McCain Version 2.0
Lots of folks have been talking about McCain's character. Up until a couple of years ago, I believed he had integrity. I may or may not have agreed with his views but I thought he was genuine. Then, when he needs support for his presidential ambitions, all of the stuff he said in the past, the stuff he's hammered at for a looooong time, went out the window.
He used to say that the states should decide their own abortion laws; now he says that Rowe v. Wade should be overturned.
In 2002, he said that the Iraq invasion wouldn't be "too difficult." Now, he's saying that it's going to be a very long haul indeed.
Another unaddressed issue:
Iraq: 168,753 square miles
Vietnam: 127,247 square miles
How will we be succesful in Iraq with 1/3 troops we had in Vietnam? As a military guy, how does McCain square this? Rolling over a place is one thing. Pacifying it takes 3 times the amount of troops. It's easy to knock someone down but to keep 'em down, you gotta leave someone there to do so, pretty much on every street corner.
Jan, 2005 quote on TV w/Chris Matthews regarding Iraq:
"I think one of our big problems has been the fact that many Iraqis resent American military presence," he responded. "And I don't pretend to know exactly Iraqi public opinion. But as soon as we can reduce our visibility as much as possible, the better I think it is going to be."
Now, he's for staying there.
And, whatever happened to his age-old mantra, campaign finance reform? He's been very quiet about that since he himself has been campaigning for president.
Feb, 2000 McCain:
In a speech, he called leaders of the religious right "agents of intolerance," that they used strategies of "division and slander." He called Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell "corrupting influences on religion and politics" and said parts of the religious right were divisive and even un-American.
But, recently, when he wanted a few more million voters' support, he happily trotted over to Liberty University to chum up with Falwell so he could give him a hug.
He says that he's pro-military but I think he regularly voted about 10 times against spending additional money on veterans' health care in 2005 and 2006. And, this year, when expanding the GI Bill to provide more money for discharged vets' college costs was discussed, why wasn't he the loudest supporter? He seems to like the idea of increased military spending for hardware but not much that would benefit the individual soldier. I'm a veteran and this non-support of the actual, human, individual soldier really steams me. It feels like a betrayal.
There are other contradictions and flip flops; these are just some that come to me off the top of my head. I am not saying whether or not I agree or disagree with any of the positions he's maintained, so, folks, please don't get on me for my political opinions. The point of this post is not to spout my opinions (except for the GI Bill thing; that slipped out!) but to point out some glaring contradictions between McCain's recent past views and his present ones. I just think that the pre-candidate McCain at least stood solidly for what he believed in whereas candidate McCain doesn't. I can't come up with any other reason for his startling about-face on so many things other than that he's just shilling for votes.