Difference between revisions of "John McCain"

Revision as of 01:05, February 17, 2008

John Sidney McCain III (born August 29, 1936)^[1] 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.^[2] McCain is a candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 Election.^[3] McCain is a Baptist.^[4]

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.^[5] John McCain is currently running for presidency of the United States as a Republican.

Political Record

1. National defense: McCain, a veteran, has been strong on national defense and a consistent supporter of the Iraq War.
2. Abortion: On Senate votes directly concerning abortion, McCain has voted on the pro-life side.
3. 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.
4. Evolution: McCain's position is that intelligent design should be taught along with the theory of evolution.
5. Campaign finance: 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.
6. Same-sex marriage: In 2006, McCain joined Democrats and liberal Republicans in voting against the Federal Marriage Amendment to protect traditional marriage. Later, on Hardball, McCain declared, "On the issue of the gay marriage, I believe that people want to have private ceremonies, that's fine."
   Also, McCain's home state of Arizona was the only state to defeat a marriage referendum (in 2006), as McCain did nothing to support it.
7. Gambling: 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.
8. 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.
9. Criticism of the religious right: In his unsuccessful campaign in 2000, McCain criticized elements of the religious right.
10. Gun control: In 2002, McCain supported gun control by joining with Democrat Joseph Lieberman to push legislation that would shut down gun shows.^[6]
11. Immigration: In 2005-2006, McCain joined with liberal Senator Ted Kennedy to support a sweeping bill that was favorable to illegal aliens. It has not passed.
12. "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.
13. Senate Attendance Record. McCain has missed 33% of the Senate votes in early 2007, far more than the leading Democratic contenders.^[7]

Electability

McCain has the reputation as an independent-minded maverick ^[8] and Media Darling ^[9]. "McCain is not only not conservative enough; he has also has built a reputation as a maverick by stabbing his party in the back -- not in furtherance of conservative principles but by betraying them. McCain delights in sticking it to his colleagues while winning accolades from the mainstream liberal media." ^[10]

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."

John McCain has cancer (melanoma) and has undergone multiple operations for it.^[11] Cancer was an issue that hurt the presidential candidacy of Paul Tsongas in 1992. However, it was not even mentioned in the 2004 presidential campaign, despite the fact that John Kerry was treated for prostate cancer in early 2003.

John McCain will is 71 years old, making him one of the oldest candidates to seek the presidency. Several issues relating to McCain's advanced aged and health have been discussed in the media.^[12]

Among evangelicals, who form the multi-million vote bloc which was essential to electing President George W. Bush, John McCain is weak on trust. James Dobson, a leading evangelical, has already declared that he "would not vote for John McCain under any circumstances."^[13] McCain has attempted to make amends with Dobson and the late evangelical leader Jerry Falwell, including speaking at Falwell's Liberty University in an attempt to patch his relations with evangelicals.

McCain and Ron Paul are the only presidential candidates in either party to have served in the military.

Personal Life

McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone. He was educated in Alexandria, Virginia before receiving his Bachelors of Science from the United States Naval Academy in 1958.^[14]

McCain has been married twice. His first marriage, to Carol Shepp, ended in divorce in 1980. His second and current wife is Cindy Lou Hensley.

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.^[15] 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.^[16]

Fundraising

McCain struggled to raise money for his campaign, a sign of weakness for a frontrunner. "Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney raised $23 million for his presidential campaign in the first three months of [2007], almost doubling the total of top Republican contender John McCain. McCain, an Arizona senator, brought in about $12.5 million in the first quarter, his campaign said. 'We had hoped to do better,' said Terry Nelson, his campaign manager. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said he raised $15 million, including more than $10 million in March alone."^[17]

Votes Missed

As of August 2007, McCain had missed more votes during the current session of Congress than any Senator other than South Dakota Democrat Tim Johnson, who had suffered a brain hemorrhage that had kept him from Congress. He had missed over 48% of his votes. ^[18] This is due to the fact that he is running for President, and he has to attend political rallies across the country.

Further reading

• McCain. John My six years of hell: John McCain recalls life as a prisoner of war in Vietnam Daily Mail. Accessed 9 February 2008

See Also

• John McCain 2008 Presidential Campaign
• Articles about John McCain from previous "Breaking News"

References