Ok, you McCainiacs, I’ve got a question for ya.
John McCain has withdrawn support for his own immigration bill, actively undermined the spirit of his own campaign finance reform bill, is wrong about climate change, and yesterday, McCain made a couple gaffes about the violence in Iraq. Is the only reason people consider him a strong leader because he supported the surge, or that he served in the military? He’s a hero, but has he really shown he can be president?
And don’t respond with something about Obama. I want to know why to vote for McCain, not against Barack.
Filed under: Politics
Because McCain has not withdrawn support from his immigration bill (I wish he had). He just states that he now realizes the public demand for a secure border to precede it.
I support McCain simply because he is willing to fight against earmarks (being principled enough never to have taken one himself) and other wasteful spending and recognizes the realitieis of the world enough to realize that negotiations does not work with some of the crazier people in the world without strength to back it up.
John sticks to his principles not perfectly, but a lot more firmly than the competition. I don’t agree with all, but the basics I do. As for Gaffe count, old John is currently generating about one for every four for Barack. Gaffes do not a president make or break, but arrogance (or the lack of it, in John’s case) can easily do so.
“McCainiacs”
Are there really any?
Statistically very few I think. Most of the McCain folks that I have talked to are voting for him simply because he is not Obama.
They are afraid of Obama – many actually say so – and will vote for McCain, but not because they like him a lot.
The media calls this the enthusiasm gap.
McCain withdrew his support for his immigration bill in the CNN Los Angeles Times debate and said he wouldn’t even vote for it now. See it here:http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/7/14/22630/7274
http://www.rightwingnews.com/mt331/2008/07/john_mccains_dishonest_flipflo.php
McCain may be willing to fight against earmarks, but he is not friend of small government and is as willing to regulate as most democrats. See this: http://www.usnews.com/blogs/capital-commerce/2007/12/24/mccains-big-government-economic-idea.html
McCain has precious few principles he has stuck with, unless you count fighting in native american reservations. He has flipped on a number of issues that defined him as a maverick in order to impress the right.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/9111.html
More importantly, gaffes might not break a presidency, but they don’t do it a favor either. How can you say McCain understands the situation when his comments have been contradicted by colonels and generals alike, including Petreaus?
So what are we left with, that conservatives are supposed to like McCain because he’s tough? Because he won’t use that damned state department? Even BUSH is starting up talks with Iran. Even BUSH took North Korea off his axis of evil list.
At this point, I dont particularly like Obama because he’s full of a lot of hot air. At the same time, I don’t see any upside to a McCain presidency (he’s too in bed with the bad parts of the Right, and he’s confused about his more liberal side), and at least I agree with some of Obama’s social views.
Gee Jslef; you might want to ask those same officers who they’d prefer as C-in-C; I’d even stand by letting the entire military vote make the decision for us; I’m not sure tyou would.
Name one thing the State department has ever actually accomplished. I’ll name you the one thing I can think of; buying the Egyptian government’s coopreation to the tune of many billions of dollars in annual aid to a non-ally. I’d walk door-to-door my entire district for the first candidate to promise to scrub the State Department to the ground and start over.
I guess you missed the North Koreans blowing up their nuclear program… all due to Bush’s efforts. THat does have an impact on the list they belong on as they starve themselves to death.
I don’t see a great deal of upside to either presidency; I just see a lot less downside with John McCain acting as something of a foil for the 9% buffoons in Congress. Or would you prefer to ride the Pelosi and Reid train to the wreck?
So is your reason for liking McCain that the army prefers him? That’s a little weak.
The north Koreans blew up their nuclear program because of our state department.
I don’t know why entering into negotiations (btw, Obama has set up conditions for meeting with Ahmadinejad) is a bad thing. I don’t know why being popular around the world is a bad thing. I don’t think the unilateral war helped us.
But more importantly, it seems as though McCain, Obama, and Bush are inching closer together on foreign policy while they remain pretty far apart socially. So there’s less to really use in that area to make a case. What does it mean to be “strong in the war on terror”? Would you say the same about Bush?
I don’t like Reid or Pelosi, but I don’t like Kissenger either, and he’s McCain’s advisor. I don’t like the politically powerful evangelicals to whom McCain panders either.
When there are serious problems with both candidates, I look for upsides. I’m socially liberal, and so is Obama. I don’t think I support socialized health care, but McCain’s solution is so confused and impractical that I can’t help dismissing it as well.
So I’m left supporting Obama for his social policies. I feel that’s a better reason than “toughness”.
“When there are serious problems with both candidates, I look for upsides.”
With McBush, there are no upsides. Zero.
With Bush in 43rd place, perhaps tied with Buchanan for worse president ever, McCain is the only candidate that could do worse. Maybe not zero upsides. Maybe less than zero. He was, after all 894 in a class of 899, wasn’t it?
Obama is an unknown and I am sure he will disappoint me, but he will NOT be worse than Bush. “Maybe” is way better than “zero”.
Obama will probably be in the middle of the rankings, but those are our choices.
Jslef, you were the one who brought up the military, not I.
As for Obama not being worse than Bush; the current Congress is, per their ratings, and Obama would fastrack all of their stupidity.
Obama is the first candidate ever to demonstrate he doesn’t know (or lies) about what committees he’s on and has held a political rally in a foreign country; and that’s just today. His skin color isn’t the important unique thing about him; his arrogance is.