Right News and Views

This is the second in a series of posts in cooperation with fellow blogger politicalfrenzy.com that examines the candidates seeking their party’s nomination for president. Rightnewsandviews.com will cover the Republicans and politicalfrenzy.com will cover the Democrats. Our second profile features Senator John McCain. And be sure to check out Mike Gravel over at politicalfrenzy.com!

Name: John McCain

Age: 70 (born August 29, 1936)

Home Town: Born in Coco Solo in the then American-controlled Panama Canal Zone.

Political Positions Held: US Representative, currently US Senator

Military History: McCain served in Vietnam and was taken as a prisoner of war. Badly wounded when his A-4 Skyhawk was shot down, McCain was beaten and then taken prisoner. He suffered through interrogation but refused to provide his captors information. He was beaten until he lost consciousness. According to wikipedia.org, the North Vietnamese eventually learned that McCain’s father was the Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Command, commander of all U.S. forces in Vietnam. The offered him a chance to return home but he refused due to his belief in the principle of “first in, first out.” In other words, he would only leave if every man taken prisoner before him was also released.

Accomplishments: McCain-Feingold Act (regulates the financing of political campaigns).

Controversies: According to wikipedia.org, McCain has been the subject of many controversies, including the Keating Five Scandal (concerning the Savings and Loan collapse in the late 1980’s), made an off-color joke about Chelsea Clinton, had extramarital affairs, openly used the term gook to describe Vietnamese (claiming he uses the term only in reference to his captors), overstated the security of Iraq during a recent visit, sang a Beach Boys’ parody (Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran) when asked about possible military action against Iran, joked about bringing back an IED (bomb) for his friend, Jon Stewart, to wear, and cursed at a fellow Senator in a heated argument over immigration.

Fundamental Platform (culled from On The Issues):

On Abortion: Pro-Life (rape and incest are exceptions)
On Stem cell research: Expand funding
On the economy: Wants to reduce government spending, supports balanced budget
On gay marriage: Voted no on ban, believes it is a state issue
On Affirmative Action: OK for specific programs, but no quotas.
On Education: Against nationally imposed standards and funding strings, teachers should get merit pay and take competency tests.
On Energy & Oil: Refuse to support drilling in ANWR, opposes Kyoto
On Free Trade: Against foreign sales corporations (offshore tax breaks), supports free trade with any country except security risks.
On Gun Control: Voted against Brady Bill & assult weapon ban (though supports ban on certain assault weapons), supports tougher laws against those who abuse 2nd Amendment.
On Health Care: Higher taxes on cigarettes, expand to uninsured children.
On Terrorism: Iran is sponsor of terrorism; US strike if they get nukes, CIA needs more focus on counterterrorism, Voted no on restricting business with entities linked to terrorism.
On the Patriot Act: Supported reauthorization
On Osama Bin Laden: Follow “to the gates of hell.”
On Immigration: Give everyone in the world an opportunity to come to America, immigrants should learn English
On Tax Reform: Opposed Bush tax cuts but claims we must extend them now, taxes should be flatter, lower, and simpler.
On Iraq: Willing to be last man standing for US involvement in Iraq.
On a timetable for retreat: Timetable would be catastrophe, even if Iraq wants it.
On Welfare: Anti-poverty shared by gov’t & faith-based orgs, voted yes on welfare block grants

For more info, visit McCain’s website or visit On The Issues.

Nomination Pros: McCain’s military service is a plus and his personal courage of refusing to leave ahead other POW’s thanks to his fathers rank is commendable.

Nomination Cons: As a Republican, it will be difficult for McCain to obtain the nomination because of his reputation as a maverick. He is just a little too left-leaning on certain issues to effectively

Head to head with:

Vs. Clinton- would loose to Clinton
Vs. Edwards – defeats Edwards handily
Vs. Obama – barely defeats Obama