Older than dirt and an American hero
John McCain is a 71-year-old grandfather who describes himself "older than dirt," but it would be foolish to write him off too soon with the 18-29 mob, especially as he presents himself a bit of an environmentalist.
This may be his strongest suit come November, because unlike George Bush he accepts that global warming is a major challenge. On Monday he promised to have mandatory US curbs on greenhouse gas emissions if he wins the White House in November. For a Republican this is nothing less than revolutionary.
"The facts of global warming demand our urgent attention, especially in Washington," McCain told the Danish-owned Vestas Wind Technology plant in Oregon as he signed his name on the blade of a giant wind turbine.
McCain gets high marks from environmentalists for backing a cap-and-trade programme (he's been in favour for about 10 years) and expect him to make a big noise about it in the election. But for all that he is a true conservative and remains deeply allergic to regulation or public spending.
A recent AP/Yahoo poll shows McCain attracting support from 38 per cent, while 37 per cent back Obama. Against Clinton he does even better, with 43 per cent agaisnt 28 percent for Hillary. Sad as it is, he has his own YouTube channel and various social networking pages, though his Facebook and MySpace "friends" are few and far between.
Young voters are pretty fickle in the US and as a group they haven't gone strongly Republican since they fell under Ronald Reagan's "Morning in America" spell. Just now they are in a swoon for Obama, but in a country that is basically conservative that could change.
McCain's relative success with the younger crowd reflects a willingness to take on unpopular causes in the face of conservative or left wing opposition. Even tough he remains unapologetic in his support for the Iraq war and the surge he is opposed to torture and Guantanamo. He is far more sympathetic towards immigrants that the Republican right . For all that he parrots their fundamentalist orthodoxy, deep down the Christian right profoundly distrusts him.
McCain's trump card is his Vietnam War record. No, not the bombing raids over Hanoi and other cities abut the time he spent being tortured and resisting after he was shot down Everytime someone decides to take a pop at him, it seems, they are reminded that he is an "American hero." Even the youth of America like to wrap themselves in the flag of patriotism and that may end up being his big advantage in the election. Here's his famous You Tube "Bomb Bomb Iran" turn.
For a more orthodox look at McCain go to: http://www.myspace.com/johnmccain http://www.youtube.com/johnmccaindotcom
Cherbonnier: Alas for your argument, I'm neither spoon-fed nor a yank. I can't be bothered with YouTube; I don't even have a television. I read widely from both left and right. I question everything. The crap McCain farms can be smelt from miles away.
McCain's been twisting with the wind regarding public funding since last year, gaming the system to keep his options open and his campaign afloat. His campaign is crawling with lobbyists, and he was thick with them even before choosing to run, in order to secure their cash (http://mediamatters.org/items/200802260009).
His maverick image is all about gulling the electorate who are sick to death of Bush and his cronies. His loyalty to the man who was party to malicious rumours about his adopted daughter is all about political advantage and securing the backing of the Republican Party machine and its various wings for his presidential run. Free clue: you can't be a renegade and a loyalist at the same time.
His loyalty to country and the military services that nurtured him don't extend to actually providing the support the troops need when they are injured or otherwise return to civilian life (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0408/9966.html).
He is an enabler and sycophant to a deeply corrupt administration. He is the shadow of the man he once pretended to be. The John McCain you may have voted for in 2000 and the John McCain you'll vote for in 2008 might as well be different men, albeit both hollow.
Posted by: Macander | 13 May 2008 at 08:53 PM
Macander, McCain was one of the first to speak out against Lobbyists and sponsor the first legislation to clean up campaign funding. He also ran a strong campaign against Bush in 2000. The Republican Party defeated him, not popular vote. Party stalwarts threw their support behind little George. He's always been considered a renegade within the party, But, he is loyal to his country and president even when in disagreement.
And don't worry. your substituting venom for factual logic, substantially identified you as a spoon fed yank. No explanation required. I'm another yank but I do research rather than rely YouTube and sites referring to only one candidate. The Indy is one of my favorite sources to avoid media manipulation.
Posted by: Cherbonnier | 13 May 2008 at 05:54 PM
John McCain is phonier than a $3 bill. Even phonier than Tony Blair. As soon as the Democrats get over their civil war, hopefully the winner will get on to more important things, like shining a very bright light into Mr McCain's tangled webs of deceit and obfuscation, most recently regarding lobbyists (he was for 'em before he was against 'em).
Of course, in light of the recent events in Burma, two of his campaign aides have now resigned after being exposed as hired guns for that country's despotic (and incompetent, like most despotic regimes are, at core: cf. the G.W. Bush maladministration) regime: http://mccainsource.com/mccain_fact_check?id=0007
Another link: http://www.realchange.org/mccain.htm
(It'll be interesting to see if this comment stays up, in view of the soft soap given in Doyle's blog).
McCain is no Ronald Reagan, either, being at least twice as smart and rather more corrupt (vs. lazy and indifferent) and hot-tempered. With luck, as time goes by, McCain's bid for president will become ever more futile. But, as H.L. Mencken famously commented, "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public." Mencken was American, by the way, not some condescending Brit.
Posted by: Macander | 13 May 2008 at 03:59 AM