John McCain

John Sidney McCain III (born August 29, 1936) is the senior Senator from the state of Arizona, having served 20 years after replacing Barry Goldwater in 1986. He is currently the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services. McCain has announced his intention to declare his candidacy for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 Election.

Early Life

McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone. He was educated in Alexandria, VA before receiving his Bachelors of Science from the United States Naval Academy in 1958.

Military Career

McCain served in the United States Navy from 1958 to 1981. He was shot down over Hanoi in 1967 during the Vietnam Conflict and held as a Prisoner of War for seven years. McCain graduated from the National War College in 1974. Upon his retirement from the Navy in 1981, as a Captain, he had been commended with the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, and Distinguished Flying Cross.

Political Career

McCain was elected to the House of Representatives from Arizona's 1st district in 1982 and served two terms before being elected to the Senate in 1986. In 2000, he pursued the presidency but lost his bid for the Republican nomination to George W. Bush, the first time he had lost an election. He intends to announce his candidacy for the 2008 election in April.

Political Record

1. Immigration. In 2005-2006, McCain joined with Senator Ted Kennedy to support a sweeping bill that reformed immigration law. President Bush indicated that he supported this bill. It has not passed.

2. Same-sex marriage. In 2006, McCain joined Democrats and liberal Republicans in voting against the Federal Marriage Amendment, a proposed constitutional amendment to forbid non-traditional marriage. McCain's home state of Arizona was the only state to defeat a marriage referendum (in 2006), despite McCain's support. While McCain says he believes marriage is between a man and a woman he feels it is an issue that the states should decide.

3. "Gang of 14". On May 23, 2005, McCain was part of a group of 14 Senators who blocked the planned "nuclear option" for confirming blocked Republican nominees for the bench. Under this compromise a few judicial nominees were allowed to be confirmed (Janice Rogers Brown, Priscilla Owen and William Pryor), but others (e.g., Henry Saad) remained blocked and had to withdraw.

4. Campaign finance. McCain advocated campaign finance reform, something opposed by many conservative on Libertarian grounds that it interferes with the right to free speech. In 2002, McCain joined with liberal Democrat Russell Feingold to prohibit independent groups from advertising about a candidate within many weeks of an election. This law prohibits ads that do not even recommend for whom to vote, but merely urge people to contact their representatives concerning a vote that the representatives will make in Congress. A court recently declared this unconstitutional. Further, the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law allows Indian nations (which get nearly all their money from unregulated casinos) to make unlimited political donations, even though political donations by American citizens are strictly limited and political spending by corporations is prohibited.

5. Tax cuts. McCain opposed President George W. Bush's tax cuts, on the argument that cutting taxes without also cutting spending was not actually a tax cut, but was a tax on future generations. He now supports keeping the Bush tax cuts in place.

6. Criticism of the religious right. In his unsuccessful campaign in 2000, McCain criticized elements of the religious right in an attempt to attract voters.

7. Embryonic stem cell research. McCain supports embryonic stem cell research as a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership.

8. Abortion. McCain has a 24-year Pro-life voting record.

9. Government Spending. McCain has vigorously advocated for the elimination of so-called "pork-barrel" spending. He voted against President Bush's Medicare Prescription Drug Act on the grounds that it was too costly.

10. Senate Attendance Record. McCain has missed 33% of the Senate votes in early 2007, far more than the leading Democratic contenders.

Electability

John McCain was a member of the Keating Five, a scandal relating to the Savings and Loan Crisis. The Senate Ethics Committee criticized him for "questionable conduct." His Democratic opponent, or the media, could publicize this.

John McCain has cancer (melanoma) and has undergone multiple operations for it. Cancer was an issue that hurt the presidential candidacy of Paul Tsongas in 1992.

John McCain will turn 71 years old before the first primary, making him one of the oldest candidates to seek the presidency.

Among evangelicals, who form a multi-million vote bloc essential to electing President George W. Bush, John McCain is weak on the issue of trusting him. James Dobson, a leading evangelical, has already declared that he "would not vote for John McCain under any circumstances."