Arizona Senator John McCain (official)

[Buckeneye]

I've been listening to him speak a little bit, and some of his material from the beginning of his campaign. The more I listen the more I'm convinced he's somehow Bush's biological father.

I have nothing against the man personally, and for the most part I like his character. However (aside from being a republican) he looks and sounds like W. Not sure if I can stand too much more of that; In complete honesty I can't stand either party, but this man takes the cake for some reason - some of the things he says just scream "stay away".

... I still can't get over the Rev. Hagee thing. Now I hate the whole guilty by association, so I won't use it against McCain, not his fault a "man of god" comes across as a loon.

But if it comes down to McCain or Hillary; I'm afraid I'll be going with option C... penciling in my own name.

[DaytonBuck]

From the excerpts I heard of his speech today I'm not inspired. Other than choice in health care he sounded like a big government Democrat.

[BayBuck]

Originally Posted by sandgk

You can also surely see how this diminishes the strength of any declarative position he would have otherwise taken in the future Presidential debates - even if the conversation goes beyond the Kerryesque parallel (and it surely must)...

Interestingly, Christopher Beam at Slate suggests that McCain's new stance is not a Kerryesque flip-flop but a sign of moderation and flexibility:

It?s purely hypothetical - McCain says it's "what I would hope to have achieved" after his first term - but it's still a rhetorical shift for McCain.
...
Even hinting at a withdrawal date brings McCain way over from his hawkish "100 years" stance to a more palatable middle. (Even though "100 years" got twisted to sound more hawkish than it was.) In the past, McCain has called a withdrawal date tantamount to "chaos, genocide" that would cede Iraq to al-Qaida. But today's comments will reassure voters that he's not as excited about keeping troops in Mesopotamia as his opponents claim. No doubt McCain would say that nothing has changed - that he has always "hoped" to be out as soon as possible, but that we'll only exit once we've "won." But in the ears of voters, a date - however vague - sounds a lot more moderate than no date.
...
Barack Obama, meanwhile, remains tethered to his pledge to have troops out within 16 months - a promise that seems extremely dubious to many experts.
...
The difference now is that McCain has wiggle room where Obama does not. If Obama suggests he might stick around in Iraq for a few more years, he'll be accused of breaking his pledge. If McCain suggests he'd pull out troops earlier than expected, no one will hold it against him. Obama still has his "I opposed the war" trump card, but McCain's flexibility in the future could be as strong a weapon as Obama's correctness in the past.

['BusNative]

Wow, just wow

YouTube - McCain's YouTube Problem Just Became a...

he's got a lot of sound bites that, when put together, sound much worse than Kerry's flub-up

[tibor75]

Originally Posted by 'BusNative

Wow, just wow

YouTube - McCain's YouTube Problem Just Became a Nightmare

he's got a lot of sound bites that, when put together, sound much worse than Kerry's flub-up

Won't matter. the media already has the narrative of the "maverick" and the straight talk shooter. If Obama or Hillary has messed up Shia and Sunni 3 times in 2 weeks, they'd be finished. This dumbass can do it and laugh it off.

['BusNative]

Interesting read on the McCain campaign and some of the internal problems:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/us...ss&oref=slogin

May 25, 2008

Worries in G.O.P. About McCain Camp Disarray

By ADAM NAGOURNEY
WASHINGTON ? Senator John McCain?s presidential campaign is in a troubled stretch, hindered by resignations of staff members, a lagging effort to build a national campaign organization and questions over whether he has taken full advantage of Democratic turmoil to present a case for his candidacy, Republicans say.

In interviews, some party leaders said they were worried about signs of disorder in his campaign, and if the focus in the last several weeks on the prominent role of lobbyists in Mr. McCain?s inner circle might undercut the heart of his general election message: that he is a reformer taking on special interests in Washington.

?The core image of John McCain is as a reformer in Washington ? and the more dominant the story is about the lobbying teams around him, the more you put that into question,? said Terry Nelson, who was Mr. McCain?s campaign manager until he left in a shake-up last fall. ?If the Obama campaign can truly change him from being seen as a reformer to just being another Washington politician, it could be very damaging over the course of the campaign.?

The ousters of some of the staff members came after Mr. McCain imposed a new policy that active lobbyists would not be allowed to hold paying jobs in the campaign.

Some state party leaders said they were apprehensive about the unusual organization Mr. McCain had set up: the campaign has been broken into 10 semi-autonomous regions, with each having power over things like television advertising and the candidate?s schedule, decisions normally left to headquarters.

More than that, they said, Mr. McCain organizationally still seems far behind where President Bush was in 2004. Several Republican Party leaders said they were worried the campaign was losing an opportunity as they waited for approval to open offices and set up telephone banks...

[DaytonBuck]

Originally Posted by tibor75

Won't matter. the media already has the narrative of the "maverick" and the straight talk shooter. If Obama or Hillary has messed up Shia and Sunni 3 times in 2 weeks, they'd be finished. This dumbass can do it and laugh it off.

Kind of like Obama and 57 states or Sunshine, Florida?

[Gatorubet]

Originally Posted by DaytonBuck

Kind of like Obama and 57 states or Sunshine, Florida?

I'm sure he meant 47 states. Which is a true statement.

['BusNative]

The title of this made me think it would be more negative, but I think this was pretty fairly written for McCain - it ends up just being a pretty decent account of his transition from the Navy to congress:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/29/us.../29mccain.html

Senate's Power and Allure Drew McCain From Military

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

WASHINGTON - At a meeting in his Pentagon office in early 1981, Secretary of the Navy John F. Lehman told Captain John S. McCain III that he was about to attain his life ambition: selection for admiral.

But Mr. McCain, the son and grandson of revered Navy admirals, was having second thoughts about following his family?s vocation. He had spent the previous four years as the Navy?s liaison to the Senate, sampling life in the world?s most exclusive club as he escorted its members on trips around the globe - sitting with the Sultan of Oman on the floor of his desert tent, or smuggling a senator?s private supply of Scotch through Saudi Arabian customs.

He had found a sense of purpose in an apprenticeship to some of the Senate?s fiercest cold warriors. And in Senator John G. Tower, a hawkish Texas Republican, he had found a new mentor, beginning a relationship that many compared to the bond between a father and son.

With Mr. Tower?s encouragement, Mr. McCain declined the prospect of his first admiral?s star to make a run for Congress, saying that he could "do more good there," Mr. Lehman recalled. But he knew duty to country was only part of the reason.

"He just loved it up there," Mr. Lehman recalled. "Like very few military people, John heard the music up there, and he really wanted to do it...

[CookyPuss]

With all the tit-for-tat going on this week, I thought this comment kind of slipped under the radar. I really want to know exactly what McCain means when he says:

SEN. MCCAIN: This is -- this may turn into a longer speech than you had anticipated. (Laughter, applause.) And by the way, I will never surrender in Iraq, my friends. I will never surrender in Iraq.

Link

What does he mean by surrender? This is not exactly a traditional combat situation where there is a clearly defined enemy or state entity to surrender to. If we stay there as long as there is opposition, we likely would be there and engaged for 100 years or else we would have to take part in the "genocide" McCain warns would happen if we pull out too soon. I would also like to hear McCain define what it would mean to "win" in Iraq because it is clear that the Bush administration will never do so.

['BusNative]

Originally Posted by MuckFich06

With all the tit-for-tat going on this week, I thought this comment kind of slipped under the radar. I really want to know exactly what McCain means when he says:

Link

What does he mean by surrender? This is not exactly a traditional combat situation where there is a clearly defined enemy or state entity to surrender to. If we stay there as long as there is opposition, we likely would be there and engaged for 100 years or else we would have to take part in the "genocide" McCain warns would happen if we pull out too soon. I would also like to hear McCain define what it would mean to "win" in Iraq because it is clear that the Bush administration will never do so.

Surrender? We've already won.

[shetuck]

NYT: In Louisiana, Inklings of New (True) Champion of the Right

I like this guy...

Free slurpies for every American man, woman, and child...

In Louisiana, Inklings of a New (True) Champion of the Right

By ADAM NOSSITER
Published: June 2, 2008

BATON ROUGE, La. - Religion and fiscal stringency have a friendly home at the state Capitol here, with a conservative, Bobby Jindal, in the governor's office, a host of straight-arrow novice legislators eager to please him and an honored spot for the Louisiana Family Forum in the old marble halls.

The newly conservative tone of state government is seeping through a host of successful bills - on school vouchers, creationism, stem-cell restrictions and tax and spending cuts - and it is adding to the speculative frenzy here surrounding Mr. Jindal as a potential vice-presidential choice for Senator John McCain.

Politicians here say they are certain that Mr. Jindal would balance a McCain ticket, and not just because he is an Indian-American. The Christian right has a new champion in Mr. Jindal, a serious Catholic who has said that "in my faith, you give 100 percent of yourself to God."

Bumper stickers saying "Jindal for V.P." are circulating here, with increased velocity after the governor's stay two weekends ago at Mr. McCain?s Arizona ranch. Mr. McCain's schedule has him campaigning in Louisiana next week, according to his Web site.

"He has everything McCain is lacking," said State Representative John LaBruzzo, a Republican, speaking of Mr. Jindal. "He's seen as a true conservative, which McCain is seen as less than."

cont'd...

[buckeyegrad]

Originally Posted by shetuck

NYT: In Louisiana, Inklings of New (True) Champion of the Right

I like this guy...

Free slurpies for every American man, woman, and child...

As much as I like Jindal, I don't believe he has the experience to be V-P as of yet. That said, I am already reserving space on my car for the 2016 or 2020 Jindal for President bumper sticker.

[shetuck]

Originally Posted by buckeyegrad

As much as I like Jindal, I don't believe he has the experience to be V-P as of yet. That said, I am already reserving space on my car for the 2016 or 2020 Jindal for President bumper sticker.

You need experience to be VP?

[Gatorubet]

Originally Posted by shetuck

NYT: In Louisiana, Inklings of New (True) Champion of the Right

I like this guy...

Free slurpies for every American man, woman, and child...

Jindal? No way. He was sworn in and put his hand on the Vedas instead of the Bible.

And his Flag Pin has Ganesha's face on it. That's why the sneaky bastard chose to be a GOP Elephant.