10 Things About John McCain

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10 Things About John McCain

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Recently there’s been several articles about various supporters of both
Obama and Clinton plan to vote for McCain should their candidate fail
to cinch the nomination for the Democratic party. So, I’d like to share
a list of things that *you* should know about John McCain that I picked
up from Moveon.Org (the sources are after the jump):

1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor
   of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has “evolved,”
   yet he’s continued to oppose key civil rights laws.1
2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on
   Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain
   “will make Cheney look like Gandhi.”2
3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain
   voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President
   Bush for vetoing that ban.3
4. McCain opposes a woman’s right to choose. He said, “I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned.”4
5. The Children’s Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in
   Congress for children. He voted against the children’s health care bill
   last year, then defended Bush’s veto of the bill.5
6. He’s one of the richest people in a Senate filled with
   millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least
   eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for
   people facing foreclosure to get a “second job” and skip their
   vacations.6
7. Many of McCain’s fellow Republican senators say he’s too reckless
   to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: “The thought of
   his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He’s erratic.
   He’s hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me.”7
8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his
   campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The
   government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists
   raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential
   candidates.8
9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in
   recent years. The pastor McCain calls his “spiritual guide,” Rod
   Parsley, believes America’s founding mission is to destroy Islam, which
   he calls a “false religion.” McCain sought the political support of
   right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was
   God’s punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church “the
   Antichrist” and a “false cult.”9
10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.10

SOURCES:

1. “The Complicated History of John McCain and MLK Day,” ABC News, April 3, 2008

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/04/the-complicated.html

“McCain Facts,” ColorOfChange.org, April 4, 2008

http://colorofchange.org/mccain_facts/

2. “McCain More Hawkish Than Bush on Russia, China, Iraq,” Bloomberg News, March 12, 2008

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aF28rSCtk0ZM&refer=us

“Buchanan: John McCain ‘Will Make Cheney Look Like Gandhi,‘” ThinkProgress, February 6, 2008 http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/06/buchanan-gandhi-mccain/

3. “McCain Sides With Bush On Torture Again, Supports Veto Of Anti-Waterboarding Bill,” ThinkProgress, February 20, 2008

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/20/mccain-torture-veto/

4. “McCain says Roe v. Wade should be overturned,” MSNBC, February 18, 2007

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17222147/

5. “2007 Children’s Defense Fund Action Council® Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard,” February 2008

http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/PageServer?pagename=act_learn_scorecard2007

“McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance expansion,” CNN, October 3, 2007

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/03/mccain.interview/

6. “Beer Executive Could Be Next First Lady,” Associated Press, April 3, 2008

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h-S1sWHm0tchtdMP5LcLywg5ZtMgD8VQ86M80

“McCain Says Bank Bailout Should End `Systemic Risk,’” Bloomberg News, March 25, 2008

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aHMiDVYaXZFM&refer=home

7. “Will McCain’s Temper Be a Liability?,” Associated Press, February 16, 2008

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=4301022

“Famed McCain temper is tamed,” Boston Globe, January 27, 2008

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/27/famed_mccain_temper_is_tamed/

8. “Black Claims McCain’s Campaign Is Above Lobbyist Influence: ‘I Don’t Know What The Criticism Is,‘” ThinkProgress, April 2, 2008

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/02/mccain-black-lobbyist/

“McCain’s Lobbyist Friends Rally ‘Round Their Man,” ABC News, January 29, 2008

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4210251

9. “McCain’s Spiritual Guide: Destroy Islam,” Mother Jones Magazine, March 12, 2008

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3519

“Will McCain Specifically ‘Repudiate’ Hagee’s Anti-Gay Comments?,” ThinkProgress, March 12, 2008

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/12/mccain-hagee-anti-gay/

“McCain ‘Very Honored’ By Support Of Pastor Preaching ‘End-Time Confrontation With Iran,’” ThinkProgress, February 28, 2008

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/28/hagee-mccain-endorsement/

10. “John McCain Gets a Zero Rating for His Environmental Record,” Sierra Club, February 28, 2008

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/environment/77913/