John McCain -- Panderer Extraordinaire
The far-right Washington Times ran an item on the front page, under the headline, “McCain refuses to pander.”
One wonders which McCain the Washington Times is talking about. Amanda at TP noted that the Arizona senator was clearly pandering to the GOP’s conservative activists when he abandoned his previous position on waterboarding, which was only the latest in a series of recent pander-fests from the likely Republican presidential nominee.
* Pander On Tax Cuts: In 2001, McCain was one of just two GOP senators to vote against Bush’s destructive tax cuts. Now, however, McCain makes a point of touting his support for making Bush’s tax cuts permanent.
* Pander On Stimulus: For the past few months, McCain has been declaring that passing an economic stimulus package is at the very top of his agenda. Yet when the Senate voted earlier this month on a generous bill providing increased assistance to seniors and veterans, McCain skipped the vote. The bill fell just one vote short of passage, a victory for the far right.
* Pander To Karl Rove: In the 2000 presidential campaign, Karl Rove launched vicious smear tactics against McCain on behalf of Bush’s campaign. Recently, however, McCain has embraced the right-wing political operative. He said that he has “always respected Karl Rove as one of the smart great political minds I think in American politics” and specifically refused to condemn Rove’s partisan smears.
Those are all excellent recent examples, but if we look back just a little bit further, Sen. McCain’s (R-Pandertown) shameless record emerges in even more detail.
* Pander On Immigration: McCain was a co-sponsor of the DREAM Act, which would grant legal status to illegal immigrants’ kids who graduate from high school. Now, to make the nativist elements in his party happy, he’s against it.
* Pander to U.N. Critics: McCain used to champion the Law of the Sea convention, even volunteering to testify on the treaty’s behalf before a Senate committee. Now, to pander to U.N. critics, he opposes it.
* Pander to Abortion-Rights Opponents: McCain used to say he would not support a reversal of Roe v. Wade. Now, to pander to his party’s base, he’s said the opposite.
* Pander to the Religious Right: McCain condemned radical TV preachers like Jerry Falwell as “agents of intolerance” in 2000, but once he began running for president again, he pandered to the religious right by cozying up to the man who said Americans “deserved” the 9/11 attacks.
* Pander to Iowans: McCain was anti-ethanol before the 2008 campaign. Once on the trail in Iowa, he became pro-ethanol.
* Pander to South Carolinians: McCain was against official promotion of the Confederate flag, but in 2000, hoping to curry favor with South Carolinians, pandered shamelessly on the issue, and later conceded that his position was one of “cowardice.”
“McCain refuses to pander”? Given his record, I think he refuses to stop pandering.
This is how you beat John McCave aka the pander bear.
John McCain's illegitimate black daughter sheds a tear as her heart breaks.
And how long do you think it will be before McCain's lips are affixed to Rush Limbaugh's lard ass?
McCain is going to say and do whatever he can to win the christian right. This straight talk stuff is just viagra for his image. Tough guy, straight shooter, all that is just window dressing.
People talk about pandering as if it's bad. It seems like a positive quality to me... changing your policies to meet the needs of the people.
Is that what he tells his Bangladeshi daughter why he didn't defend her against the Frat Boy's smear tactics back in 2000? That he has to pander to the sources that smeared her and her mother (labeling Cindy McCain as a drug addict)?
This jackass is as bad as Hillary Clinton in both their quests to become President.
he's pandering to Botox too.
Zombie John "wayne" McCain coming to Presidential Race near you.
"come here Pilgrim, I want to eat your brains and we can win this goshdern election together. "
"Has John McCain's 'Straight Talk Express' taken a detour thru BullshitVille ?"
-Jon Stewart-
washington times? what can you expect from the MOONIES?
The Political Junkie @ 6:
If you wanna be part of the GOP, even your WIFE AND DAUGHTER have to take a backseat to the party.
Their rally cry is ... "Shut up and conform !"
What kind of a man IS John McCain, anyway? Rove was responsible for the lies and smears against McCain's wife and adopted daughter in the primaries eight years ago... and now he talks so highly of Rove? This creep won't even stand up to defend his own wife and daughter. Why should we believe that he's stand up yo defend America?
It's just sad to think that some people actually believe that he's an honorable man, but NO honorable man would allow his own family to be smeared and go on to embrace the man who did that smearing. Not one.
nonbeliever @ 1:
He's a panderbear for certain!! and a toadie who bends over for whoever's whatever anytime they make him... wonder what dirt their surveillance of his privacy has turned up, huh?! I wonder that too about the entire Democratic side of government as well...
Why does John McCain hate old folks? Why does John McCain hate veterans? He must hate himself as he is both....
He's a nutcase.
Good luck, John. If that's even your real name.
RHM's Blog
Giacomo @ 3:
when did they pry them off bushes cock??????
Well, pretty much the thread leadin statements outlines why I ain't got no respect for him anymore... WTF happened to this guy... Somehow the rightwing PNAC machine gets out of him what the North Vietnamese and a stay at the Hanoi Hilton couldn't??? I.E. roll over and sell out... go figure... You'll never be my president McCain. Un-freakin-trustworthy is one word that comes to mind when I think about you now. And for all you moderate fence sitters pissing up a rope and considering a protest vote for this old fool because you got some beef with Hillary or Obama?? Just remember, if this guy will sell out his own positions for power and expediancy, how much do you think it will take for him to sell you and your priorities he is now claiming to uphold and represent out too when it's convenient....JD
We sent candidates home(Biden,Edwards,Kucinich) who could bitch slap this angry fraud silly. Only a man with McCain's questionable mental state could believe he will be Prez in January. A stuffed suit filled with GOP dog shit.
McCain also acquiesced on his opposition to torture by voting against the torture ban in the senate yesterday. Combined with everything else, he has shown he is a politician first and foremost, who stands only for himself and getting elected. He has most definitely proven himself unfit to be commander in chief.
As others posting here have said, I find it incredulous that he's tossed his daughter's and his wife's dignity and respect overboard for the GOP... yep... with me his nickname isn't Duke... it's Puke!
He could survive torture for five years and not tell those holding him captive anything. Now as quick as a wink, for the sake of winning an election, he can go from being against torture to being for it? That is difficult to understand.
He is the worst of panderers. The word smear is nowhere descriptive of what Rove and Bush did to McCain in 2000. They went after his FAMILY! And now he sucks up to them. Disgusting.
I have a feeling there are some republicans, maybe a lot, who are not excited about their candidate. Not the Rush kind of republicans, just republicans in general. Think about it, what if our candidate had turned out to be Lieberman?
This sort of post is valuable, and will be even more so as the election season progresses.
Jake @ 5:
Unless you're a Democrat - but that goes without saying.
Changing your position on policy is flexibility if you're Republican, flip-flopping if you're a Democrat.
Now I get it.
So the master of lexicology, Lee Atwater, IS alive. And I thought God had zapped him. Silly me.
Uniter not a divider, compassionate conservative, Dubyah said the same kind of bullshit as this nutty old fuck in 2000. McCain would go into a mens room stall with Larry Craig just to get the "gay" to vote for him. Vote whore.
Because of his history as a POW, will he have to be handled with kid-gloves at a debate in order to not show any disrespect for his service and all?
Jake @ 5:
Kinda like telling a girl you love her just so you can get in her pants. The only "needs" McCain is trying to meet is his own, and if he gets into our pants you can rest assured we'll be fucked, and don't bother to wait for the phone to ring afterwards, 'cause it ain't gonna happen.
Totally off topic, folks, but check this out. Could be huge...
Saudis threatened UK with terror attacks.
McCain: Driving that "Crooked Weiner Mobile" hard.
The Whimperer has revealed himself to be the sleazy, ass-kissing wackjob that he truly is.
Lyin' bastid, to boot.
And of course, "Never trust a politician that uses the phrase 'my friends'."
The Pander Express...Coming to a town near you!
McCain's a Repandercan...
A pandering politician?! Egads! This has to be the first time in the history of this country that a politician has changed his policy positions in an attempt to win an election...IT...HAS...TO...BE...THE...FIRST...TIME...EVER!!!
Oh wait, I almost forgot--ALL POLITICIANS CHANGE THEIR VIEWS IN ORDER TO WIN ELECTION. DUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHH
The big story here isn't that mccain is a panderer--the big or should i say important story is that McCain has a legitimate shot at winning the White House--in a year where the whole country seems sick of Repubs no less. Everyone knows that's what the real story is...not whether or not he changes his opinions to get there....
For more go here:
http://theinternetisnotatruck.blogspot.com.
What a shame and utter dissapointment Mccain has become. He use to be one of the few pols I admired and respected; one of the true good guys. As he has gotten older and well into the dusk of his career, he has since sold it all out for a few table scraps of power from the same people that did him so wrong in the past. The real kicker is that it is all for naught anyway, as he is just being set up to fail as a human-political shield for the Neo-conned Republican party. Not ever table scraps, he is just getting the moldy old bone.
I realy does sadden me; I really want to still like the guy, but he even give me the chance to anymore. I think he would have made a great President back in 2000, back when he apparently still had the title to his own soul, but now- hardly. What really hurts too, was that he was one of the very few things in politics my father and I could agree upon. My dad has, for so long a time now, waited for a chance to vote for Mccain, now when I have to tell him that that vote has turned into just another vote for Bush(who he has finally come to terms with being a gigantic failure), I can see in his eyes how much that truth hurts to hear. Considering my Dad is likely not going to be able to vote for President many more times makes these things all that much tougher to tell him. Some times I wonder if it is even worth it to tell him. We live in WA so a single vote for Mccain would not make any difference in the grand scheme of things. Is it better to be painfully honest or let an old man vote in blissful ignorance?
Why John? Why? Just say it aint so.
Meanwhile, douchebag extraordonaire Tucker Carlson was on Abrams' show last night saying that the media narrative behind McCave being a straight shooter wasn't going to change no matter how many times Mr. Flip Flop Express has said one thing and did another. Tucker's so full of shit, why don't they just cancel this pompous idiot's show. He's useless.
Oh yeah frist.
washington times, religious newspaper owned by a lunatic, populated by writers that wear tinfoil clothing, not just hats.
why would you show any link to a site that is all comedy all the time? it isn't news? they are no more legit than faux.
it is an asian man's american dream. to own the US. He is close.
I once respected McCain. I did not agree with most of his platform, but I thought he was as honest (as a person can be swimming in the DC sewer). But, he is no longer that same person. He has sold out to everyone, and everything which can get him on the throne. Maybe the swiftboaters will find some NVA interrogators to come forward and say he was giving it up for candybars.
Agent Provocateur @ 33:
To not tell him wouldn't be dishonest. I would let him have his dream. One vote and a happy father. I see nothing wrong with that. But of course, the call is yours.
John McCain: From Hero to zero!
It's not called flip-flopping it's dementia.
Oops, you're confusing economic stimulus (rebates) with entitlement programs (subsidies).
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080207/D8UL6EVO1.html
I think McCain has health concerns.
I think Romney knows it.
I think it will be McCain/Romney by means of blackmail.
I think Romney thinks he will be President
within two years if McCain is elected.
Why? Gods will...and blackmail.
repugs are so behind the times. they refuse to join technology and a new frontier.
We are a very open society, community, city, state, country, world. Catch up repugs.
Sanctimonious assholes.
repugs are youtube jokes
weldon Says:
washington times? what can you expect from the MOONIES?
PROPAGANDA , LIES, AND DECEPTIONS ... like the rest of the corporate/repiglican media ...
I foresee a choice of two paths for McCain and the Republican Party this fall:
a) Ignore the fascist base while aggressively pursuing the more moderate and now exiled old-school republicans and "honest conservative" independents, which would produce a competetive race he would ultimately lose, or
b) Continue abandon what he once touted as his "principles" in an attempt to win over the fascist base, while further alienating the old guard and independent voters, which would produce a landslide loss of Goldwaterian proportions.
No matter which path he chooses, the effect will be the same: A final, decisive defeat for the Hitler Youth movement in the Republican party. However, the long term future for the republican party will be determined by this choice. If he stands by what were once his principles, a competetive race will offer a head start to the party in reorganizing itself into a more responsible conservative organ without the intolerant overtones, that will have a chance at re-entering the mainstream of American Politics.
If he follows through with the removal of what's left of his spine, the Party may not survive as a major force in American Politics. The vacuum may will lead to the rise of a new party or a current third party (like Libertarian party) to take it's place in America's de facto "two party" system.
Left&Left @ 17:
Absolutely! The democrats who were too liberal to win the Democratic Primaries clearly would have excelled in a general election.
The planet you live on must be a wonderful place. Here in the real world, things aren't so blissful.
Wouldn't it be neat if this was all just a facade to get party support and after the convention he pulls off his mask and is the old-school straight talking, moderate McCain? He could probably win the general election or at least make it close.
Sadly, I doubt it. He's gone to the dark side. But that's ok because now Obama can win in a landslide.
What a lost old fogey! If this guy wins, I am outta here!
Dementia might not be all that far off base. He is certainly old enough and has had some very hard years in the POW camp. It could be early stages.
Just what the GOP wanted for Christmas...a Pander Bear.
I've never been a McCain fan, nor does he seem to be a very strong person -- prison camp experience to the contrary notwithstanding. He's soft. He's puffy (health?). He's weak. Indecisive and wobbly is perhaps the kindest thing one could say about his character. About the only thing laudable about the man is that he's not Romney and he's not Giuliani -- and that a lot of Republican votes (and independents) are going to Obama thanks, in part at least, to John McCain.
Open the hood and, Presto....there's nothing there.
Ya gotta love it:
"I made the commitment to the American people that if I were the nominee of my party, I would accept public financing," McCain said Friday in Oshkosh, Wis. "I expect Senator Obama to keep his word to the American people as well. This is all about a commitment that we made to the American people.
"I am going to keep my commitment," he said. "The American people have every reason to expect him to keep his commitment."
Obama spokesman Bill Burton on Thursday called public financing "an option that we wanted on the table," but said "there is no pledge" to take the money and the spending limitations that come with it.
McCain said that if Obama becomes the nominee and decides against taking public money, he might do the same.
I got dizzy just reading that. A complete turnabout in just seven sentences...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080215/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_1
Vote John McCain! 'Cause a dawg whut knows he's whipped is a good dawg.
I'll always appreciate his sacrifice in wartime and respectful of his suffering under torture--but only to the extent warranted. He's not a Christ-like miraculous superhero because he survived a POW camp, any more than I would be a Christ-like miraculous superhero because I survived a serious car accident. When you judge John based on what he's done, rather than what's been done do him, he's no better than the other GOP candidates.
Happenstance @ 53:
Since his ass stopped bleeding, he's forgiven them.
[Deleted. No personal attacks, please. Keep it civil. I don't know what you were reading, but I think you're off base- and that's still not the reason I deleted this. It was just plain hostile. Site Monitor]
The man is clearly insane.
He will stop at nothing to bolster his ego's sense of entitlement. He believes the presidency is owed to him.
His bus should be called the Strait Jacket Express..
McCain and Colin Powell are two peas in a pod. They could have had distinguished caeers and left the public stage untarnished. But both of them caved in to their venial cravings for career advancement at any cost. In the end, both are nothing more than company men. Shame.
Did McCain ever pay back the $16 thousand dollars in bribes from Charles Keating?
Oh yeah, now I remember. He did pay back the bribes, after he was caught. That makes it okay, because he's a Republican.
Poetryman@31;
'Repandercan'... heheheh That's good.....good stuff.... And accurate too.................JD
I loved his very convincing performance in this ...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3405669348838274375&q=Why+We+Fig...
Everytime I hear John McCain use that creepy adjoiner "my friends" in a speech I think of the mafia and I get the same quesy
feeling in my gut like when I overdose on chili cheese dogs from Der Weinerschnitzel.
That's a lot of pandering even for McCombover!
I've aways had some grudging respect for McCain. But, after flip-flopping on the torture issue, I find it hard to respect him at all.
No whore like an old whore!
I was glad to see this item because I've been itching to find an excuse to mention something I heard on the radio yesterday that brought to mind Karl Rove's smear job on McCain in S. Carolina. As many recall, rumors were spread that McCain's adopted daughter–Bridget–was in fact John McCains illegitimate daughter. I heard Rove being interviewed on Sean Hannity's show yesterday afternoon (hey, I was in the car I listen to what the radio picks up) and Rove mentioned several things McCain has to do in the campaign to show the American pubic the "real McCain". One of the things mentioned by Rove was that the American people had to see how McCain had "opened his heart and home to this poor little girl from Bangladesh who was facing starvation etc etc.". I couldn't believe my ears!!!!! The same little girl who was used by the Bush/Rove slime machine to trash McCain was being suggested BY THE VERY SAME PEOPLE to now be used as a prop to show what a wonderful man McCain is. They are monsters.
He's more than a panderer. McCain at 72, is just too old. End of story.
Who coined the phrase " flip flopper "? It had to have been Karl Rove! John McCain wants the presidency so bad, he's tasting it! He sold his soul to the devil to get this far. What his soul bought him? He was given the lead in the list of rethug nominees. ( Huckster may be a problem ) It appears that the other candidates just suddenly folded their tents and went home. McCain was given Bush's "money man"! What is still to come, McCain will announce that his choice for VP is Jeb Bush! McCain has already made it clear that he may just do one term! Voila!!! The Bush Dynasty continures, and we're all f*&k@d!
hoping some bloggers will pick up on this, as i dont really ever participate, i just read...
in the Larry King interview McCain says "Romney is very popular and i hope he will help us". and then within the space of a couple of minutes, Larry asks about Bush and his support and McCain says something like "look, i don't pay attention to who's popular". he flip-flopped on his position to suit the way he talks about those 2 guys within the space of just a couple minutes. it's kind of startling when you watch it through in this context. hope someone will do a quick edit to show the full clip and point it out somewhere...
McCain........Which way is the wind blowing?
John McCain: What You Should Know Before You Vote!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxM5CnhEg1A
This is an excellent overview of the McCain blathering. He made a decision after the 2000 election that he would go ahead and kiss whatever he had to, to ingratiate himself with the vassals and lords of the Republican Party.
Just want to mention, though, that the "Rove" thing is a bit of a stretch as a pander. He got his butt kicked by a dirty player who ended up in the white house. His decision was, "let's get this guy inside my tent, pissing out, inside of the other way around."
Not admirable, but it doesn't carry the same weight as the other panders, in my view.
Everyone should start consistently referring to him as John McCave
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