John McCain for President

[Charlotte_native]

He's already beginning to flank Obama's positions by accusing him of making shallow and unattainable promises; in typical GOP fashion he's going to try and push the "pipe-dream liberal" angle while offering a more sober and conservative plan of action.

[Justadude]

^ That pretty much sums up what I expect to see in the Presidential election. Obama calling for change, McCain attacking him for not having a strong enough plan, Obama countering that McCain's plan is the status quo, and the voters deciding that the status quo sucks.

There, we just saved 9 months of bickering... let's vote

[Raintree21]

Mitt Romney is going to endorse McCain. Romney had 280 delegates before he dropped out. Add that to McCain's 843 and he's at 1,123 and just shy of the 1,191 needed to secure the nomination.

[Gusterfell]

McCain yesterday voted against banning the use of waterboarding and other such methods by the CIA. This despite his talk of adamantly opposing torture. So much for his "straight talk."

[Charlotte_native]

McCain yesterday voted against banning the use of waterboarding and other such methods by the CIA. This despite his talk of adamantly opposing torture. So much for his "straight talk."

[Justadude]

FWIW, he called for a separate bill specifically banning waterboarding, stating that his "no" vote was against the way the language of the bill tied the CIA interrogators to Army Field Manual standards.

This issue is being pushed primarily by Arianna Huffington's editorial blasting McCain for "selling his soul", so I don't expect that the nuances of his position are going to be the center of the discussion for long.

[Gusterfell]

The fact remains that either he opposes torture or he doesn't. If he doesn't want the CIA torturing detainees, the guidelines in the Army Field Manual should be sufficient. If certain techniques are unethical enough to forbid their use by the military, shouldn't that apply to other governmental agencies as well?

[Raintree21]

Congressmen vote no against big bills all the time despite supporting parts of it. It's usually in protest of the all the items that are snuck in. McCain has constantly voiced his opinion against torture.

[michaelskis]

I still don

[Justadude]

The fact remains that either he opposes torture or he doesn't. If he doesn't want the CIA torturing detainees, the guidelines in the Army Field Manual should be sufficient. If certain techniques are unethical enough to forbid their use by the military, shouldn't that apply to other governmental agencies as well?

[michaelskis]

The fact that he continues to call for a bill banning waterboarding tells me he opposes torture. You know it's an election year when John McCain of all people starts getting strung up for "supporting" torture.

[Gusterfell]

^Put them on trial or release them.

[Charlotte_native]

What would the democratic candidate do, bake the detainees cookies?

[monsoon]

This is straying off Topic.

[Charlotteman]

One of McCain's key players in his Arizona political machine has been indicted for a land scam. Rep. Renzi-R is another sterling example of the people John McCain is surrounding himself with.

[Justadude]

If anything the "platitude" remark should be taken as an early indicator of how McCain will approach the general election. He's already beginning to flank Obama's positions by accusing him of making shallow and unattainable promises; in typical GOP fashion he's going to try and push the "pipe-dream liberal" angle while offering a more sober and conservative plan of action.

[nowensone]

^ I think that is good for the process though, all candidates should be pressed against the ropes until they get as granular as possible with their rhetoric. What a world it would be if they were required to create 500 page documents for their candidacy that we could all download and pore over and hit them with. At any rate, I will probably be voting for Obama, and even I would desperately like to see his pulpit-esque optimism grounded, it is unnecessary, not to mention that he didn't seem to start out that way.

[voyager12]

I am politically polar opposite to McCain so I would never vote for him but he also the only Republican candidate I respected this year. So, if he does win I will have that solace.

[Lowerdeck]

McCain gets endorsed by religious psychopath John Hagee, then several Catholic organizations are pressuring McCain to tell the Texan televangelist to de-endorse.

If I keep seeing more of these Christian zealots endorsing McCain, it's definitely time to seek other options.

EDIT: fixed spelling error

[Charlotteman]

McCain gets endorsed by religious psychopath John Hagee, then several Catholic organizations are pressuring McCain to tell the Texan televangelist to de-endorse.

If I keep seeing more of these Christian zealots endorsing McCain, it's definitely time to seek other options.

[BrandonTO416]

Everyone knows John McCain's base is independent voters. And it is stuff like this that will make those independents run for the hills.

What makes John Hagee particuarly dangerous is that he's one of those die-hard Armagedon types. Preachers like him actually want to see a huge war in the Middle East, to "bring about biblical prophesy". If John McCain gets the support of people like Hagee, it will scare off oodles of voters who do not agree with such madness.

[Gusterfell]

Not that I'm complaining, because demoralizing your base by making them think you're independent is a great way to hand an election to the Democrats. LOL

[FromCityToRural]

I'll vote for McCain in the fall...not because I like him as a candidate, but because I dislike him less than Obama or Clinton. Really, I'd liked to have seen a Hunter/Giuliani ticket. McCain's too socially conservative and fiscally liberal for me.

[Justadude]

McCain is calling for a summer-long suspension of the federal gas tax from Labor Day to Memorial Day (all summer). Aside from being a transparent pander, much in the same vein as handing out "free" money when the polls show discontent, this is so astoundingly irresponsible that I can hardly believe my eyes when I read it. A national gas crisis, a national deficit crisis, and he wants to encourage people to use more gas and reduce government income?

[erdogs]

Maybe Obama can come out with a $1.00 per gallon increase in the gas tax. Then he could explain the merits of increased "government income" and a forced reduction in gas consumption. We could force independent truck drivers out of work; this would not only save on gas consumption, but would increase retail prices (taxes).