Friday, March 30, 2007

McCain hopes to reclaim maverick mantle

The bus is back.Sen. John McCain has revived the "Straight Talk Express," the campaign conveyance made famous in his 2000 bid for the Republican presidential nomination, for his new run. The Arizona lawmaker was back on board Thursday afternoon, hitting town-hall meetings in Iowa, the scene of the first caucuses of the 2008 GOP campaign."I'm still the same candidate I was -- little bit older, but still the same candidate," he said. "We're still having fun. We're still on the bus, still having the town hall meetings in the same way that we were before, and I'm convinced we're doing fine."McCain is trying to reclaim the maverick mantle he wore seven years ago, when he upset then-front-runner George W. Bush in the New Hampshire primary -- and largely ignored Iowa, where his opposition to ethanol subsidies was a liability in a corn-belt state.But the 20-year Senate veteran has spent most of the intervening years veering back toward the Republican mainstream. He is one of the most outspoken defenders of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, now widely unpopular, and has courted religious conservatives whose leaders he once savaged as "agents of intolerance."Today, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani -- a supporter of abortion rights, gun control and domestic partnership laws for same-sex couples -- looks like the outsider. But buoyed by his response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack that destroyed the World Trade Center, Giuliani has opened up a double-digit lead over McCain in the GOP presidential field. (Poll: Giuliani leads GOP pack)Of course, the votes won't be counted in Iowa for 10 months. And though his full-throated support for the war may hurt, his strategists say McCain's background as a former Navy flier and prisoner of war in Vietnam, plus his expertise as the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, will help him."The transcendent issue of this campaign will be this conflict we are in between good and evil, between the forces of radical Islam and extremists that are trying to destroy America and everything we believe in," he told reporters in Des Moines. "I'm qualified. I know the face of war. I know the face of evil. I will win. We will win."

14 comments:

Bijoy said...

rudy said point is correct usa is try to take agains the rest of the world. intresting artile you have it there good work be in touch will be back soon

regards Biby - Blog

bestvalve said...

Happy to see your blog..and thank you for telling me such these politices.

Mpro said...

International views of America are certainly at a low point, largely due to the belligerence of the Bush administration.

Our political system is contentious, misguided, full of extremists & crooks and it is all very public. Its based on a belief that every asshole has an opinion and can shout it from the rooftops. Whomever created such a idiotic way to govern must have been rum drinking, arrogant slobs that thought they could rid the world of injustice with a few muskets and brass balls, 231 years ago.

Despite all of this, its a great place to mountain bike, have a family and some friends. From Boise to Boulder to Budapest , we respect other people as equals. We will be a positive force in a dangerous world and have a new President just as soon as possible.

Jmat :-)

Mpro said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Marjie said...

first of all, McCaine would have been a good candidate had he not been changing his positions on Illegal Immigration. I know tons of people did not agree with him in the past but what is the use of changing position now asside from just running for president? The whole thing is a total flip-flop. Anyway....just a thought!

Mpro said...

I believe in John McCain as an honest man and better lawmaker than most. It will be hard for him to recover from some wavering positions, as Marjie said.

Governors not Senators have been elected so often recently because they don't have to take sides on votes every day. Having a less known track record, they take positions that will build their constituency during the campaign (make it up as they go along).

I like NM Gov. Bill Richardson but there are more Dem. & Rep. quality candidates than we have had in a long time here. That's a very good thing.

Jmat :-)

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Professor Howdy said...

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Lilmoonbeam said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lilmoonbeam said...

I think from an outsiders point of view, watching U.S. polictics is an unusual pastime, you have old fashioned values, religious values(confused ones, Old and New Testament style), economic values and then, the constituition... A great idea that has rarely been put into practice.

Gun control really is a vote loser in the US isnt it... its strange, so many deaths from guns you would imagine there would be overwhelming public support for banning guns. America is a very strange nation.....

Very Strange!

But I think violence is so much a part of the creation of your state, that you cannot let it go!

You have not yet had your fill. Dont worry, one day you will have reached that point. It took an entire century of slaughter to work that out for us Europeans.

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