10 things you should know about John McCain
(but probably don't):
1. John McCain voted against establishing a national
holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has
"evolved," (He was 50 years old when he voted
against Dr. Martin Luther King) yet he's continued to oppose key civil rights laws. He recently apologized thirty years too late. 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
John McCain is not who the Washington press corps make
him out to be. Please help get the word out—forward this email to your
personal network. This information came from the investigative efforts of
moveon.org: visit them at http://pol.moveon.org/mccaintruth/?id=12407-5499457-p4nxDU&t=232
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.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2008/03/john-mccain-rod-parsley-spiritual-guide.html
"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/
