Sunday, 20 May 2007
 

Anyone but McCain ... (Updated and bumped)

... part one of several, I'm sure. I guess if it comes to that I'll vote for a Republican dumb ass who understands we're at war over a Dem dumb ass who doesn't, but I really, really hope it doesn't come to that.  We don't need a President who'd repeal the 1st Amendment if he could, we don't need a President who can't understand the difference between a terrorist and a legitimate Prisoner Of War, we don't need a President who doesn't believe in national borders, and we don't need a President who can't keep his temper under control.

Below the fold:

• McCain owes an apology
• McCain, Cornyn Engage in Heated Exchange
• "F*** you": The inside story

*** *** *** Fold (but please don't spindle or mutilate) *** *** ***

McCain owes an apology
Beldar

U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX)'s skepticism about the pending "comprehensive immigration reform" legislation (a/k/a McCain-Kennedy) very closely mirrors my own and also, I believe, that of a good-sized majority of his other constituents in this largest Republican border state. As far as I'm concerned, Sen. Cornyn's earning his salary, and my vote if he runs for re-election, by voicing some very legitimate concerns over that proposed legislation.

So I take a quite bit of derivative personal offense when another senator — especially one from another Republican border state, and most especially from a senator who ought to be on best behavior lest his presidential campaign self-destruct over longstanding (and well-justified) "temperament issues" —  shouts "F**k you!" at Sen. Cornyn for representing me effectively:

Presidential hopeful John McCain - who has been dogged for years by questions about his volcanic temper - erupted in an angry, profanity-laced tirade at a fellow Republican senator, sources told The Post yesterday.

In a heated dispute over immigration-law overhaul, McCain screamed, "F- - - you!" at Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who had been raising concerns about the legislation.

"This is chickens- - - - stuff," McCain snapped at Cornyn, according to several people in the room off the Senate floor Thursday. "You've always been against this bill, and you're just trying to derail it."

Surprised by McCain's foul-mouthed broadside, Cornyn told him he was "out of line."

This isn't just an example of the New York Post blowing stuff out of proportion. Essentially the same story is reported by the WaPo (here   and here) and Fox News (via Allah on HotAir), too. ...

Do read the whole thing.

***

McCain, Cornyn Engage in Heated Exchange
Paul Kane

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) hasn't spent much time in the Capitol this year as he seeks the GOP presidential nomination. But one of his rare appearances this week provided a pretty salty exchange with a fellow Republican.

During a meeting Thursday on immigration legislation, McCain and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) got into a shouting match when Cornyn started voicing concerns about the number of judicial appeals that illegal immigrants could receive, according to multiple sources -- both Democrats and Republicans -- who heard firsthand accounts of the exchange from lawmakers who were in the room.

At a bipartisan gathering in an ornate meeting room just off the Senate floor, McCain complained that Cornyn was raising petty objections to a compromise plan being worked out between Senate Republicans and Democrats and the White House. He used a curse word associated with chickens and accused Cornyn of raising the issue just to torpedo a deal.

Things got really heated when Cornyn accused McCain of being too busy campaigning for president to take part in the negotiations, which have gone on for months behind closed doors. "Wait a second here," Cornyn said to McCain. "I've been sitting in here for all of these negotiations and you just parachute in here on the last day. You're out of line."

McCain, a former Navy pilot, then used language more accustomed to sailors  ...

"[Expletive] you! I know more about this than anyone else in the room," shouted McCain at Cornyn. McCain helped craft a bill in 2006 that passed the Senate but couldn't be compromised with a House bill that was much tougher on illegal immigrants. ...

Ultimately, a deal was crafted and, as McCain suspected, Cornyn did not join in on the final agreement.

By early Thursday afternoon, McCain joined nine other senators and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez at a Capitol press conference announcing the deal.

After making a few comments, McCain left the Capitol to head to New York for presidential campaign events. Later that day, McCain missed his 43rd straight vote, this on the $2.9 trillion budget outline.

*** Update and bump. Original timestamp 2007.05.19.19:56

"F*** you": The inside story
Scott Johnson

The eruption of Senator John McCain at fellow Republican Sen. John Cornyn (TX) is an incident that reverberates on several levels. It renews lingering doubts about whether Senator McCain possesses the proper temperament to be president. It also raises serious questions about the substance of the "grand bargain" immigration bill that Senators Kennedy, Specter, McCain and others are attempting to rush through the Senate. (The written bill language was finally distributed to Senate offices early Saturday morning, 326 pages, still marked as a draft.)

When word of the McCain incident began to leak late Friday, we found Senate offices circling the wagons, trying to avoid talking about it. We believe that accounts published to date fail to provide the context necessary to understand the incident properly. We have pieced together the following account that we believe more accurately relates the incident and provides the necessary context.

Senator McCain has been largely missing from the Senate since late March, when it became apparent his fundraising operation was seriously lagging. Senator McCain hasn’t made a Senate vote in the past five weeks. But he wanted to be front and center when the immigration bargain was announced, and Kennedy and Specter did everything they could to accommodate him. They reserved the Senate press gallery room for 1:30 p.m. Thursday, just in time for Senator McCain to attend before heading out to New York for more fundraising.

A minor problem arose. Bush administration negotiators and a bipartisan Senate group had been meeting several days a week since February, often with glacial progress. (McCain rarely attended, though his staff was there.) As of Thursday morning, however, agreement hadn’t been reached. A final meeting started at 10 a.m. in hopes of finishing the deal. With a dozen Senators, two Cabinet members (Chertoff and Gutierrez) and perhaps 15 staffers in the room discussing an unpublished documents exceeding 300 pages in length, it was slow going. Senator Cornyn, tacitly supported by Sen. Jon Kyl, pushed hard to streamline legal procedures to allow prompt deportation of illegals. Senator Kennedy resisted.

As the clock moved closer to 1:30 p.m., Senator McCain suddenly lost it. "This is chickenshit," he told Senator Cornyn. "I think it would expedite things if you would just leave the room, Senator, so we can get along with finishing this up." Senator Cornyn responded: "Wait a minute. We’ve been meeting for three months on this in good faith, and now you parachute in here this morning and tell me to leave? I think you’re out of line."

Senator McCain responded: "F*** you! I know what is going on here. I know more about immigration than anybody in this room!” Other Senators moved in to calm things down, and the talks went on. Senator Cornyn’s provision was not included. At 1:30 p.m. sharp, the conferees (not including Senators Cornyn or Menendez and a few other negotiators) were in the press gallery, congratulating each other. Senator Kennedy recognized Senator McCain early to make his televised comments, then Senator McCain departed before the press conference was over for a flight to New York City. Later that afternoon, he missed yet another Senate vote -– this one on the Democrats' $2.9 trillion budget plan, an outline for the largest tax increase in U.S. history.

Two weeks ago, Senator McCain defended his reputation as a hothead on Fox News Sunday, saying he loses his temper only when he sees corruption and wasteful spending. This incident involved neither. It was instead a simple policy dispute, where he didn’t want to debate how his legislation would actually work.

*****

WHAT ABOUT THE SUBSTANCE of Senator Cornyn’s argument? It provides a revealing window into the process, and a lens for viewing the compromise on offer in the Senate bill. ...

Do read the whole thing.

Contributed by Bill Faith on May 20, 2007 at 06:19 PM in Decision '08, Immigration, John McCain-Feingold | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, 13 April 2007
 

2007.04.13 Politics/1st Amendment Roundup

Politics/1st Amendment? It gets tough trying to separate the two some days. Updated from the top. Please treat this as a blog-within-a-blog, come back often, and scroll down till you hit something you saw on your last visit.

• Nancy Pelosi's First 100 Days
• Barry brings up the rear
• Hasta la Free Speech
• ACLU To Defend Nazis Again
• Democrats in Congress to Consider Making Laws
• The Law Of Unintended Consequences
• The Incredible Shrinking Candidates

***

Nancy Pelosi's First 100 Days

***

Barry brings up the rear
Michelle Malkin

Barry-come-lately jumps on the anti-rap misogyny bandwagon. Here's what he said late today:

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Friday questioned the way some rappers talk about women in songs, saying the lyrics are similar to the derogatory language used by embattled radio host Don Imus.

They are "degrading their sisters. That doesn't inspire me," Obama said of some hip-hop artists when a man in a crowd of about 1,000 questioned him. The Illinois senator was responding to a question of what inspired him, and said God and civil rights activists.

Earlier this week, Obama criticized Imus, who was fired Thursday for labeling the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos." ...

Funny, I don't recall Obama bringing this up when he met Ludacris last fall. The Media Blog reminds us of Luda's ho-ho-ho-ciferousness. ...

***

Hasta la Free Speech 
Jules Crittenden

An apology probably should have sufficed for saying something stupid, unfunny and defamatory.  Not that I want to defend Don Imus. He should have been fired years ago for his colossal body of stupid, unfunny work on an unlistenable show. 

One of my favorite Kurt Vonnegut stories was the one about mandatory handicaps,* and the grotesque ballet of dancers wearing weights so they wouldn’t be more graceful than oanyone else.  That is where we are headed.  Safety helmets, kneepads, blacked-out see-no-evil goggles and gags all around. ...

Big winner in this thing, Katie Couric. Looks like we can only take one media scandal at a time, and her ghost-written plagiarism has dropped off the radar.  According to the standard set in the other, excuse me, latest CBS scandal, they just should have fired Imus’ producer, because he’s the one who set up the stupid remark.

***

ACLU To Defend Nazis Again 
Ed Morrissey

The ACLU lost a number of members in 1977 when they defended the American Nazi Party when they wanted to stage a demonstration in the town of Skokie, Illinois -- a city where a number of Holocaust victims and their families had settled. Over 30,000 ACLU members staged a demonstration of their own when they marched out of the organization, even after the ACLU won the case, and even though the Nazis never did march in Skokie.

Thirty years later, the ACLU proves that they have not learned their lesson. The Ohio chapter has agreed to represent the American Nazi Party again in a conflict over a demonstration permit, this time in a predominantly black neighborhood in Cincinnati. ...

***

Democrats in Congress to Consider Making Laws
Scott Ott

(2007-04-13) — Democrats who control the House and Senate today agreed to a long term “progressive” strategy to begin making laws sometime in late 2008 or early 2009, once they complete their investigations of everyone in the Bush administration. ...

***

The Law Of Unintended Consequences 
Ed Morrissey

Don Imus started a brushfire of criticism for the latest in a series of racially insensitive remarks last week, ultimateky costing him his broadcasting platforms at CBS and NBC. Much of the demand for his termination came from the efforts of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, two former Democratic presidential candidates (2004 and 1988, respectively), who fired up demands for boycotts against Imus' sponsors. Their success may present a problem for their party, however, as Democrats routinely used Imus to access independent white male voters who comprised a large part of his audience:

They came by the hundreds that hot August day in tiny Johnson City, Tenn., gathering on an asphalt parking lot to meet Rep. Harold E. Ford Jr. It was not just that he might become the state's first black senator. More than that, even in Republican eastern Tennessee, the Democratic congressman was a celebrity — a regular guest on Don Imus' radio show.

And today, with Imus' career in tatters, the fate of the controversial shock jock is stirring quiet but heartfelt concern in an unlikely quarter: among Democratic politicians. ...

Who appeared with Imus over the last few years? Men like [Rep. Harold E.] Ford [Jr.], John Kerry, and Barack Obama. Chris Dodd recently appeared to announce his candidacy for the presidential race. Kerry made a few appearances during his presidential bid in 2004, and undoubtedly the Democrats planned to have their eventual nominee do the same next year. Without Imus, the options for talk radio run to whatever's left of Air America -- and Al Franken doesn't work there any more. ...

***

The Incredible Shrinking Candidates
Why is there so little dignity in the presidential campaign?
Peggy Noonan

On Wednesday John McCain distinguished himself with a closely argued and eloquent address in which he spoke seriously and at length of his position on Iraq. He said America faces "an historic choice" with "ramifications for Americans not yet even born."

"Many Democrats," he said, view the war as "a political opportunity," while Republicans view it as "a political burden." But it is neither, he said. It is not a political question to be poll-tested but a challenge that bears on our continuance as a great nation. We must stay and fight and win.

"It may be standard-setting," the Hotline said of the remarks the next day, "perhaps the most powerful plea a war supporter has . . . sent to the American people since the troop surge began. Has any other presidential candidate written a speech to persuade--importune--an audience to change their minds?"

You can agree or disagree with Mr. McCain, but where he stands is clear--and clarity these days, from our candidates, feels like a gift. As does certitude. He isn't running from the war but owning it. A political rival might say, "He has no choice." But there's always a choice.

My larger point, however, is that he sounded like a serious man addressing a serious issue in a serious way. This makes him at the moment stand out. ...

***

In case you didn't make it by yesterday:

• 2007.04.12 Politics Roundup
  • LAT poll: Rudy 29, Fred! 15, McCain 12
  • LA Times Poll: Fred Gains As McCain Drops Back
  • There is no Fred Thompson Boulevard
  • 5 in the morning
  • Hoffa: We'll "Blow Up" Denver For Dem Convention
  • Thompson and Gingrich; apples and oranges
  • McCain Unbound
  • Fun Facts About The 110th Congress

Contributed by Bill Faith on April 13, 2007 at 01:33 AM in Hillary Clinton, John McCain-Feingold, Politics, Rudy Giuliani | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 03 April 2007
 

McCain '04? -- Kerry's Magic Veep

Did McCain approach Kerry?
Paul Mirengoff

The left-wing blog MyDD reports that, according to John Kerry, John McCain's staff approached him (not the other way around) about the idea of McCain running with Kerry in 2004. Kerry said reports that McCain's approached the Dems about switching parties

[don't] surprise me completely because his people similarly approached me to engage in a discussion about his potentially being on the ticket as Vice President. So his people were active -- let's put it that way.

If this is true, it means of the end of McCain's 2008 run.  ...

Big word, that "If." Of course we all know Jean fraud wouldn't ever, ever, fib to us, right?

***

Audio: Kerry says McCain’s staff approached
him about joining the 2004 ticket
Allahpundit

Emphasis: they approached him. Admittedly, we’ve got a not-very-credible source here in Waffles, but there does seem to be an awful lot of corroboration for the rumors about McCain’s aide, John Weaver, being unusually chatty with Democrats about rescuing Maverick from the clutches of the Republican Party. And not all of that corroboration is recent, i.e., election-flavored: Daschle first mentioned it in a book published four years ago, and WaPo did a story about it as far back as 2001.

Now here’s Kerry with another story about McCain wanting to jump ship, this time in the grandest way possible.

Fred!’s only two points behind St. John in the new Rasmussen poll (although no one’s quite sure why). This ought to change that.

Update: McCain admitted in 2004 — to Rush Limbaugh, no less — that he’d “entertain” the idea of a fusion ticket, but here’s how he played it off on “Good Morning America”: ...

***

Kerry's Magic Veep 
Ed Morrrissey

Jonathan Singer at MyDD published an interview with John Kerry today that has sent ripples through the blogosphere. In the interview, Kerry claimed that John McCain approached him about being Kerry's running mate in the 2004 election, contrary to a number of published reports at the time:

Jonathan Singer: There's a story in The Hill, I think on Tuesday, by Bob Cusack on the front page of the paper talking about how John McCain's people -- John Weaver -- had approached Tom Daschle and a New York Congressman, I don't remember his name, about switching parties. And I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about what your discussions were with him in 2004, how far it went, who approached whom... if there was any "there" there.

John Kerry: I don't know all the details of it. I know that Tom, from a conversation with him, was in conversation with a number of Republicans back then. It doesn't surprise me completely because his people similarly approached me to engage in a discussion about his potentially being on the ticket as Vice President. So his people were active -- let's put it that way.

Singer: Okay. And just to confirm, you said it, but this is something they approached you rather than...

Kerry: Absolutely correct. John Weaver of his shop... [JK aswers phone]

Jonathan notes that McCain's loyalty has long been questioned by Republicans, and this on top of The Hill story last week could doom his presidential bid. If the story was true, it would certainly put an end to McCain's leadership in the party -- and deservedly so. Jonathan is certainly correct in his analysis of the situation.

However, Jonathan gives far too much credit to Kerry for honesty. Kerry has a long track record as a fantasist. ...

***

Seared but false? 
Paul Mirengoff

Top aides to John McCain have denied John Kerry's claim that McCain's camp approached Kerry about a spot on the Democratic ticket in 2004. The McCain camp insists it was the other way around. According to Mark Salter, then McCain’s Senate chief of staff and now senior adviser to his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination, "Kerry asked McCain about joining his ticket two or three times, always couching the matter hypothetically: 'Say I were to offer you this, would you be interested?'" Each time McCain would respond, in essencce, "Oh, come on, John, it wouldn’t work."

I must say that this account, which is in accord with the rumors back in 2004, sounds more plausible than Kerry's. ...

McCain's "approach" may be seared, seared in Kerry's memory, but that doesn't mean it occurred.

Contributed by Bill Faith on April 3, 2007 at 02:12 PM in Jean Fraud Kerry, John McCain-Feingold, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, 29 March 2007
 

Surrender is NOT an option

McCain Stands in the Gap
John Hinderaker

Let's put aside for a moment McCain/Feingold and the right's other grievances against John McCain. When it comes to the war on terror, is he the Lincoln of our time? McCain has now launched a petition drive, under the name Surrender Is Not an Option. McCain says: ...

• The supplemental appropriations bill that passed the Senate on March 27, calling for a date certain withdrawal from Iraq, is nothing more than a guaranteed date of surrender.

• It is a refusal to acknowledge the dire consequences of failure, in terms of the stability in the Middle East and the resulting impact on the security of all Americans, whether home or abroad.

• Democrats have chosen the politically expedient position of failure rather than putting aside the small politics of the day in the interest of our nation and the values upon which this nation rests.

• We the undersigned remain steadfast in our support for the war against terrorism and mindful of the consequences of failure in Iraq, even if Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid refuse to acknowledge those consequences.

• We support our troops and the new strategy and believe it should be given the opportunity to succeed. American national security interests are directly at stake. Success or failure in Iraq is the transcendent issue for our foreign policy and our national security. People say they want to defeat the terrorists, but if we withdraw from Iraq prematurely, it will be the terrorists' greatest triumph.

• If we leave Iraq based on an artificial timetable, al Qaeda will be free to plan, train for and conduct operations from Iraq just as they did in Afghanistan before 9/11.

Signed, [YOUR NAME]

Click the image at the top of the quote to go to the petition page. Now!

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 29, 2007 at 12:45 AM in Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est, John McCain-Feingold | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 28 March 2007
 

Democrats say McCain nearly abandoned GOP

Maverick Is His Name?
Ed Morrissey

Past Democratic Party leaders tell The Hill that John McCain negotiated for two months with them to abandon the Republican Party at around the same time that Jim Jeffords crossed the aisle. Tom Daschle and Tom Downey told Bob Cusack that unlike their efforts with Jeffords and Lincoln Chafee, McCain's top aide came to them:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was close to leaving the Republican Party in 2001, weeks before then-Sen. Jim Jeffords (Vt.) famously announced his decision to become an Independent, according to former Democratic lawmakers who say they were involved in the discussions.

If true, this would effectively end McCain's presidential bid. He already has trust issues with Republicans, and this will do nothing but cause them to reject him entirely. However, the people who sourced this story have plenty of motivation to derail McCain, including Edwards, who thinks he may run against McCain in the general election. The principals tell completely conflicting stories, and the nature of the issue almost ensures that no independent proof one way or the other could exist. I'm betting this is nonsense.

Read the whole thing. Hat tip, Allahpundit, who comments:

Daschle says McCain was never thinking of becoming a Democrat, only an independent, but that’s a cold comfort. John Weaver, the McCain strategist who allegedly approached the Dems about switching, evidently admitted this week that St. John did speak to some Democratic senators about it — but only very briefly, in a single meeting which he left shortly after it began. Daschle says that’s nonsense.

Honestly, the blockquote doesn’t do it justice as I had to omit further corroborating quotes by another Democrat, former Rep. Tom Downey. You’ll simply have to read the whole thing. It boils down to whether you take a bunch of Democrats’ words over McCain’s: they have an interest in knocking him out of the race, but do they have an interest in knocking him out now? The longer he’s in, the more damage his oppo researchers can do to Giuliani and Romney. And the quicker he’s out, the more easily his fundraisers can transition to another candidate. If they’re making this all up, it would have made more sense to drop it six months from now.

Which makes me think they’re not making it up. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 28, 2007 at 11:29 PM in John McCain-Feingold, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, 01 March 2007
 

McCain-Feingold announces he's a candidate

Oh, did I spell that wrong? It's hard to stop typing after just the first last name. (I guess I can still get away with saying that. I mean, they haven't repealed the First Amendment yet, have they?)

McCain Declares on Letterman, Releases Top 10 List
Scott Ott

(2007-03-01) — Sen. John McCain, R-AZ, who used an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman to announce he's running for president, tonight plans to release his Top Ten list of why Republicans should nominate him to head the 2008 GOP ticket.

The edgy septuagenarian maverick plans to make a formal announcement in April, after completing a round of appearances on the other respected political news programs — The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, The Tonight Show, The Late Late Show, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Saturday Night Live and Larry King Live.

Mr. Letterman plans to read the list, prepared by the McCain campaign, on tonight’s show: ...

Oops, there I go again. I mean, just because I consider the man's candidacy a joke, should I be making fun of him? .... Hell, yeah!

***

McCain Announces On Letterman
Ed Morrissey

I missed this yesterday while I traveled to Washington DC for the CPAC conference, but John McCain explicitly announced that he would run for President in 2008. One might think that CPAC would have provided a good platform for that event, but instead he chose Late Night with David Letterman:

[...]

Obviously, Letterman's show has national reach, but it seems more than a little strange in two ways. First, it reminds people of Arnold Schwarzenegger's announcement on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, but with little of the surprise. Did anyone think John McCain was not going to run for President? Secondly, it wasn't even the formal announcement. McCain's staff had to explain that the formal announcement -- which affects contributor and spending status -- will come sometime in April, and which has become even more of an anti-climax.

Conservatives attending CPAC might wonder why McCain has the time to gladhand Letterman while claiming that any of the three days of CPAC won't fit into his schedule. Considering McCain's claims to be our true representative in the race, the conservative activists gathered here at the Omni Shoreham hotel might expect him to reprioritize a bit. ...

***

John McCain's base 
Michelle Malkin

The Maaaverick is not going to the Conservative Political Action Conference, which begins [today].

But he did have time to tape his announcement on the David Letterman Show. Video at Hot Air.

Interesting priorities. ...

***

McCain: U.S. Lives 'Wasted' in Iraq
Dan Riehl

What a maverick, huh?

WASHINGTON Mar 1, 2007 (AP)— Republican presidential contender John McCain, a staunch backer of the Iraq war but critic of how President Bush has waged it, said U.S. lives had been "wasted" in the four-year-old conflict. Democrats demand the Arizona senator apologize for the comment as Sen. Barack Obama did when the Democratic White House hopeful recently made the same observation. ...

***

See also:

• "Wasted," Pt. II

• McCain: US lives "wasted" in Iraq

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 1, 2007 at 11:50 AM in John McCain-Feingold, Politics | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 27 February 2007
 

McCain’s problem
Don Surber

Dick Morris & Eileen McGann in 1,179 words tried to explain what John McCain’s problem is, why he is not gaining any traction among Republican voters.

And the Morrises (she is his wife) missed!

They wrote:

[...]

Nope. Wrong. Two words:

McCain-Feingold.

The fundamental difference between McCain 2000 and McCain 2008 is that he put his name on a law that forbids people from speaking out against their congressman within 60 days of an election.

Wrong on abortion? That has not stopped Rudy or Mitt.

Wrong on gay marriage? Rudy lived with a gay couple after his second wife kicked him out of the house.

Gun control? It has not stopped Rudy or Mitt.

McCain-Feingold.

That is a show-stopper. Ever step in fresh dog-doo? The smell sticks to the shoe all day. That is what McCain-Feingold is to the senator from Arizona.

He is no longer John McCain. He is McCain-Feingold. ...

Americans do not like to be told to shut up.

McCain-Feingold told Americans to shut up. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on February 27, 2007 at 10:12 PM in John McCain-Feingold, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 07 February 2007
 

Video: Harry Reid Says Troops Are Dishonest

[Video] On Floor of Senate:
Harry Reid Says Troops Are Dishonest

John McCain gave an impassioned speech on the floor of the United States Senate today against cutting and running from Iraq. He said, in part, that he had talked to soldiers from the ranks of privates up to generals. They all told him that they did not believe you could support the troops and oppose their efforts.

Harry Reid's response was, in effect, that the troops lied to John McCain because they did not want to speak candidly with a war hero/Presidential candidate.

Harry Reid, on the floor of the United State Senate, said the American soldiers in Iraq lied to John McCain.

Watch the exchange here: [video link]

Contributed by Bill Faith on February 7, 2007 at 03:21 AM in Harry Reid, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est, John McCain-Feingold, The American Warrior | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 06 February 2007
 

Saint John And The Bloggers (Updated)

I'd vote for him over anyone the Dhimms are likely to run, but I wouldn't like it. We can do better and we need to.

McCain Campaign Staff and Bloggers:
The Lovers' Quarrel Conference Call
Mary Katharine Ham (Hat tip: Michelle)

All right, so some would argue that McCain and the bloggers have never had enough of a relationship to qualify the current disagreements as "lovers' quarrels," but the call and the conversation the campaign staff is starting to have is a bit, "baby, come back. You know I've always loved you."

Not that that's a bad thing at all. Bloggers, as the guys on the call noted, will have an impact on the '08 elections, and McCain, despite past missteps needs to start a conversation anew. And, if McCain does win the nomination, even folks who don't love him will want to support him to the best of their ability over the Democratic nominee, for the most part. So, the campaign guys hosted the first of several on-the-record Blogger Bitch-a-thons today (Boss, am I allowed to say that?), which I think is a wise move, indeed.

We need to have it out and have our feelings validated just a bit.

David All live-blogged the call, here, and while he knocks the Musak while we were on hold, I think it was one of my favorite selections, as these things go. Very lively.

Anyway, I think the calls are the right move for the McCain folks, and we hit on all the fun issues-- McCain-Feingold, alleged hostility toward bloggers from McCain, general annoyance. Some of the answers were good, but I didn't feel like conservative bloggers' real, politely presented, substantive issues with McCain were taken as seriously as they could have been. I mean, we've got some deep-seated issues, here, that have developed over many years for some of us. There were only a few of us on the call, and I wish we could have gone longer. 

***

The Impact Of Blogger Outreach 
Ed Morrissey

Earlier today, I had an opportunity to participate in a conference call involving the John McCain campaign and several prominent bloggers. David All live-blogged the event, in which the McCain staff solicited our unvarnished opinions regarding McCain, his campaign efforts, his prospects for promotion through the blogosphere, and what we felt we would need from his campaign.

I won't attempt to recreate David's excellent coverage, so I'll give you my overall evaluation of the event. It shows that McCain and his staff understand the need to address the skepticism (and in some cases, outright hostility) of the conservative blogosphere. Even though McCain enjoys a substantial level of support among voters at the moment, his numbers among blog readers have been abysmal. One person on the call noted that a recent straw poll put him at the same level as Fred Dalton Thompson, who is closer to running for an Emmy than for President.

In prior elections, none of this would have mattered much. Bloggers had been seen as little more than hobbyists, people whose opinions made an inconsequential impact in the larger scheme of political campaigns. That has changed after the experience in the midterms, apparently. The presidential campaigns seem especially interested in bloggers as a direct conduit to voters, especially those with established credibility. That recognition appears universal even at this early stage of the primary campaign, as all three leading GOP campaigns have hired "new media" liaisons and aggressively courted coverage of their candidates. ...

***

Mary Katherine On McCain 
Ed Morrissey

I linked to David All's live-blog of the conference call several bloggers held with the John McCain campaign earlier today. Mary Katherine Ham also participated in the call, and has a somewhat different take on the effort to engage conservative bloggers:

[...]

In my earlier post, I decided not to talk too much about McCain the candidate, but focused more on the professional campaign staff that I believe has done well by the Senator. However, MK has a good point in this analogy, and I think this is what separates McCain from Rudy Giuliani for conservatives.

Putting Mitt Romney to the side for a moment, one might expect conservatives to flock to McCain's banner for his stated positions on issues of import to our cause, and shy away from Rudy for his publicly stated positions on the same issues. Instead, in the early stages, it appears to be the other way around, and I'm sure McCain's campaign must be a little frustrated by that. The reason is the lack of constancy on McCain's part and the credibility that Rudy's consistency has built.

John McCain has a record of courageous stands on behalf of the war on terror and on spending, two key issues for conservatives in the 2008 cycle. However, as MK points out, he has not taken a market-driven approach on campaign finance reform, instead relying on intrusive government control of political speech. How committed will he be on free markets as President in any sense, if not in political speech? He now sings the conservative tune on tax cuts, but we still remember McCain the Maverick opposing them when George Bush pushed them through Congress -- and his part in blocking the efforts to make them permanent.

So far, we're not hearing how things will be different with a President McCain than they have been with a Senator McCain. Perhaps we won't, because the campaign staff will tout McCain's long service and the fact that he has engaged as a high-profile warrior in most of the public policy debates of the past decade or more, a reputation that makes him the anti-Kerry for 2008. They will see this as an asset, but conservatives will not. What they fear is the McCain of 2001-2006, and a pledge to remain that will definitely create a lot of opposition from the conservative bloggers who met today. ...

***

About that McCain staff blogger outreach call
Paul Mirengoff

Yesterday afternoon, Senator McCain's top campaign staff held a conference call with about half a dozen conservative bloggers. David All live-blogged it. Captain Ed and Mary Katherine Ham have shared their reactions.

I hadn't intended to post on the conference, but now that my comments have been summarized by other bloggers, I think I should recount more fully what I said.

I expressed alarm about what I perceive to be strong dislike and distrust of the Senator not by bloggers but by blog readers. I cited the Pajamas Media poll, in which at least at one point, McCain was running neck-and-neck with Fred Thomspon and Ron Paul. I also mentioned the harshly negative feedback about the Senator we frequently receive at Power Line on our forum page and in emails.

I expressed this alarm "not as a McCain supporter, but as a McCain admirer." As I put it, "a strong McCain campaign is in the national interest and the interest of the Republican party, just as a strong Giuliani campaign and a strong Romney campaign are."

I identified three main themes that appear in the anti-McCain messages we get. The first, of course, is McCain-Feingold. I don't think there's much McCain can do about this. It's unrealistic and unfair to expect a "McCain outreach program" to include changing positions on fundamental issues.

The second problem is the sense that McCain has "sucked up" to the mainstream media over the years largely by criticizing conservatives. That's an almost unpardonable sin for many blog readers who, after all, started reading blogs because they so distrust and dislike the MSM. Whether other conservatives feel so strongly about this is unclear.  ...

The third problem McCain has -- and probably the most curable -- is his stridency towards those with whom he disagrees. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on February 6, 2007 at 11:01 PM in John McCain-Feingold, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 30 January 2007
 

Get a room! 
Michelle Malkin

Via the NYPost:

Niles Lathem reports: "Looks like things are getting serious in the race for the White House - seriously lovey-dovey, that is. Judging from this photo, the spirit of bipartisan cooperation appeared to be alive and well yesterday between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain in Texas." ...

Got a good caption for the picture? Greg Tinti's holding a contest here.

Contributed by Bill Faith on January 30, 2007 at 03:28 PM in Hillary Clinton, John McCain-Feingold, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, 19 October 2006
 

Video: Will McCain commit suicide if Dems win Senate?

[video link]

Sen. John McCain was on Hardball tonight and responded to reports that he would “just commit suicide” if Democrats take over the Senate:

- Arizona Sen. John McCain, a likely Republican presidential contender in 2008, joked on Wednesday he would “commit suicide” if Democrats win the Senate in November.

McCain, on a visit to Iowa to campaign for Republican congressional candidates, was asked his reaction to a potential Democratic takeover of the Senate in the November 7 elections.

“I think I’d just commit suicide,” McCain told reporters,  ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on October 19, 2006 at 03:19 AM in John McCain-Feingold, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack