this is nice payback he is giving out.

Screw YouTube

That is the tone being set by Republican presidential candidates:

Four days after the Democrat's 'landmark' YouTube debate in South Carolina, only Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) have agreed to participate in CNN's next web-oriented debate.

"Aside from those two candidates, we haven't heard from anyone else," Sam Feist of CNN told the Washington Post.

[SNIP]

"Sources familiar with the Guiliani campaign said he's unlikely to participate," the Post's blogger added. "Kevin Madden, Romney's spokesman, said the former Massachusetts governor has seven debate invitations covering a span of 11 days in September."

Since this is a time when they can answer questions from voters, I guess they are also saying "screw the people". So if these Republicans don't have what it takes to face YouTube, or the people of this country, then how can they have what it takes to face the terrorists?

If It Walks Like Bush And Talks Like Bush

Then America don't want it!

In a widely expected move, Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) press department resigned en masse today.

Communications director Brian Jones stepped down, along with deputies Matt David and Danny Diaz. Research director Brian Rogers and South Carolina McCain spokesman Adam Temple are also leaving the campaign.

None of the depatures is surprising, as Jones, Diaz, David and the others were seen as loyalists of campaign manager Terry Nelson, who resigned last week. Sources familiar with the campaign insisted the departures were not acrimonious, pointing out that Jones and David will stay through the week to help ease the transition.

Perhaps him and Lieberman can just start their own party - the party of delusional loyalists to Bush (aka. The DLB).

Why is McCain Even Running?

Iraq was the key issue in the mid-term elections. Republicans and Democrats actually agree on that assessment. Now we are seeing a growing number of Republicans speaking out against the administration (it has become the hip thing to do). As if that isn't enough, we found out via a new ABC poll of Senators that if all the Senators who voted to go to war with Iraq had a do-over, we would not be there today. Now we got McCain sounding like Bush's little Parrot:

Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record)'s call for a substantial and sustained influx of U.S. troops in Iraq sets the Republican apart from other White House candidates — and it could help him or haunt him come 2008.

The Arizona senator's hawkish position that the United States must do what is necessary to win the war might appeal to hard-core Republicans, but it also has the potential to turn off most Americans whose support for the nearly 4-year-old war has diminished.

"I have presidential ambitions, but they pale in comparison to what I think is most important to our nation's security. If it destroys any ambitions I may have, I'm willing to pay that price gladly," McCain said Friday, brushing aside scenarios of political fallout.

Playing Politics With Children

So images should be illegal, but someone actually pursuing a minor for sex shouldn't?

Millions of commercial Web sites and personal blogs would be required to report illegal images or videos posted by their users or pay fines of up to $300,000, if a new proposal in the U.S. Senate came into law.

The legislation, drafted by Sen. John McCain and obtained by CNET News.com, would also require Web sites that offer user profiles to delete pages posted by sex offenders.

In a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday, the Arizona Republican and former presidential candidate warned that "technology has contributed to the greater distribution and availability, and, some believe, desire for child pornography." McCain scored 31 of 100 points on a News.com 2006 election guide scoring technology-related votes.

Child pornography is wrong, as the children are getting hurt. Children also get hurt when someone pursues them via the internet trying to arrange for sex, especially when other people tell them not to say anything. Sound familiar Mr. Foley?

If McCain is serious about this legislation then he must look within the halls of Congress first and come out and chastise those who KNEW Mark Foley was going after children and did nothing. He must also blast the House Ethics Committee for saying there was "no wrong" in that disgusting act.

So why doesn't McCain's legislation address things like Foley was doing? Because he really doesn't care. He thinks this is a good measure to try and woo the Christian conservatives. If he was really concerned, his legislation would include language to make sure another Mark Foley never surfaces in Congress. Of course the leaders of this country are held to much lower standards than the citizens.

Powell: "The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism"

Bush is losing support in all corners now:

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, parting company with President Bush, came out against harsh interrogations of terror suspects even as the president lobbied personally for it on Capitol Hill Thursday.

"I will resist any bill that does not enable this program to go forward with legal clarity," Bush told reporters back at the White House after his meeting with lawmakers."

White House spokesman Tony Snow, asked if Powell was confused about the White House's goals, said "Yes." Later, Snow said he probably shouldn't have used the word "confused."

"I know that Colin Powell wants to beat the terrorists too," he said.

The latest sign of GOP division over White House security policy came Thursday in a letter that Powell sent to Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., one of three rebellious senators taking on the White House. Powell said Congress must not pass Bush's proposal to redefine U.S. compliance with the Geneva Conventions, a treaty that sets international standards for the treatment of prisoners of war.

The campaign-season development accompanied Bush's visit to Capitol Hill, where he conferred behind closed doors with House Republicans. His plan would narrow the U.S. legal interpretation of the Geneva Conventions treaty in a bid to allow tougher interrogations and shield U.S. personnel from being prosecuted for war crimes.

"The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism," said Powell, who served under Bush and is a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "To redefine Common Article 3 would add to those doubts. Furthermore, it would put our own troops at risk."

More Signs of the Election Season

You can tell McCain is really starting to worry about his chances for a White House run in 2008:

Republican Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), a staunch defender of the Iraq war, on Tuesday faulted the Bush administration for misleading Americans into believing the conflict would be "some kind of day at the beach."

The potential 2008 presidential candidate, who a day earlier had rejected calls for withdrawing U.S. forces, said the administration had failed to make clear the challenges facing the military.

"I think one of the biggest mistakes we made was underestimating the size of the task and the sacrifices that would be required," McCain said. "Stuff happens, mission accomplished, last throes, a few dead-enders. I'm just more familiar with those statements than anyone else because it grieves me so much that we had not told the American people how tough and difficult this task would be."

Those phrases are closely associated with top members of the Bush administration, including the president.

It is disturbing when you think about a war veteran like McCain saying this now instead of speaking up when he should have. He is playing politics with the lives of U.S. soldiers and he use to be one. What a disgrace.

The Right Continues To Eat Their Young

You know it is bad for McCain when you got NewsMax going after him with this little piece:

McCain's Out-of-Control Anger: Does He Have the Temperament to Be President?

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is considered a front-runner for the 2008 race, but does McCain have the temperament to be president?

As portrayed by the mainstream media, McCain is an engaging war hero, a man of political moderation positioned between the left and the right.

But to insiders who know him, McCain has an irrational, explosive side that make many of them question whether he is fit to serve as president and be commander in chief.

Nowhere is that sentiment stronger than in the Senate, where McCain has few friends or supporters. In fact, when McCain ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2000, only four Republican senators endorsed him.

"I have witnessed incidents where he has used profanity at colleagues and exploded at colleagues," said former Senator Bob Smith, a New Hampshire Republican who served with McCain on the Senate Armed Services Committee and on Republican policy committees. "He would disagree about something and then explode. It was incidents of irrational behavior. We've all had incidents where we have gotten angry, but I've never seen anyone act like that."

It is true - these radical right wingers will eat their young. Funny how this comes out a day after an article comes out about Grover Norquist being pissed at McCain. So either NewsMax is a major follower of old Grover (and his corruption) or Grover has some major pull in NewsMax.

Grover -VS- McCain

Tell me he is kidding -

Conservative activist Grover Norquist says a Senate report connecting him with convicted felon Jack Abramoff is a personal attack from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) that could hurt the senator’s recent efforts to woo the right for a presidential bid.

Norquist says a Senate Indian Affairs Committee report last month outlining his efforts to funnel money from Abramoff’s tribal clients to former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed is riddled with half-truths and falsely implicates his nonprofit group, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), in wrongdoing.

The activist says McCain, chairman of the committee, issued the report in retaliation for Norquist’s efforts to thwart McCain’s 2000 presidential bid.

“He has exhibited personal animus toward me,” Norquist said. “McCain, who’s running for president and is ostensibly the front-runner, takes time and effort to throw a punch at me and Ralph Reed. Why? He has told people we stopped him in the presidential election last time, and he thinks we might do it again. He is delusional. George W. Bush Beat him in South Carolina. But that’s high praise of the taxpayer movement that he has told so many people this.”

McCain has had no problem sucking up to the other's that helped destroy his 2000 bid:

McCain and Bush Hug

So now Grover is the reason McCain lost in 2000? Sounds like someone has a bad ego problem.

Dodging Bush

What is ironic is how Republicans talk about backing Bush 100% until it comes to their re-election chances (From today's Wall Street Journal):

President Bush goes to Pennsylvania tomorrow to campaign for embattled Republican House members in the Philadelphia suburbs. But one of the candidates isn't expected to be there.

Mr. Bush "is really doing poorly in our state," says Rep. Curt Weldon, explaining why he won't be on hand and hasn't asked for the president's help. "I've got to win this by myself."

Well, almost. Mr. Weldon did invite Arizona Sen. John McCain to his district last month to help him campaign and raise money, and he is thinking about doing it again.

It isn't easy leading your party to victory when a lot of people aren't eager to follow. With Mr. Bush's job-approval ratings skidding as low as 30% in national polls, more Republican candidates face risks in associating closely with him. That is forcing the White House and Republican advisers to improvise a strategy for success.

Now what these politicians fail to realize is that Bush is down in the polls for a reason - he does not operate as the American people want. If these Republicans want to still support Bush while avoiding him on the campaign trail then they are nothing but hypocrites. For A Republican to be totally clear of Bush, they must come out and publicly say they do not support what he is doing to our country - PERIOD.

Sunday Morning Lineup

Compliments of the Washington Post

FOX NEWS SUNDAY (WTTG), 9 a.m.: Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.) and Washington Nationals owner Mark Lerner .

THIS WEEK (ABC, WJLA), 9 a.m.: Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and outgoing White House press secretary Scott McClellan .

FACE THE NATION (CBS, WUSA), 10:30 a.m.: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Washington Post columnist Colbert I. King .

MEET THE PRESS (NBC, WRC), 10:30 a.m.: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), comedian Steve Bridges , Washington Post staff writer Dan Balz and Vanity Fair national editor Todd Purdum .

LATE EDITION (CNN), 11 a.m.: Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt , Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie and former CIA deputy director John E. McLaughlin .

Should be interesting to hear what McClellan has to say.

Rough Day For McCain

Awww the chameleon got booed today:

Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) threatened on Tuesday to cut short a speech to union leaders who booed his immigration views and later challenged his statements on organized labor and the Iraq war.

"If you like, I will leave," McCain told the AFL-CIO's Building and Construction Trades Department, pivoting briefly from the lectern. He returned to the microphone after the crowd quieted.

"OK, then please give me the courtesy I would give you."

Perhaps it is just that McCain is senile. He has forgotten that organized labor has been under a continuous corporate loving, GOP attack since the Republicans have been in control. McCain speaking to a bunch of union guys is like Toby Keith opening up for a Metallica concert - you are going to get booed.

Sunday Morning Talk Shows

Via the WaPo

FOX NEWS SUNDAY (WTTG), 9 a.m.: Sens. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Philip Mudd , deputy director of the FBI's National Security Branch.

THIS WEEK (ABC, WJLA), 9 a.m.: Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and George Allen (R-Va.) and Jimmy Rollins , Philadelphia Phillies shortstop.

FACE THE NATION (CBS, WUSA), 10:30 a.m.: Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) and Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.).

MEET THE PRESS (NBC, WRC), 10:30 a.m.: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and retired Gen. Anthony C. Zinni , former head of the U.S. Central Command.

LATE EDITION (CNN), 11 a.m.: Sens. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), Sens. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and Evan Bayh (D-Ind.); Mexico President Vicente Fox ; Ali Asghar Soltanieh , Iran's representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari .

Saturday night open chat.

McCain - The Democrats Greatest Asset In 08

Chris "Tweety" Matthews has an article up about the Southern Republicans Convention going on this weekend and in particular their straw poll vote for the 2008 Presidential candidate:

Sources tell me that Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., plans to shock his supporters tonight by asking them to NOT vote for him in the presidential straw poll that will be conducted by The Hotline on Saturday.

Instead, McCain will urge his followers to write in President Bush's name.

What can I say about this. How about - PLEASE DO. Keep rallying behind this highly unpopular President with all the failed policies. Show Americans that no matter how much the President screws up the country, Republicans will support him as long as he is Republican.

I use to think McCain was a good guy but my opinion of him has greatly changed. After the way he was treated in the 2000 Republican primaries by Bush and Rove, it shows that McCain is worried about one thing and one thing only - McCain. He don't stand on principles or values. He stands on what is going to do best for him. Right now he figures making this stand will show he put all his faith in the President and that will help him in 2008. Well guess again.