John McCain is a principled man, and he relies on his principles to guide his policy decisions. It is an unfortunate reality of any presidential election season that the candidates move to the poles of each of their respective parties in order to build a solid base to carry the nomination. So, of course, McCain has begun to sell himself as a conservative Republican, when most of the electorate knows he is not a Bush Republican. He is an independent thinker on many issues, and hardly embodies the conservative movement. This is why he has consistently been vilified by the right wing of the party, from Falwell to Limbaugh. McCain is a moderate politician, which is why he scores so well with independent voters. I believe it will be difficult to position himself as "your conservative Republican candidate," and two instances, brought to attention in today's NY Times, offer insight into the psychology of the Arizona Senator, and underscore how one is hard-pressed to really put a political label on him.Disenchanted with the Republican party after his failed attempt to be its nominee in 2000, McCain deliberated leaving the party and becoming an independent. He had talks with leading Democrats on the matter, and whichever camp you want to believe, that either McCain and his team approached the Dems, or vice-versa, it is a telling sign that McCain was even pondering leaving his party. A proud "conservative Republican" would not seriously discuss this with the rival party. Not three years later McCain had talks with John Kerry about a potential shared ticket for the 2004 Presidential Election. While such a ticket seems ludicrous, what with Kerry's antiwar posture and McCain's hawkish foreign policy, the fact that McCain flirted with the idea means he is not in the right wing of his party. He is a centrist Republican, and in all honesty, I think positioning himself in such a way now that he has wrapped up the nomination will better serve him. With Bush's abysmal polling and the 2006 Democratic Congressional victories, it is apparent America is jaded by the Republican party, especially it's right wing. Selling himself as a moderate Republican will give him a better chance in November I believe, because that's what he is.
He favors deficit reduction to Bush's constant tax cuts (although in this political season he has flip-flopped on the matter, a bad move in my estimation). He originally opposed Bush's tax cuts because of how disproportionately it favored the wealthy, and I think this gives insight to where he stands on tax issues. He has long been a champion of campaign finance reform, he has been at odds with Bush on environmental issues, taking a more regulation-based stance. He has been outspoken about alternative fuels and our need to reduce foreign oil dependence, and has taken a stronger stance on global warming. He voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment, he supports stem cell research and has sided with prominent Democrats on immigration policy. A victim of torture himself, he has consistently butted heads with Republicans on America's interrogation tactics, and has been vehement about the US upholding international standards and immediately ceasing any torture being implemented.
While McCain is definitely a Republican, he is hardly the conservative Republican he is now claiming he is, and would be better served by positioning himself as the moderate Republican he is, and not falling victim to partisan hackery that plagues this nation. We need more independent thinkers in Washington, and McCain is a good example of a politician that is not afraid to alienate his party to stand up for his principles.
4 comments:
I don't mean to be rude pdrez, but your lead statement, "John McCain is a principled man, and he relies on his principles to guide his policy decisions.", is just patently absurd.
There are literally hundreds of examples I could give you, but I'll just lay this one down for you to ponder.
Sen. McCain has consistently told the American public that he is against torture. Period. He has consistently told us that waterboarding is torture. Period.
He's made (and continues to make) a big deal of the 2005 bill he supported that bans the use of torture. Touting his maneuvering to make the President back down and accept the ban.
But, when the President attached a highly-publicized signing statement to that bill, nullifying its torture provisions, McCain said nothing. Nothing.
As he's found out that we are indeed torturing people, he's done and said nothing about it. A total blackout on the subject.
Now, this March, he had a chance to act again, as legislation was passed in the Senate to ban torture in the form of requiring adherence to the Army Field Manual for interrogations.
What did the "principled" Senator do?
Voted against the bill and voted to uphold the President's veto.
The reason? I'll let his words speak for him.
"... McCain opposed the bill for the same reason he exempted the CIA from his 2005 legislation: his belief that the agency should not be limited to methods spelled out in a public Army manual.
McCain feels 'it's a good thing that (the CIA can use) enhanced interrogation techniques that are not revealed in your newspaper,' Scheunemann said. He declined to identify methods that McCain believes should remain available to the CIA while being off-limits to military interrogators.
The Army Field Manual prohibits the use of force during interrogation. Among the techniques it forbids, in addition to waterboarding, are beatings, burns and electric shock; use of extreme heat; use of dogs; mock executions; forced nudity or sexual acts; hooding or taping a prisoner's eyes; prolonged sleep deprivation; and denial of needed food, water or medical care."
Do you now have any idea what his position is on torture? He says it's wrong, but he fights to the end to keep it legal. Does that sound like a principled man?
John McCain is one of the least-principled men in the Senate. He lacks any reasonable standard of a moral or ethical compass.
I would really like to hear one issue in which you believe he has adhered to his principles, throughout his career, without shifting to benefit his political health.
Just one.
I'll be waiting.
While you're waiting for pdrez to respond, I think I've got one. I believe he's been pretty consistent in kowtowing to oil companies. In fact, on two occasions, he stood with oil companies and against veterans when congress tried to eliminate some tax subsidies to fund improvements in the way we treat veterans.
Now there's some principled action for you.
Point taken.
But I do want to say that I qualified the lead statement by saying that presidential candidates often move left or right from their actual viewpoint for political expediency. And McCain is no exception. He has been trying to galvanize the right-wing of his party in order to carry the primaries and the general election, because if he doesn't even have the full backing of his party in November, then he stands no chance of winning. I said this is "an unfortunate reality" of any presidential year.
As a center-left voter myself, I detest when candidates cater to the poles and abandon some of their moderate stances for political gain. So, yes, when McCain caved to the right wing of his party on torture, it was disheartening. I have taken your points to heart in what was a well-written response.
I guess what I was trying to say with my original post is that McCain has shown that he is not afraid to stand up to his party and act on his principles. On matters such as immigration, torture, the environment and tax cuts, he has shown that he is not afraid to vote on his principles rather than going blindly with his party. And on Iraq, he has stood by his principles and not flinched on what our policy should be there (whether or not you agree with him on Iraq, that is another issue). I think these issues (with the exception of Iraq) prove that he is a moderate Republican parading himself as conservative, which I don't believe will win him the White House.
Thanks for the kind words, pdrez.
However, I must take exception, again, to the overarching point - your assessment of McCain's principles.
Let's take the issues that you mention one-by-one.
Torture
True, he did buck the party to back the original bill. But, it was clearly only for show. Again, he said and did nothing as the President castrated the bill via signing statement, and said and did nothing as the revelations of actual torture, sanctioned by our government, was admitted by the administration.
Tell me where the principled part comes in? I just don't see it.
And now, of course, he's for it.
Taxes
He did indeed vote against the first rounds of the Bush tax cuts, reasoning that they were disproportionately given to the
wealthy.
"I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us at the expense of middle-class Americans who need tax relief."--John McCain, May 2001
Then, apparently, he had an epiphany. Tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations, perhaps even more egregious than Bush's, are the centerpiece of his campaign's economic stimulus package.
How could a principled, ethical man possibly come so far afield of his earlier profession?
Immigration
Let's not forget that the principled Senator is from Arizona. A state with a 40% latino population. So, his principles here are surely grounded in political pragmatism.
Even here though, he has undergone a major policy (or principle) shift in the last year. He's for securing the borders now, and no path to citizenship. He's even said that he would not, now, vote for his own "McCain-Kennedy" immigration bill if it came to a vote.
Hmmmm. What could have changed to affect his position so dramatically? He doesn't need to pander to the Hispanic vote in little old Arizona now.
Environment
Well, he's done better here than any place else. But he's hardly on anyone's A-list among activists.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/02/22/group_ranks_mccain_last_on_env.html
"While Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has touted his support for the environment throughout his presidential campaign, the League of Conservation Voters gave him a zero rating Thursday on its 2007 congressional scorecard -- making him the lowest-ranking lawmaker among all 535 members of Congress.
McCain, who has a lifetime rating of 24 from the group, missed every single vote the environmental group identified as critical last year. Carl Pope, executive director of the advocacy group Sierra Club, said in a statement that the senator scored lower than some lawmakers who had died in the middle of the term."
The War
While his support for the war has not wavered, he has been behind a steady stream of lies about its genesis and its conduct.
There isn't enough room here to document them all. But, in your heart, I suspect you know that. So, I won't list them.
He's been wrong from the beginning, and he refuses to admit it, even though more Iraqis and Americans die every day. 900 Americans alone since his surge started.
And he continues to lie to the American public when he says the surge is working.
IT'S NOT WORKING. The surge was specifically put in place to facilitate political reconciliation. And, by any reasonable barometer, it has failed in that regard. Yet, he continues to flog its success.
That's not principle. It's arrogant, cynical, self-serving deceit.
One more thing. If you don't think his undying support of his precious surge is not based on a cynical political calculus, you are, I'm afraid, mistaken.
You only need examine his "principled" stands on every other issue to know that.
Peace out.
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