The latest edition of Vanity Fair profiled presumptive GOP nominee for president, Senator John McCain of Arizona.
Heralded as a “maverick” by the Washington elite, and one that “loathes” the D.C. culture, the senior Republican senator will be taking over the reins of the ranking minority post on the Armed Services Committee from Senator John Warner (R-Virginia) when the 110th Congress convenes.
With his mind on a last ditch effort to win the White House, the “Straight Talk Express” derailed long ago. Policy stances shift when the campaign clouds inch toward the horizon. Eager to please the hardliners with only pandering support, even though his own better judgment tells him otherwise.
“By the way, I think the fence is least effective. But I’ll build the goddamned fence if they want it.”
The Vanity Fair piece is chock full of examples of the supposed straight-shooter veering off course.
McCain on the Stars & Bars:
“As we all know, it’s a symbol of racism and slavery,” McCain said [in 2000]. After John Weaver and others did more than whisper in his ear, McCain took to reading aloud from a piece of paper with a statement that began, “As to how I view the flag, I understand both sides,” and went downhill from there.
The article cites this passage from McCain’s second memoir in 2002:
By the time I was asked the question for the fourth or fifth time, I could have delivered the response from memory. But I persisted with the theatrics of unfolding the paper and reading it as if I were making a hostage statement. I wanted to telegraph to reporters that I really didn’t mean to suggest I supported flying the flag, but political imperatives required a little evasiveness on my part. I wanted them to think me still an honest man, who simply had to cut a corner a little here and there so that I could go on to be an honest president. [emphasis added]
So he just wants to lie to you to get into office. Honest.
A former aide critiques McCain’s “theatrics.”
“Yes, he’s a social conservative, but his heart isn’t in this stuff,” one former aide told me, referring to McCain’s instinctual unwillingness to impose on others his personal views about issues such as religion, sexuality, and abortion. “But he has to pretend [that it is], and he’s not a good enough actor to pull it off. He just can’t fake it well enough.” [emphasis added]
Are you kidding? McCain has superb acting skills. Didn’t you see his bit part shaking Christopher Walken’s hand in Wedding Crashers? What about his hosting of NBC’s Saturday Night Live and many appearances on Meet the Press? Now, that’s acting.
As the article illustrates numerous times, McCain has a storied history of flip-flopping. One such incident appears below. (Read more here.)
Six years ago, McCain was livid when Sam and Charles Wyly, a pair of Texas businessmen friendly with the Bush campaign, spent $2.5 million on a nominally independent advertising effort attacking McCain. He called them “Wyly coyotes,” and implored an audience in Boston to “tell them to keep their dirty money in the state of Texas.” This time, McCain accepted money from the Wylys.
1 Response to “McCain’s Evolving Principles”
Something to say?
[...] McCain’s biggest hurdle, should he win the nomination, will be the continuing occupation of Iraq. The conflict in Iraq does not escape the evolving principles of John McCain. In August 1990, the Arizona senator was quoted in the New York Times that he opposed “trading American blood for Iraqi blood.” [...]
Left by The Right’s Field » Who is the Real John McCain?
January 29, 2007 at 9:26pm