Wow – Barack Obama and John McCain got into a testy letter war yesterday. Obama writes a polite letter and then McCain wales on him. I tend to like both these guys, but what’s McCain’s problem?
Tag Archives: mccain
Marshall Wittman Endorses Kerry
Marshall Wittman, — John McCain’s former communications director, former member of the Christian Coalition, and self-described “Bull Moose” progressive — endorses John Kerry in a must-read, wide-ranging indictment of the Bush administration. He slams the leaders of the religious right; the attempt to repeal the estate tax; the Bush administration’s handling of Osama bin Laden, Afghanistan, and Iraq, its conduct during the 2002 mid-term elections, and its hypocrisy on “accountability”; and Bush’s lack of true conservatism. He says of Kerry:
Although I had my differences with Kerry during the Cold War, he has demonstrated by his hawkishness on Kosovo and Afghanistan that he is willing to use force to defend American ideas and interests. He advocates increasing the size of the U.S. military. On domestic issues, Kerry has positioned himself in the New Democrat tradition. Kerry has proposed an ambitious national service program. He would retain the tax cuts for the middle class while rolling them back on the super-rich. And he would reform, rather than eliminate, the estate tax.
. . .
Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have waged an unprecedentedly cynical and divisive campaign. The campaign has proven that there are no guard rails when it comes to a scorched-earth effort to hold on to power. However, Democrats can seize the opportunity to reach out to disaffected moderate Republicans and independents to build a new political coalition of national unity. That is both the hope and the cause of this unreconstructed Bull Moose.
It’s worth a read.
FMA Goes Down
The Federal Marriage Amendment didn’t even come up for a vote. Only 48 senators voted for ending formal debate and putting the amendment up for a vote; 50 voted to block the amendment. (Kerry and Edwards were on the campaign trail.)
Republicans who voted to block the amendment: Susan M. Collins (Maine), Olympia J. Snowe (Maine), John E. Sununu (N.H.), Lincoln D. Chafee (R.I.), Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Colo.) and John McCain (Ariz.).
Democrats who voted to vote on the amendment: Zell Miller (Ga.), Ben Nelson (Neb.) and Robert C. Byrd (W.Va.). Boo on you. I don’t know why Zell Miller even bothers calling himself a Democrat anymore, seeing as how he’s speaking at the Republican National Convention. What a joke. At least he’s retiring.
Anyway, at least this is over, for now.