2008 potential presidential candidates:
John McCain (R)
Sponsored link.
John McCain has been called a war hero and a political maverick. His
past relationship to the power brokers of the Republican Party's has suffered because
of his resistance to their pork-barrel spending, as well as their policies
allowing the torture of detainees, and oil drilling in the Arctic Natural
Wildlife Refuge. Also, he has supported stem-cell research,
finance reform, and actions to curb global warming.
He voted against the tax cuts of 2001 to 2003, saying (in 2001) that:
"I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the
benefits go to the most fortunate among us at the expense of middle class
Americans who need tax relief.
McCain has flip-flopped on some important issues. He originally
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Opposed the repeal of Roe v. Wade which would recriminalilze
abortions in at least some states. |
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Opposed Federal subsidies for deriving ethanol from corn -- a process that
consumes more energy than it yields. |
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Promoted an expedited path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. |
He no longer holds these opinions. 1
He now favors the erection of a Berlin-style wall to discourage Mexicans from trying
to enter the U.S. These raise a question of exactly what McCain's real beliefs
are, and which he had adopted in order to improve his position in the polls.
Some recent position statements:
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McCain believes that homosexuality is neither
a defect or a sin. |
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He opposes allowing loving, committed same-sex
couples to marry or enter into civil unions. |
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He opposes extending existing laws that
protect against discrimination in the workplace to include sexual
orientation. 2 |
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He opposes allowing homosexuals to serve
openly in the military.
He wrote:
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"I believe polarization of personnel and breakdown of unit
effectiveness is too high a price to pay for well-intentioned but
misguided efforts to elevate the interests of a minority of homosexual
servicemembers above those of their units."
3
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He favors a constitutional amendment that
would ban abortion throughout the U.S. except in cases of rape, incest, or a threat to the
woman's life. |
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He favors the U.S. Supreme Court reversing its
1973 ruling on abortion in order to allow individual states to regulate the
practice. |
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He favors the appointment of new justices to the U.S. Supreme Court with
the same strict constructionist beliefs as Justices Alito and Roberts. Jake
Tapper of ABC News wrote: |
Tonight at a packed rally in Atlanta, McCain repeated the call for
clones. "I want to assure you that one of the great accomplishments of
President Bush is we now have judges on the United States Supreme Court
and judges who strictly interpret the Constitution of the United States
of America," he said at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. "Two of the
best of those are Judges [sic] Alito and Roberts. You can be very proud
of them. My friends, I want to tell you, I will try to find clones of
Alito and Roberts. I will try to find people just like them." 4
James Dobson's personal statement on Senator John McCain:
On 2008-FEB-05, CitizenLink distributed a statement from James Dobson, founder of Focus on the
Family, a fundamentalist Christian group centered in Colorado Springs, CO. The
release stated: "As voters in 24 states head to the polls today to choose a
presidential nominee, Dr. James Dobson released a statement to The Laura Ingraham Show today. He stated his personal opinions of this critical election:"
"I am deeply disappointed the Republican Party seems poised to select a
nominee who did not support a Constitutional
amendment to protect the institution of marriage,
voted for embryonic stem-cell research to kill
nascent human beings, opposed tax cuts that ended the marriage penalty, has
little regard for freedom of speech, organized the Gang of 14 to preserve
filibusters in judicial hearings, and has a legendary temper and often uses
foul and obscene language.
"I am convinced Sen. McCain is not a conservative, and in fact, has gone out
of his way to stick his thumb in the eyes of those who are. He has sounded
at times more like a member of the other party. McCain actually considered
leaving the GOP caucus in 2001, and approached John Kerry about being
Kerry's running mate in 2004. McCain also said publicly that Hillary Clinton
would make a good president. Given these and many other concerns, a spoonful
of sugar does NOT make the medicine go down. I cannot, and will not, vote
for Sen. John McCain, as a matter of conscience.
"But what a sad and melancholy decision this is for me and many other
conservatives. Should Sen. McCain capture the nomination as many assume, I
believe this general election will offer the worst choices for president in
my lifetime. I certainly can't vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama
based on their virulently anti-family policy positions. If these are the
nominees in November, I simply will not cast a ballot for president for the
first time in my life. These decisions are my personal views and do not
represent the organization with which I am affiliated. They do reflect my
deeply held convictions about the institution of the family, about moral and
spiritual beliefs, and about the welfare of our country."
Although he states that he does not support candidates, his refusal to
support Senators Clinton, McCain, and Obama in effect means support for
Mitt Romney -- the only other viable candidate as
of early 2008-FEB. However Romney dropped out of the race a few days later, on
FEB-07.
Republicans for Choice endorses McCain:Republicans for Choice (RFC), are described by Focus on the Family
Action as "a group of pro-abortion Republicans." Actually they describe
themselves as being pro-choice. They believe that a woman who finds herself
pregnant and does not want to continue the pregnancy should have access to an
abortion. They originally endorsed Rudy Giuliani for president, but he dropped out.
Their number two choice, Sen. John McCain did win the Florida primary and went
on to achieve a commanding lead against Mitt Romney and Ron Paul on Super
Tuesday. An article titled "Fasten your seat belts" on their website states:
"While [McCain] ... is personally 'pro life' he has time and again
reached out and worked with people across the spectrum. We know we can work
with him to create common ground that will allow moderates and conservatives
to come together to rebuild the GOP."
"RFC joins with Rudy Giuliani in asking our supporters to consider McCain as
they go to vote over the next few weeks."
"John is a true American hero with strong and consistent values. He will
provide the leadership that will rebuild America's confidence in itself and
among our allies worldwide."
"And John McCain's election will be a strong message to our enemies...you
don't mess with John McCain, he can and will go the distance!" 5
References used:The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
- David Olive, "The alarming consequences of two John McCains," Toronto Star,
2008-FEB-03, Page ID1 and ID3.
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David Edwards,"McCain: Homosexuality not a 'defect' or 'sin'," The Raw
Story, 2006-NOV-20, at:
http://www.rawstory.com/
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"McCain on Homosexuality," 2007-MAY-11, Lots O' Thoughts blog, at:
http://www.sldn.org/
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Jake Trapper, "McCain Wants to Clone Alito and Roberts," ABC News,
2008-FEB-02, at:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/
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"Fasten your seat belts," Republicans for Choice, at:
http://www.republicansforchoice.com/
Copyright © 2008 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally written: 2008-FEB-03
Latest update: 2008-FEB-08
Author: B.A. Robinson 
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