So much for McCain being a "Maverick" and a "Moderate."McCain urged the Republican straw poll votes on saturday in Tennessee that would be cast for him instead go to President Bush to show support for the embattled President:
Sen. John McCain of Arizona, among the most popular Republicans in national surveys, threw a wrench in the polling Friday night by asking delegates to vote for Bush as a show of support. He finished a distant fifth.
He went on to say in an interview with Chris Matthews that backing the President on the port issue was the right thing to do! And went on to lash out against the Republicans who fought the President on that issue.
No longer can McCain say that he is an "independent" who is his own man since he has been cozing up the President over the past few years. Support which has come to a final union in this move in the Tenn. straw poll. He is thinking about himself with this move and not about the American people who a majority disapprove of. Rather he is whoring himself out to the hard-core conservative wing-nuts who dish out the money McCain needs to run.
This from the Kansas City Star:
Right now, each has something the other badly needs. Bush needs the more popular senator from Arizona to vet his controversial Iraq and national security policies, to essentially provide the president with political cover. And McCain needs to connect with the pivotal factions that spurned him six years ago - the Bush money network and the Bush-friendly conservative grass roots - to grease the skids for a strong presidential bid in 2008.
---End of Transmission---
10 comments:
That's exactly what I've been saying all along. :-) Paul Krugman of the NY Times (subscription only content link) had this to say yesterday:
Every once in a while he makes headlines by apparently defying Mr. Bush, but he always returns to the fold, even if the abuses he railed against continue unabated.
So here's what you need to know about John McCain.
He isn't a straight talker. His flip-flopping on tax cuts, his call to send troops we don't have to Iraq and his endorsement of the South Dakota anti-abortion legislation even while claiming that he would find a way around that legislation's central provision show that he's a politician as slippery and evasive as, well, George W. Bush.
He isn't a moderate. Mr. McCain's policy positions and Senate votes don't just place him at the right end of America's political spectrum; they place him in the right wing of the Republican Party.
And he isn't a maverick, at least not when it counts. When the cameras are rolling, Mr. McCain can sometimes be seen striking a brave pose of opposition to the White House. But when it matters, when the Bush administration's ability to do whatever it wants is at stake, Mr. McCain always toes the party line.
It's worth recalling that during the 2000 election campaign George W. Bush was widely portrayed by the news media both as a moderate and as a straight-shooter. As Mr. Bush has said, "Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."
Paolo:
Yes, you have been saying it all along and now I'm convinced too. :)
Great comments by Krugman.
I really like his insights.
Especially on McCain they are spot on.
As you know, James, I have a soft heart for John McCain.
I don't think that he is a flip-flopper or insincere. It is just that the elements of his thinking have certain constituents that we should recognize.
I would maintain that he is stalwart in defense of fairness and freedom, but alway, alway and ever faithful to the military.
McCain has always claimed to be conservative! But Krugman is simply wrong about McCain being a big tax cutter, and Krugman is rather infamous for misinformation and refusing to correct his errors. The prior NYTimes Ombudsman excoriated Krugman when he left at the end of his term. [Krugman is no Herbert, Dowd, Friedman or Kristof.)
It is certainly true that McCain doesn't fit neatly in today's alignment of conservative-to-liberal. His policy positions are principled rather than toe-the-line.
McCain wanted, and perhaps still wants, overwhelming force in Iraq to meet goals and withdraw. THIS is the Colin Powell Doctrine -- not to get caught in the quagmire Bush has us in.
But to McCain's mind we must not do what happened in Vietnam: leave the troops to die and suffer, alone, while mainland America luxurates in agnst. So, McCain supports the Commander in Chief what may.
BTW, no one has been more denunciating about the incompetance in the way the war effort has been run. He has called for Rumsfeld to resign or be fired and was appoplectic about Abu Graib.
He called for voters in the Tennessee confab to vote for Bush in a ploy to excuse himself from being judged by the results. It's not a straightforward thing to do, but c'mon. He was at risk of getting doinked for the outcome of a stupid Frist setup that is all horserace and no thoughtfulness. No insiders were unaware of what McCain was up to here.
Tom:
I agree with a lot of what McCain has said/done. However, it just really rubbed me the wrong way when he [McCain] threw his support to such an incompetent President as Bush. His stock has gone down in my book.
This from an article in the NYTimes Online, today: "Mr. McCain made a stand by voting against the Medicare prescription drug benefit in 2003 and Mr. Bush's tax cuts in 2001 and 2003."
Tom:
Those are good steps. I'll be watching him and I might back him but we'll see.
Well, it would have been nice had McCain agreed to run as Kerry's Vice President. Things would be different today. This past year has been a nightmare under Bush.
McCain runs way ahead [about 12pts] in matchups with Hillary. And, like, 20pts ahead in matchups with Kerry or Gore. Who knows what'll happen, but McCain's chances look better than anybody else to becoming our next president.
I think some of my defense of McCain is related to the thought that I will want ANYBODY to succeed after the calamity of eight years of Bush.
There is so much to do, and the Bush years have been a downward slide on everything.
Tom:
I can tell you one thing. I don't want Hillary to win that's for sure. Hmm, I wonder. Does that mean my "left-wing nut job" credentials are going to be taken away now for saying such blasphemy??? We shall see.
I'd like to see John Edwards in there actually. I like his honesty in saying that he was flat wrong for voting for the Iraq war. Not to mention being out for the average worker and bringing back the middle-class.
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