More McCain Flip Flops

In an earlier post, I highlighted some of the flip flops of John McCain. This new video, produced by Robert Greenwald at Brave New Films is pretty hard hitting on McCain. It's a part of an educational website they have launched: http://www.therealmccain.com/.

Congrats to Robert and his team on such a creative video. I hope people take notice that the Straight Talk Express has has a derailment of massive proportion. It's actually pretty sad to see how embroiled he has become in so much double talk that he doesn't seem to remember what he believes in anymore.

Pull out the Flip Flops for McCain

John McCain is all over the place on the War in Iraq. Take a moment to visit ThinkProgress, which is the blog of the Center for American Progress. They have a scoop on an article to be published tomorrow in a new Capitol Hill newspaper, in which McCain blasts Cheney over Iraq strategy.

Basically, McCain was the original supporter of escalating the war in Iraq, once proposing many more troops than the 21,500 being deployed. Now, as the popularity of the war reaches drastic new lows, McCain is changing his position quicker than Cheney returns calls to oil execs. The Arizona Senator knows there is no viable exit strategy in Iraq and is making early moves to distance himself so it doesn't doom his nascent Presidential bid.

He had a dismal performance on Meet the Press yesterday. I'm a clip of the interview below. Even in his remarks yesterday, he is praising the escalation and questioning those who don't. Yet, his comments attacking Cheney is all about his mishandling of the war. Would the real John McCain please stand up?

On a separate issue, this video clip is directly responding to an add that MoveOn is running in Iowa and NH. That ad is a part of the video clip. In his response, McCain slams 527's and claims to have tried to get rid of them. 527's did not exist until the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act became law in 2002. From the Washington Post on April 6, 2006:

The 527 committees, named for a section of the tax law, are tax-exempt rganizations that use voter mobilization and issue-based ads to influence federal elections. They grew in importance after the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance law barred federal candidates and national parties from accepting unlimited donations from individuals, unions and corporations.

There was an effort to pretty much repeal the major provisions of McCain-Feingold:

The House approved campaign finance legislation last night that would benefit Republicans by placing strict caps on contributions to nonprofit committees that spent heavily in the last election while removing limits on political parties' spending coordinated with candidates.

The bill passed 218 to 209 in a virtual party-line vote.

Lifting party spending limits would aid Republican candidates because the GOP has consistently raised far more money than the Democratic Party. Similarly, barring "527" committees from accepting large unregulated contributions known as "soft money" would disadvantage Democrats, whose candidates received a disproportionate share of the $424 million spent by nonprofit committees in 2003-2004.

So, yes, they tried to get rid of 527's. But, at the same time, they tried to repeal the law banning unlimited contributions to the National Parties. What a crock.

Yet another flip flop for Senator McCain. This guy must be losing it.

McCain Picks up Key Endorsement, College Republicans Off-Base

In an earlier post, I specualted that Senator John McCain might be announcing for President in South Carolina today. That was based on an email being circulated by the College Republican President at the College of Charleston. The email is below and was sent with the subject line "HUGE NEWS."

Dear College Republicans,


Are you interested in not only witnessing, but also participating in the creation of modern history? Senator John McCain will be making a key public announcement on Tuesday, January 16 at 1:00 in North Charleston.

As a member of his Presidential Exploratory Campaign and as the President of College Republicans, I invite each of you to attend, and encourage you to bring your roommates, your friends, family and fellow students. Furthermore, if you are interested in participating in his campaign, we would love to welcome you on board (just e-mail me).


Let's show Senator John McCain a warm Charleston welcome! Please RSVP to me by Monday, January 15 by 12:00 noon, and if you need transportation, we can arrange it!

Turns out, McCain's primary reason for the trip was to line up more support for his upcoming Presidential Campaign. The College Republicans were just full of hype.

Today, he scored the endorsement of South Carolina House Speaker Bobby Harrell. This rounds out nearly every major Republican in the State. The only defection from the lot is U.S. Senator Jim Demint, who has jumped on Mitt Romney's bandwagon.

Since McCain has locked up the support of nearly every influential Republican in South Carolina, he will enter the primary there in an excellent position. No Republican in recent history has won the party's nomination without winning the South Carolina Republican Primary. Should McCain make it through Iowa and New Hampshire, he would be poised to clench the nomination with a win in South Carolina.

Given his continued tone deafness on the Iraq War, this is great news for the Left.

McCain Announcing on Tuesday in SC?

There is an email being circulated among Republican activists in Charleston, SC claiming a "historic" announcement being made by Senator John McCain there on Tuesday. The email stops short of providing specifics on the announcement.

There are only a few things that John McCain could say that would be "major." Since he's unlikely to switch his position on Iraq or leave the Republican Party, odds are that he's making his entry into the Presidential race official.

He wouldn't be the first candidate to announce in Charleston. In 2003, John Kerry announced for President on an aircraft carrier in Charleston Harbor. McCain's presumed choice of location for an announcement is significant because in modern history, no Republican has won his party's nomination for President without winning the South Carolina Republican Primary.

The McCain folks are mum. So far, inquiries at his Senate office and the Straight Talk America Committee have been not been returned. I'll update you if I get further confirmation.

The McCain Doctrine

Newly minted Presidential candidate John Edwards today showed his political prowess and willingness to play hardball. In an interview on ABC's This Week, Edwards took on Republican frontrunner John McCain:

"I actually, myself, believe that this idea of surging troops, escalating the war -- what Senator McCain has been talking about -- what I would call now the McCain doctrine ... (is) dead wrong," said Edwards.

Some of the criticism that progressives have had with an Edwards candidacy is that he is "too soft." This direct challenge to McCain should help quell some of those concerns. That it is also couched in terms of ending the war in Iraq should also further his credibility with progressives.

This tactic should also show that Edwards is in this to win it. I'll be looking forward to how this will play out. So far, there's no comment from McCain.