We all know there's been a lot of anger and divisiveness between the Obama and Clinton supporters lately--nationwide and particularly online. This is understandable and, in fact, normal I think. However, I've become increasingly disturbed by the rhetoric I've been reading and hearing lately from strident Democratic candidate supporters who insist that if their candidate loses, they will not vote for the Democratic nominee in the general election.
Even worse, some of my close progressive friends have even suggested recently that they would sooner vote for John McCain (the presumptive Republican candidate) if their candidate of choice loses the Democratic nomination. Seems that a sizeable hunk of Independents and even some Democrats out there have bought into the idea that John McCain is the bipartisan, courageous political maverick the MSM has suggested he is. I've even heard a few hysterical voices of late claim that McCain is truly a moderate who would be a reasonable, effective leader. They couldn't be more wrong.
More below the fold.
So what's the demonstrable truth about John McCain? Let's begin with this article from The Nation, written well before the fog of the current presidential nomination, which represents a fair and thoughtful analysis of John McCain as a politician before and after the 2004 election.
The following passage struck me as most telling:
[McCain] endorsed teaching 'intelligent design' alongside evolution in public schools, and... expressed support for a rigid state ban on gay marriage that denies government benefits to any unmarried couple. After brief opening remarks, McCain took questions for more than two hours, referring to Reagan as 'my hero,' invoking the support of other conservatives on issues such as stem-cell research and immigration, and strenuously defending President Bush's Iraq policy.
But... but I thought McCain was a moderate? Uh huh. Right. That's a good one.
It is a fact that McCain has voted with the Bush White house an undeniably conservative 87.7% party line voting record. His voting record, in fact, suggest that he is even more conservative than the global warming buster himself, Senator Jack Inhofe, who only voted with his party a measly 87.1% of the time. Incidentally, Jack ranked #1 in the Democratic Underground's infamous "Top Ten Conservative Idiots" of 2004.
My take? McCain's notable breaks with the Bush administration and his party have been highly publicized by a willing media in the past but don't really amount to much when you analyze and compare them to the vast majority of party line votes he's made. McCain paints himself as a moderate maverick, but he's clearly a foreign policy hawk (and frightens me more than any other candidate in this regard) and also is demonstrably a conservative in every other sense of the word. And his wholehearted support of GW in '04 helped elect El Idiot to a second term. And I can't forget or forgive that.
Honestly, whether McCain is widely considered a neo-con or not, he has enabled the Bushies at every turn and has acted as a terrible apologist for their ignorant, bloodthirsty foreign policies (see McCain's foreign policy positions/quotes below). As a former POW he of all people should understand the hideousness of war, but McCain has always struck me as being affected negatively, not positively, by his imprisonment and torture. Never mind the Dean Scream--have you ever seen McCain get REALLY mad? I respect and pity him because of the horror he must have endured being a prisoner of war for 5 years, but I'm not sure that I want this ostensible hero--having had his body and mind tormented by a cruel enemy for that amount of time--to be our Commander In Chief. That may be unfair of me, but that niggling thought came back to haunt me time and again when I was considering how I would vote way back when in 2000, and it is corroborated when I read about his foreign policy positions and posturings over the past seven years.
Here are my chief problems with McCain:
- McCain has said he'd fill the supreme court with judges like Alito and Scalia. That's a horrific thought and could set us back 100 years or more ultimately far beyond his term(s) as POTUS.
- McCain supports and has voted for teaching creationism alongside evolution. That's just dumb. And scary. He also has said he wants the ten commandments to be posted in schools (be sure to hold your nose if you follow this link).
- McCain is terrible on civil rights. The ACLU has rated him a stunning 25% on civil rights votes. The NAACP gave him 7% when they reviewed his voting record. McCain is also demonstrably opposed to gay rights (the HRC rated him 33%). He has supported banning gay marriage in the past. I know he's not as rabidly anti-gay on a federal level as just about any of the other repub candidates (other than the recently departed Guiliani), but it still is a deal breaker for me.
- McCain is scary on foreign policy issues--particularly since 9-1-1. Here are some notable McCain quotes/positions to consider:
• The War on Terror is the overriding and transcendent issue. (Oct 2004)
• The War on Terror is a fight between good and evil. (Aug 2004)
• The War on Terror a war we must fight. (Aug 2004)
• Avoiding the War on Terror has cost us dearly. (Aug 2004)
• Bush promised enemies would soon hear from us and they did. (Aug 2004)
• Our adversaries express a hatred for all good in humanity. (Aug 2004)
• Iran is sponsor of terrorism; US strike if they get nukes. (May 2007)
• Palestine: Against declaration of statehood. (Feb 1999)
"A fight between good and evil," huh? Wow. Where have I heard that kind of rhetoric before? Sounds most reasonable and moderate to me!
Hell, on Iraq issues alone the quotes are--if anything--scarier!
• Iraq is now the central front in the war against al-Qaeda. (Sep 2007)
• Democrats proposing failure in Iraq by withdrawing. (Sep 2007)
• Reducing military presence has never in history won a war. (Sep 2007)
• Bring troops home the right way: home with honor. (Sep 2007)
• Surge is working; let it continue until it succeeds. (Sep 2007)
• Support the surge even if benchmarks are not met. (Aug 2007)
• Willing to be last man standing for US involvement in Iraq. (May 2007)
• In hindsight, Iraq invasion was still justified. (May 2007)
• Timetable would be catastrophe, even if Iraq wants it. (May 2007)
• Bush now has the right strategy, and it's our last chance. (Jan 2007)
• Generals advising "no more troops" was a failed policy. (Jan 2007)
• If we leave Iraq, terrorists will follow us home. (Jan 2007)
• Send in a heavy wave of troops to Iraq to establish order. (Nov 2006)
• The Iraqi war was necessary after years of failed diplomacy. (Aug 2004)
• Saddam would have acquired terrible weapons again. (Aug 2004)
• The Iraqi war was necessary, achievable and noble. (Aug 2004)
• The cause of the Iraqi war was just. (Apr 2004)
Voting for McCain is a vote for this kind of nonsense: "The Iraqi war was necessary, achievable and noble."
I am strongly opposed to all of the above cited McCain insanity. Every bit of it. In fact, McCain has been in lock step with the Bush Administration on foreign policy from day 1 following 9-1-1. Sure, McCain has complained a little about mismanagement and vilified Rumsfeld when it was convenient and politically expedient for him to do so, but I have no reason to believe McCain will be any different as a world leader than dubya has been.
To those of you considering voting for this hot-headed, extremely hawkish and altogether conservative politician in the general election should your #1 choice not be nominated, please reconsider. For me, I honestly would no sooner vote for John McCain than I would George W. Bush. I would, indeed, sooner eat glass.
In fact, here's the bottom line: I will vote for the Democratic candidate next fall, whoever that may be. Period. I will certainly not abstain from voting. I will not (and cannot ethically) vote for even a third party candidate, whether my Democratic candidate of choice is nominated or not. Our two choices--Obama and Clinton--are far superior in every conceivable way on each and every issue than any of the sorry politicians on the right, including Mr. "Maverick" himself, John McCain. I know some of you may still disagree with that statement, but after reviewing the facts above you'd better have a damned good, rational reason for not voting for the Democratic candidate when you step into that voting booth (or not) this November.
I appreciate the fervor in which many of us are defending our Democratic candidate of choice and pointing out the weaknesses and failures of the other guy/woman, but before you post another "I will never vote for X" comment or diary, please reconsider. Your common sense in this matter could save us all a lot of anguish over the next five to nine years (or more). Thanks for your attention!