Tag: John McCain (page 18)

Mitt Romney won the primary/caucuses in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana and Nevada. Today, John McCain held some fundraisers in Utah and Colorado. In Colorado, Romney beat McCain 59% to 19%, winning rural and urban areas and even in Denver. Who did McCain bring along today? Mitt Romney.

Millions of Republicans supported him and voted for him," McCain said of the former Massachusetts governor at a press conference at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver.

Romney, whom some speculate is on McCain's short list of vice-presidential candidates, said McCain is "tested and proven."

The Washington Post has more. McCain and Romney were pretty contentious during the Republican debates. Looks like they've patched up their differences. Expect more of Romney on the campaign trail: [More...]

Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake filed a fundraising complaint against John McCain yesterday with the FEC.

Yesterday, on behalf of a large number of progressive bloggers and activists, Jane went to the FEC and filed an official complaint against John McCain's alleged campaign finance violations. We've been asking a lot of questions about this, and the answers have been less than forthcoming. So, instead of just sitting here and stewing about yet another GOP ethical problem, we decided to put our action where our concerns were.

....As Markos of DailyKos pointed out in joining the complaint, “John McCain has officially blown past campaign spending limits mandated by his original acceptance of public campaign funding. While he has signaled his intent to withdraw from such financing, that has been hindered by the fact that he used the promise of public funding to secure a campaign loan.” Guess the campaign finance laws only apply when they aren't inconvenient for McCain's ambitions.

McCain will be fundraising in Denver tomorrow. [More...]

In a new CNN poll, it's a statistical dead heat between McCain-Hillary and McCain-Obama.

• Hillary 49, McCain 47
• Obama 47, McCain 46

According to CNN Polling Director Keating Holland:

"Clinton appears to do a little bit better than Obama among older voters, women, and self-identified Democrats against McCain; Obama's numbers may be slightly better among younger voters and those who describe themselves as Republicans and Independents."

Update: Gallup's daily tracking has Hillary ahead of Obama today.

Everyone knows Cindy McCain, the heiress wife of John McCain, was addicted to pain pills. CNN's 360 tonight highlighted it in a profile of her tonight.

But Cindy McCain wasn't just addicted to pain pills. She was investigated federally for stealing pain pills from a medical charity she headed and for having prescriptions filled in the names of the charity's employees. She admitted it. One of the doctors who wrote the prescriptions for her lost his license.

Mrs. McCain, through her lawyers, was able to get federal prosecutors to let her enter a diversion program and avoid jail.

Diversion is common in state courts for first-time offenders. It isn't in federal courts.

Here are some articles from that time period:

• Opiate for the Mrs
• How Cindy McCain was outed for drug addiction

John McCain is a hawk in the war on drugs. One standard for his wife, another for everyone else.

His voting record on drugs, after his wife's problems:

More....

Bump and Update: McCain releases a statement condemning the New York Times article. Olbermann read it really fast but I didn't hear any denial of the allegations pertaining to the female lobbyist.

Update: Salon has more. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for the key Times quotes, and again, this isn't about sex.

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MSNBC broke into Hardball to announce this news that just appeared on the New York Times website: John McCain is tied to a 40 year old female lobbyist 8 years ago. Both deny an improper relationship. That's not what others suggest.

A female lobbyist had been turning up with him at fund-raisers, in his offices and aboard a client’s corporate jet. Convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself — instructing staff members to block the woman’s access, privately warning her away and repeatedly confronting him, several people involved in the campaign said on the condition of anonymity.

When news organizations reported that Mr. McCain had written letters to government regulators on behalf of the lobbyist’s clients, the former campaign associates said, some aides feared for a time that attention would fall on her involvement.

Mike Huckabee anyone? If McCain's ethics and ties to corporate lobbyists are in doubt, when he has made this a hallmark of his campaign, can he still get the nomination? [More...]

I just love the sound of that phrase, "former President Bush." But, I'm referring here to former President George Herbert Walker Bush (Bush I) who has endorsed John McCain for President.

Here's the video.

What did anyone expect, that he would endorse Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama? This is news that's not news in my opinion. Just another predictable endorsement.

Big Tent Democrat wrote earlier about the Quinnepac poll showing Hillary leading Barack Obama in Ohio, and PA. From the same poll, via MyDD, about a contest between McCain and Hillary and Obama:

• Florida: McCain 44 percent - Clinton 42 percent; McCain 41 percent - Obama 39 percent;
• Ohio: McCain 44 percent - Clinton 43 percent; McCain 42 percent - Obama 40 percent;
• Pennsylvania: Clinton 46 percent - McCain 40 percent; Obama 42 percent - McCain 41 percent.

In Georgia, an Insider Advantage poll today shows:

McCain: 47 percent, Clinton: 40 percent
McCain: 48 percent, Obama: 40 percent

In both contests independent voters said they would vote for McCain by a 52 percent-to-30 percent margin. Among Democrats, 75 percent said they would vote for Clinton. Sixty-nine percent of Democrats said they would vote for Obama.

More...

Barack Obama unveiled an economic plan this week. From the Chicago Sun Times:

Obama's plan today is the most shameless piece of potential plagiarism that I have ever seen," McCain economic advisor Kevin Hassett said.

"He basically took Clinton's words and Clinton's policies and called them his own," Hassett said. "If I were a professor I'd give him an F and try to get him kicked out of school for something this terrible ... I remember Mrs. Clinton saying shared prosperity and I remember the bill that she introduced in August for infrastructure. The fact is these are things Obama has taken as his own without crediting the source of the ideas which was Mrs. Clinton."

Hillary's campaign responds: [More...]

If you've forgotten what happens when Republican Presidents appoint Supreme Court Justices, and why it's so important we not elect another one in November, check out this BBC interview with Justice Anton Scalia.

In a wide-ranging discussion, he defends his often controversial positions on issues like Guantanamo Bay, argues that torture may be legal and attacks the "sick" practice of televising trials.

...Justice Scalia says that it is far from clear that torture is unconstitutional and says that it may be legal to "smack [a suspect] in the face" if the suspect is concealing information which could endanger the public.

On abortion and the death penalty:

He says there is nothing in the Constitution that grants women the right to an abortion.

The death penalty, he argues, is not covered by the 8th Amendment's ban on "cruel and unusual punishment."

John McCain promises to appoint more judges in the mold of Scalia, Roberts and Alito. We get the Government we elect.

John McCain on the campaign stump Saturday:

"You can count on me to protect the rights of the unborn in this country, " McCain told voters in Birmingham. In Atlanta, he vowed to appoint judges who are "clones" of conservative Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.

That just about says it all. So, which Democrat can beat John McCain in November? Hopefully, either one.

CNN just called Florida for John McCain.

Rudy is expected to drop out by Wednesday and endorse McCain.

Huckabee says hold on, we need Super Tuesday and the Southern states' votes before you count me out.

Does anyone think McCain would pick Rudy as his running mate?

Where does this leave Mitt Romney? Is he still viable?

Update: McCain is speaking now. He may be the least inspirational, blandest speaker ever. He sounds like he is reading rather than speaking. He also uses far too many cliches like "my dear friends."

I wish him a long, healthy life, but at 71, what I'm most concerned about is who he'll pick as his running mate.

Bob Novak just said on Fox News that Condoleeza Rice might well be John McCain's running mate.

Is that to provide a hedge against both Obama and Hillary? Or another pundit's attempt to reduce the presidential contest to race and gender?

The problem is that too many people will realize whoever McCain picks as VP has a high chance of becoming president and I can't think of anyone who would say Condi Rice is equipped or qualified to be President. In fact, that's a very scary proposition.