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Posts Tagged ‘John McCain’

McCain Tested From Right Flank

by Mojambo ( 170 Comments › )
Filed under Elections 2010, Republican Party at February 4th, 2010 - 3:00 pm

McCain deserves to be tested and challenged. He has spit in the eyes of conservatives way too long for there to be no blow back. The most unforgivable aspect of the man was the lame campaign that he ran against the tyrant who now sits in the White House. McCain’s grilling of Obama officials about holding trials of terrorists on the mainland USA is laughable when Maverick was one of the loudest voices seeking to close Guantanamo down. Also his allowing his aides (great job you did in 2008 guys!) to sabotage Palin was disgraceful.  However if Maverick does win the primary – we need to support him in the general election because we need to send Harry Reid on his way. Hopefully though Hayward will be the next Republican Senator from Arizona.

by Michael M. Phillips

Arizona Sen. John McCain, the Republicans’ standard-bearer in 2008, is facing a surprisingly strong primary challenge from the right, evidence that even party leaders aren’t safe from the swell of conservative activism heading into the 2010 midterm elections.

Mr. McCain hasn’t faced a serious challenge since joining the U.S. Senate in 1987. But seven months ahead of the primary, he is using tough-guy tactics and calling in conservative chits to fend off J.D. Hayworth, an ex-congressman and radio host. Mr. Hayworth, who lost his House seat in 2006 and who is best known in Arizona for his opposition to illegal immigration, has seized the Tea Party mantel of low taxes and small government.

With the senator’s approval, McCain allies filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission and the Federal Communications Commission essentially alleging that Mr. Hayworth’s radio show—during which he regularly attacked Mr. McCain—was a form of campaign advertising. In January, Mr. Hayworth and the station agreed to drop his program. Smokey Rivers, Phoenix director of programming and operations for KFYI’s owner, San Antonio-based Clear Channel Communications Inc., said Mr. McCain wasn’t a factor.

Jason Rose, a Hayworth aide, described the move as a “political mugging.” Mr. McCain isn’t shy about admitting his role in knocking Mr. Hayworth off the air. “I certainly didn’t discourage it,” he said. “I’m not saying he couldn’t say anything he wanted to, but it’s clear that was a political campaign he was running on the radio station.”

The 73-year-old Mr. McCain is also bringing to Arizona his 2008 running mate, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, to campaign on his behalf in March, a bid to secure his right flank. He can also count in his corner Republican Scott Brown, who shook up the national political scene last month by winning the Massachusetts Senate seat long held by the late Edward Kennedy, a Democrat.

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To bolster his claim that Mr. McCain is insufficiently conservative—a complaint that has dogged him throughout his career—Mr. Hayworth is highlighting the senator’s 2008 vote for the $700 billion bank rescue, and his opposition to President George W. Bush’s tax cuts.

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John McCain: Palin’s Political Bridge to Nowhere

by Mojambo ( 127 Comments › )
Filed under Elections 2010, Politics at January 24th, 2010 - 4:00 am

Sorry but in my opinion John McCain does not deserve Sarah Palin’s support which she would be giving him by going to Arizona. McCain’s people (his goofy daughter Meghan,  Steve Schmidt, Nicolle Wallace  et al) spent more time trying to sabotage her then they did in trying to win  the elections. If Palin had not been on the ticket then the cranky old fart would have been slaughtered even more. Let us never forget McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy, closing down Guantanomo, doing away with waterboarding , picking fights with religious conservatives – John McCain is not now and never was one of us. The fact that the was infinitely better then Barack Obama just reminds us how bad Obama  is.  I hope that the next Republican Senator from Arizona is J.D Hayworth.

by Steve Flesher

Sarah Palin’s decision to campaign for John McCain’s reelection bid is dismaying some of her staunchest allies and defenders on the web.

This serves as a much-uninvited buzz-kill to conservatives, who finally had the beam of hope shone on them Tuesday night. Grassroots conservatism made a historic comeback with Scott Brown, who defeated Martha Coakley for Edward Kennedy’s Senate seat in the very liberal state of Massachusetts.

Aside from her personal allegiance to John McCain, it is incomprehensible what Palin thinks this will do for the country or her political career, which has made her one of the main inspirations of grassroots enthusiasm.

Of course, there is no doubt that John McCain is an honorable man who proudly served his country. There is also no doubt that the Arizona senator has delivered on selective issues, like the current health care debacle that the majority of Americans disapprove of.

I personally am so humbled by McCain’s strongest characteristics that I might even be willing to overlook his daughter Meghan’s passive-aggressive dissent from the conservative wing of the Republican Party.

Like many conservatives, I am certain that Sarah Palin is grateful to McCain for plucking her out of Alaska and placing her in the spotlight, where her endless well of conservative energy has been able to flourish.

Truthfully, every grassroots conservative responsible for the surge of vocal dissent to Obama’s policies knows that as the frontrunner in the 2008 election, John McCain gave real Americans and independent voters very little to believe in — that is, until he gave us Sarah Palin, who became the first V.P. candidate in history to carry the entirety of a ticket’s momentum.

Looking at McCain’s political history, it doesn’t take long to determine why he was unable to inspire the grassroots. While one person can make the case for McCain’s patriotism, the next can make an equally convincing argument to question his conservatism.

McCain reached across the political aisle in 2007 to develop a soft-amnesty piece of proposed legislation with the late Senator Edward Kennedy. Condemned by critics like Michelle Malkin as a “crap sandwich,” the bill proposed small fines to illegal immigrants. Not only did the fines lack the value of the infrastructure these immigrants had taken advantage of for years, but they also allowed them to stay. Americans were outraged, and the bill was never put to a vote.

Previously, McCain had again reached to the far left and crafted McCain-Feingold in 2002, which placed campaign-contribution limits and regulations on selective entities such as businesses and corporations. Coincidentally, that bill was overturned by the Supreme Court this week. This was such a success for freedom and democracy that it immediately won the scathing dissent of President Obama and Senator Chuck Schumer.

Next, John McCain used his power as a United States senator to hysterically denounce enhanced interrogation methods at Guantánamo, and he also became a strong proponent of the campaign to close altogether the prison where detainees are given three full meals a day, hours of free time for activities and religious reading, and the right not to be awakened for interrogations. The average detainee has gained forty pounds during his stay at Gitmo. How’s that for “torture?”

Aside from health care, conservative victor Scott Brown campaigned explicitly on the Obama administration’s soft treatment of terrorism (providing them with lawyers, having their trials on American soil, and proposing to relocate them to American prisons).

The independent spirits of Americans have responded. Obama’s approval ratings have tanked, the life of the current Senate health care disaster has been doubted by Nancy Pelosi, and Americans have overwhelmingly denounced treating terrorists who seek to destroy our democracy and its accompanying constitutional fabric as common criminals with constitutional rights. They did it on Tuesday by giving a half-century-old liberal seat to a conservative.

Sarah Palin had a major effect on this by awakening the once-silent majority. We are now witnessing the loudest dissent against big government ever via average American independents.

Similarly, the Tea Party movement’s effectiveness immediately earned it an unflattering nickname from the viewer-lacking hosts on MS-NBC and Air America radio. The movement has adopted all of the same commonsense approaches that Sarah Palin advocated from the moment she sat on the city council of Wasilla to the moment she was elected governor.

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Americans having buyer’s remorse with Progressive agenda

by Phantom Ace ( 302 Comments › )
Filed under Barack Obama, Democratic Party, Election 2008, Elections 2010, George W. Bush, Liberal Fascism, Progressives, Republican Party, Tranzis at January 21st, 2010 - 11:00 am

In 2008 the American public, angry at the fake Conservatism and Neo-Wilsonian Foreign policy of Bush, voted in Barack Hussein Obama. He had coattails and brought in a heavily Leftist Congress. Conservatism was pronounced dead since it was thought Bush destroyed the brand. However, Obama and his Tranzi minions overestimated their mandate. They thought Americans had embraced their Totalitarian agenda of control. As they proceeded to apologize for America’s action to our enemies, give Constitutional rights to Islamo-Imperialists, give $700 Billion in borrowed money to special interest, attempt to impose a Eugenics based healthcare system, do the bidding of Wall Street at the expense of Main Street and turn on our allies, the American people have had enough. They did not vote for this radical change and are now having buyer’s remorse.

(Jan. 20) – It doesn’t take a rocket scientist or a pollster to know that Americans are not happy with Washington. The honeymoon that greeted President Obama a year ago today has degenerated into hypercriticism, deep anxiety and downright anger.

That may sound more like a high-profile Hollywood divorce than a political analysis, yet in some ways that’s exactly what Americans are going through right now. Make no mistake: Americans were giddy about getting rid of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, but they are clearly suffering from buyer’s remorse a year later.

The seeds of Obama’s current political dilemma were sown the day of his inauguration. The expectations heaped on his shoulders were clearly impossible to sustain, and there was little effort by his administration to dampen the “hope” that had propelled him from first-term senator to first African-American president. And when those expectations weren’t met, someone had to be held accountable.

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Frank Luntz is correct in his analysis. Americans don’t want Progressivism and it’s concept of elitist control over society. They didn’t expect Obama would turn out to be the Neo-Maoist Radical that he is. In response, Americans are rediscovering, as Speranza wrote in this great post, real authentic Libertarian- Conservatism. A philosophy based on individual liberty, economic freedoms, small government and traditional Judeo-Christian culture. Americans want a foreign policy based on defending our interest and allies, not building Democracy in Muslim countries or subverting our foreign policy to Transnationalist institutions. In other words, Americans are returning to our roots based on Liberty and National self interest.

What has occurred is that in 2006/2008 Americans have rejected Neo-Wilsonian Compassionate Conservatism. Now Americans in 2010 and hopefully 2012 will reject Transnationalist Totalitarian Progressivism. Both these ideologies belong in the annals of history and America will be better off without them.

‘Game Change’: New Book Reveals 2008 Campaigns’ Messy Moments

by Mojambo ( 126 Comments › )
Filed under Barack Obama, Democratic Party, Election 2008, Media at January 11th, 2010 - 5:30 pm

As bad as Barack Obama has been – the country would have been in even worse shape (not that they ever really had much of a chance) had the Edwards’ become residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. A sleazier bunch (yes I know Elizabeth is a cancer sufferer but there has to be some concession to the truth –she was manipulative, overly ambitious, and not very nice) it would be hard to imagine.  Also frankly, Hillary does not exactly come off very well, and as for the “staffers” on the McCain campaign who tried to strangle Sarah Palin – I wish those dirt bags had put as much effort into defeating Barack Obama as they did in trying to kill off Governor Palin. After reading the many reviews of this book I have to open up my window and scream “Were these the best we had to offer in 2008?” By the way check out Bill Clinton’s slap at Barack Obama.

By David Kerley and Kristina Wong

While “Game Change” has yet to hit the stores, the book about the 2008 presidential campaign has already offered revelations of messy moments between political opponents, even creating a stir among friends.

Start with, for instance, Sen. Harry Reid’s remarks on Barack Obama’s race.

“[Reid] was wowed by Obama’s oratorical gifts and believed that the country was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama, a ‘light-skinned’ African American ‘with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one,’ as he said privately,” according to the book, which is authored by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, and due out this week.

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Then-Sen. Obama, for instance, was furious at comments his running mate, Joe Biden, made at a campaign fundraiser.

“‘How many times is Biden going to say something stupid?” Obama reportedly said after Biden said that it would not be “six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy.”

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Former president Bill Clinton received flak from his comment that Obama’s campaign was “the biggest fairy tale I’ve ever seen.”

But he made an even more dismissive comment about Obama in private with the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, according to the book.

“A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee,” Clinton reportedly said.

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