October 15, 2008
McCain Vows to Bring Ayers into Debate (Bill Press)
Tonight’s the big night: the third presidential debate. And it’s McCain’s last chance.
He lost the first two debates. He’s down 2-0. What can McCain do to turn this election around?
McCain says he’s got the answer. He plans to do what he chickened out on doing in the second debate: bringing up Bill Ayers. Accusing Barack Obama, to his face, of what he’s been saying in speeches and paid TV commercials: that Obama’s been palling around with terrorists, and therefore can’t be trusted as president.
If only McCain would do so. Should we be so lucky. Because that’s Obama’s chance to look John McCain in the face, and say:
John McCain, we’re in the worst financial crisis since the Depression — millions of Americans are losing their homes, jobs and savings – and you want to talk about Bill Ayers? Shame on you!
John McCain, you said you’d never run a Lee Atwater, Karl Rove, dirty campaign. When did you change your mind?
John McCain, speaking of friends: What about your palling around with convicted criminal Charles Keating? And what about your buddy G. Gordon Liddy, who told his radio listeners they should shoot federal agents in the head? “Kill the sons of bitches”?
Oh, God, I hope John McCain brings up Bill Ayers. Because this is Obama’s chance to expose McCain as the pure hypocrite he really is.
Visit Mr. Press's website at billpressshow.com.
Permalink TrackBack EMail This Post
Share this post
What's This 23 Comments
»
The Hill welcomes comment from anyone and will almost always post it whether it is favorable or critical, as long as it is substantive and advances debate.
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
If anyone chickened out in the second debate, it was Barack Obama. Barack had already heard of the allegations and he could have bought it up himself. Tonight it apparently will be bought up and the American public will get the news from McCain they should have gotten from the Fourth Estate, which has collapsed. It was never McCain's job to bring this issue up. If there were any real journalists left it wouldn't be an issue at this late date. Mr. Press, you and the rest of the Fourth Estate have failed to do your jobs. If anyone has lost the debates, it's the Fourth Estate. Now, when all else fails, let's look at the facts.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YTQ0YjhlOGVhYjQ0OWRhZjI2MmM4NTQ4NGM5Mjg0MzU=
Given the precedent of his earlier responses on Ayers and Wright, Obama might be inclined to deny personal knowledge of the educational philosophy he was so generously funding. Such a denial would not be convincing. For one thing, we have evidence that in 1995, the same year Obama assumed control of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, he publicly rejected “the unrealistic politics of integrationist assimilation,” a stance that clearly resonates with both Wright and Carruthers. (See “No Liberation.”)
And as noted, Wright had invited Carruthers, Hilliard, and like-minded thinkers to address his Trinity congregants. Wright likes to tick off his connections to these prominent Afrocentrists in sermons, and Obama would surely have heard of them. Reading over SSAVC’s Annenberg proposals, Obama could hardly be ignorant of what they were about. And if by some chance Obama overlooked Hilliard’s or Carruthers’s names, SSAVC’s proposals are filled with references to “rites of passage” and “Ptahhotep,” dead giveaways for the anti-American and separatist ideological concoction favored by SSAVC.
We know that Obama did read the proposals. Annenberg documents show him commenting on proposal quality. And especially after 1995, when concerns over self-dealing and conflicts of interest forced the Ayers-headed “Collaborative” to distance itself from monetary issues, all funding decisions fell to Obama and the board. Significantly, there was dissent within the board. One business leader and experienced grant-smith characterized the quality of most Annenberg proposals as “awful.” (See “The Chicago Annenberg Challenge: The First Three Years,” p. 19.) Yet Obama and his very small and divided board kept the money flowing to ideologically extremist groups like the South Shore African Village Collaborative, instead of organizations focused on traditional educational achievement.
As if the content of SSAVC documents wasn’t warning enough, their proposals consistently misspelled “rites of passage” as “rights of passage,” hardly an encouraging sign from a group meant to improve children’s reading skills. The Chicago Annenberg Challenge’s own evaluators acknowledged that Annenberg-aided schools showed no improvement in achievement scores. Evaluators attributed that failure, in part, to the fact that many of Annenberg’s “external partners” had little educational expertise. A group that puts its efforts into Kwanzaa celebrations and half-baked history certainly fits that bill, and goes a long way toward explaining how Ayers and Obama managed to waste upwards of $150 million without improving student achievement.
However he may seek to deny it, all evidence points to the fact that, from his position as board chair of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, Barack Obama knowingly and persistently funded an educational project that shared the extremist and anti-American philosophy of Jeremiah Wright. The Wright affair was no fluke. It’s time for McCain to say so.
— Stanley Kurtz is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
Comment by Robert Rosencrans — October 15, 2008 @ 8:08 am
Very well stated Rosencrans.The news media refuses to acknowledge any of this.
Remember they all have that chill going up their legs.
They have built Obama up and they will tear him down.
Hopefully the truth will come out prior to the election.
Comment by Teerry Gee — October 15, 2008 @ 9:14 am
Well put Bill. I hope he brings up Ayers. I'm sure the Obama campaign have a more recent roll call of people tied to McCain. They always save the best for last.
Comment by Yvonne — October 15, 2008 @ 9:47 am
William Ayers educational foundation was funded by Republicans, not Democrats, Republicans!
The Annenbergs who are Republicans, Bankrolled William Ayers with $50 million dollars. However, Walter and Leonore Annenberg weren’t just giving money to educational foundations started by William Ayers, they were also giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Republican National Committee and various other Republican groups, as well as to a whole host of Republican candidates, including the following:
George W. Bush $4000 - Mitt Romney $5000
Strom Thurmond $1000 - Fred Thompson $500
Rick Santorum $3000
There are questions that are not being asked or answered such as –why would billionaire Republican philanthropists give millions of dollars to a program that was working with William Ayers? Why would George W., Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and all those other Republicans accept money from the people who were funding this William Ayers-associated group? And, why won’t McCain discuss these connections between the Republican Party and Ayers?"
Recently, McCain campaign put out a press release bragging about the fact that Leonore Annenberg has endorsed him for president. The very Leonore Annenberg who bankrolled William Ayers with millions of dollars is now backing McCain!.
Lastly, Republican Arnold Weber who served on the board of the CAC with Barack, who worked with William Ayers in the 90’s, has also donated at least $1000 to the McCain campaign. So you see, McCain is accepting money from associates of William Ayers, and so far has not given the money back. Why is McCain being deceitful about these facts.
http://www.republicansforobama.org/?q=node/3027
Comment by angellight — October 15, 2008 @ 10:35 am
If Obama does bring up Ayers, then McCain should bring this up also. It's an article that describes how Obama funded a thug government. Isn't he a wonderful Messiah?
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78035
Sen. Barack Obama, with a donation of nearly $1 million, and a son of Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi were among the biggest contributors to the presidential campaign of controversial Kenyan leader Raila Odinga, according to an internal document obtained by WND.
The memo was prepared by the head of Odinga's campaign finance accounting section, Shakeel Shabbir, as an official report delivered to the national treasurer for Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement party, or ODM.
Among the 72 individuals and organizations that contributed money to Odinga's 2007 presidential run in Kenya, Shabbir lists "Friends of Senator B.O." as having donated 66,000,000 Kenyan schillings, about $950,000.
Saif el-Islam Gadhafi, the Libyan strongman's second oldest son, reportedly donated 53,450,000 Kenyan schillings, about $765,000.
According to several highly credible ex-ODM sources WND interviewed in Kenya, the $950,000 raised for Odinga's campaign came from a series of private meetings arranged for Odinga by Mark Lippert, a foreign policy adviser in Obama's U.S. Senate office. The meetings with top-dollar Obama fundraisers and donors took place during Odinga's 2006 trip to the U.S.
(Story continues below)
Comment by Robert Rosencrans — October 15, 2008 @ 10:51 am
The real question is, not why he hung around with Ayers and tried to conceal it, not why Obama taught at ACORN, denied it, and is only now changing the information at his anti-smear website after documents surfaced showing he was an instructor at ACORN, but why is Michelle now threatening journalists?
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78041
Michelle Obama placed a surprise call to an African news agency to protest its coverage of WND investigative stories about her husband – characterizing the source of the material as "racist" and Jerome Corsi as "evil."
The call was placed to African Press International, according to a report in the publication today. It said Michelle Obama accused API of "colluding with American Internet bloggers in an effort to bring down her husband."
The report said Mrs. Obama had hoped the African media "was mature enough to be in the front to give unwavering support to her husband, a man Africans should identify themselves with."
API's account said it was "only relaying what the American bloggers and other media outlets had discovered through their investigations." This, according to the story, angered her.
WND senior staff writer Jerry Corsi
"African Press International is supposed to support Africans and African-American view," she reportedly said. "It is strange that API has chosen to support the racists against my husband. There is no shame in being adopted by a stepfather. All dirt has been thrown onto my husband's face and yet he loves this country. My husband and I know that there is no law that will stop him from becoming the president, just because some American white racists are bringing up the issue of my husband's adoption by his stepfather. The important thing here is where my husband's heart is at the moment. I can tell the American people that my husband loves this country and his adoption never changed his love for this country. He was born in Hawaii, yes, and that gives him all the right to be an American citizen even though he was adopted by a foreigner."
AFI asked Michelle Obama to comment on the detention of Corsi during his visit last week to Kenya, where he was investigating the presidential candidate's links to a controversial strongman serving as prime minister.
Get the book that started it all – Jerome Corsi's "The Obama Nation," personally autographed – for only $4.95, available today, but only from WND!
"When API asked Mrs. Obama to comment on why Dr. Corsi was arrested by the Kenyan government and whether she thought Kenya's prime minister, Mr. Raila Odinga, was involved in Dr. Corsi's arrest, she got irritated and simply told API not to dig [into] that which will support evil people who are out to stop her husband from getting the presidency," the publication reported.
AFI also said the first lady in waiting had some clear instructions for the publication.
Comment by Robert Rosencrans — October 15, 2008 @ 11:01 am
Ayers is a non issue but this sounds like a call for Marital Law to me:
a message dated 10/15/2008 8:57:16 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, jetlone@earthlink.net writes:
McCain Urges Surge to Fix What Ails US
News
Drawing on his foreign policy and military expertise, Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, has called for a military surge in America, similar to the one he claims has turned around the situation in Iraq.
"Let's put 30,000 fine young soldiers on the ground right here at home," the Arizona senator said. "They won't even have to leave their loved ones, or fly halfway around the world. But, just as we've seen in Iraq, their presence will act like magic to solve every problem here, virtually overnight."
Pressed for particulars, McCain referred questioners to constant sidekick and adviser Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), as soon as the maverick New England politico figures out how to unbuckle his seat belt on the Straight Talk Express and hurry to his side.
The surge gambit was seen by many observers as a last-ditch McCain effort to turn around his sagging campaign fortunes — a perception immediately countered by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the GOP vice presidential nominee. "You keep sayin' that," she burbled, "and my Todd's gonna come after ya with a grappling hook!"
McCain himself appears to have zero doubts about the efficacy of placing 30,000 stalwart military personnel somewhere in the United States. "I'd put some of them on Wall Street," he said, "I'd put lot of them in our national parks to protect oil drilling; another bunch in Chicago to guard against terrorist attacks by Sen. Obama Barack's cronies, and lots of other places.
"The point is to end the current political unrest," McCain continued, "reconcile the Shiites and the Sunnis, and halt the constant nuclear threats from Iraq and North Korea. And I wouldn't be surprised if this surge idea of mine ends up with Obama — I mean Osama — bin Laden under lock and key this month!"
This week's final presidential debate would furnish McCain with an ideal showcase for his dramatic new initiative.
Aides report, however, that his No. 1 priority will be not walking into TV cameras
Comment by Docb — October 15, 2008 @ 11:42 am
Jerry Corsi is the Jim Jones of Journalism
Comment by sherri wong — October 15, 2008 @ 11:58 am
RR;
You sound desparate today. What's wrong Bunky, your boy McCain campaign is blowing up in your face and you can't do a thing about it. All those world nut daily post are really laughable considering that McCain has more problems was associating with shady characters than Obama. I really like the fact that you are suffering and on 11/04 I know that the wails of sorrow from you and Misha and Igor and teh rest will be like music to my ears. Cheers!
Comment by Mike Coleman — October 15, 2008 @ 12:10 pm
Mike Coleman: You say you like the fact that others are suffering? You sound like a psychopath. Get some help.
Comment by Robert Rosencrans — October 15, 2008 @ 2:37 pm
This was my letter to Kurtz today. I am including it for Rosencrans and Gee.
———————
Dear Mr. Kurtz,
Thank you for your article "Wright 101: Obama funded extremist Afrocentrists who shared Rev. Wright's anti-Americanism. (http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YTQ0YjhlOGVhYjQ0OWRhZjI2MmM4NTQ4NGM5Mjg0MzU=) I found it very helpful for my personal Election research.
I have read and re-read it, but I can't find an example of where Obama participated directly in any of these controversial programs. I may be missing something, but it seems that this is a sort of "six degrees of separation" loop to Barack Obama. These are the major points I gathered (and confirmed with other research) from your article.
William Ayers co-chairs a partner "collaborative" of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. >>
Deborah Leff, Patricia Albjerg Graham, and William Ayers and two others choose the Board of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (sponsored by the Annenberg Foundation in 1995), including Barack Obama as Chairman. >>
The Chicago Annenberg Challenge gave $200,000 to the Coalition for Improved Education in [Chicago’s] South Shore (CIESS) in 1996. >>
The Coalition for Improved Education in [Chicago’s] South Shore (CIESS) participates in some sort of a "network" with the South Shore African Village Collaborative. >>
The South Shore African Village Collaborative advocates a curriculum that teaches about African culture, one part of which is some "rites of passage ceremonies", one part of which is "puberty rites" >>
"Rites of passage" is specifically mentioned on the Annenberg proposal. >>
Controversial Jacob Carruthers spoke at a Coalition for Improved Education in [Chicago’s] South Shore teacher conference one time. >>
Carruthers and others in Carruthers’ Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations were invited by Jeremiah Wright to speak at the Trinity United Church of Christ - where Barack Obama attended church - one time. >>
Asa Hilliard - who died on a trip to Kemet Egypt with Jeremiah Wright and others, after which Wright delivered Hilliard’s eulogy - was also invited by the South Shore African Village Collaborative to speak one time.
My conclusion:
It appears that Obama participated in programs which granted money to other programs which partially sponsored Afrocentric activities that appear controversial. He has attended extremely controversial church services, but never preached these controversial topics himself.
Am I supposed to conclude from this connection that Barack Obama, as President of the United States, will infuse the American school system with Afrocentric Rites of Passage curriculum? That he believes that whites are supremacists?
A neighbor of ours who believes that blacks are genetically inferior to whites, citing as evidence their inability to become economically successful over the years, was invited to my father's funeral in 2006 and to our house for a reception afterwards. I knew this about my neighbor and wholeheartedly agreed with my mother to invite him anyway. Am I racist?
Should Jeremiah Wright, Asa Hilliard, Louis Farrakhan, William Ayers, or Jacob Carruthers as President? Clearly not. Is there ANY EVIDENCE that Barack Obama thinks or leads like these folks? I don't think so. I haven't seen any, anyway.
Do you have any example of his direct participation in any of these extremist activities? I just don't understand how this connection makes Ayers and Obama the "radical political brothers" that people claim them to be. I see that Ayers is an unstable character who I would not want involved in my government, but I fail to see any evidence that Obama shares these views.
Thank you,
Anne
Comment by Anne — October 15, 2008 @ 2:49 pm
McCain can get as nasty as he wants, unfortunately for him, the economy overwhelms ALL his negative attacks.
Attacks on Obama's relationships do NOT put money in the taxpayers wallets, nor pay the mortgages for economically distressed homeowners, nor pay their health care costs, grocery or utility bills.
The problem for the GOP and the parasites running the McCain/Palin campaigns is that, this time, appeals to racism, both blatant and subtle, are being ignored by their usually receptive audience because of the economic meltdowns going on right now.
This audience has to decide which is more important, indulging their prejudices by voting for McCain, or roing with their wallets and voting for Obama.
Too bad for Karl Rove, Steve Schmidt and Tucker Eskew that their targeted voters are voting with their wallets, not their hate.
See ya GOP, a group that dares to whine its members are "victims" when their own self-inflicted fiascoes rightly blow up in their faces.
Comment by KingCranky — October 15, 2008 @ 3:16 pm
101 Reasons to Vote Against John McCain
Every day, tune in to hear a new reason NOT to vote for John McCain in November! We'll then list them here - send them along to all your friends!
The list gets updated weekdays with a new reason each day. By the time Election day rolls around, you'll have all 101 reasons!
——————————————————————————–
#15: John McCain is injecting a bogus issue into the campaign: ACORN. Barack Obama once worked with the Department of Justice and ACORN, but McCain's accusations of Barack Obama attempting to commit voter fraud are baseless.
#16: John McCain opposes having women register for Selective Service. Barack Obama believes in equality and thinks women should be afforded all the opportunities and responsibilities that men do.
#17: John McCain refuses to repudiate and condemn the Chairman of the Virginia Republican Party. Jeff Frederick compared Barack Obama to Osama Bin Laden. McCain said he 'didn't know the context' of the comments.
#18: John McCain has a bad temper that is not acceptable for a President. It's known around the Senate as the "McCain Rage."
#19: John McCain is trying to paint Barack Obama as a terrorist. He said nothing at a rally when his supporters called Obama a terrorist, and said "kill him." In fact, in February, he said he would not allow these negative attacks to come from his surrogates, when Bill Cunningham viciously attacked Obama.
#20: John McCain called Barack Obama "that one." It was during the 2nd debate that he made this condescending remark.
#21: John McCain will raise your taxes for his health care plan. He will raise your income taxes on the $5000 health care tax credit he's offering, which in turn, will also cause your employer to stop offering coverage.
#22: John McCain accused Barack Obama of lying. That's just about as low as you can get in politics, especially when it's not true.
#23: John McCain wants to destroy health insurance for non-elderly Americans. He plans to eliminate tax breaks for employer-provided health insurance, which would cause 20 million Americans to lose their coverage.
#24: John McCain originally voted against supporting the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. It wasn't until he had presidential ambitions that he supported it.
#25: John McCain's tax plan helps the rich. He is only looking out for himself because he and wife Cindy would save $373,429 if his tax plan were enacted.
#26: John McCain has a gambling problem. He freely throws around chips at the table and has done it for years…he'll probably do some gambling in the government if he were to be elected!
#27: John McCain tried to blame Barack Obama for the financial crisis and the bailout failure. Actually, plenty of his own GOP friends voted to can the bill!
#28: John McCain showed a poor performance in the first one-on-one debate. He was mean and never looked Barack Obama in the eye, not to mention having poor answers to questions.
#29: John McCain grandstanded during the financial crisis. He played the card going into Washington like "Arizona Jones" to save everything…yet he's got nothing to do with the crisis, which may be a major part of the reason why the bailout fell apart.
#30: John McCain can't the handle the pressure. He suspended his own campaign when he fell behind in the polls and the going got tough - will he just suspend the presidency if he gets in a tough spot?
#31: John McCain is two-faced when it comes to lobbyists. He attacks Barack Obama for having ties to lobbyists. McCain's own campaign manager, Rick Davis, is a lobbyist - he was paid by Freddie Mac through August of this year!!!
#32: John McCain wants to deregulate the health insurance industry like they deregulated Wall Street. He is against universal health care, which would give health insurance companies much more power than they already have.
#33: John McCain thinks he has oversight over the SEC. He said he would fire the SEC Chair…but he can't constitutionally do that.
#34: John McCain Knows Nothing About Spain. In an interview, McCain clearly didn't recognize the name of Zapatero, the Prime Minister of Spain. He also said Spain is in our hemisphere, and referred to "our friends in Central America."
#35: John McCain Flip Flopped on AIG. John McCain was AGAINST the bailout of AIG BEFORE he was against it. After publicly saying that he didn't think AIG should be bailed out, less than 24 hours later, he called it a good decision.
#36: John McCain helped create the economic mess we're in. By backing de-regulation for so many years and fighting for big corporations, John McCain helped destroy the American economy.
#37: John McCain claims to be an agent of change. Barack Obama has been running as the "Change" candidate for almost 2 years. McCain has been in Washington politics for 26 years. How can McCain claim to be a change agent??
#38: John McCain voted against raising the minimum wage 19 times. While this last time around he did vote yes, why did he make the mistake of not helping working families 19 times?
#39: John McCain is calling a remark offensive - a remark which he once used himself. McCain used the "Lipstick" line - which has been used for years, Obama said nothing new - against Hillary Clinton during the primary race.
#40: John McCain's running mate ripped off her taxpayers for personal gain. Sarah Palin billed the state of Alaska for 312 nights spent in her own home, for travel and meals.
#41: John McCain showed poor judgement in his running mate choice. Sarah Palin does not have the qualifications to be Vice President of the United States.
#42: John McCain doesn't know how many houses he owns. He is so out of it, he can't count how many houses he owns…does he belong in the White House?
#43: John McCain is an elitist with 10 homes. He is out of touch with the American people because of his wealth, yet he attacks Obama for being elitist?
#44: John McCain cheats in church! He KNEW the questions going into the Saddleback forum with Pastor Rick Warren - and was not in a cone of silence. If he cheats on that…would you want him as President?
#45: John McCain would gut Social Security as President. His plan includes a higher retirement age, and he would cut benefits to moderate and higher income earners, plus, he would like to privatize Social Security as well.
#46: John McCain is in bed with Ralph Reed. McCain is scheduled to attend a fundraiser with the Abramoff-scandal-involved man, and is ignoring calls to cancel his appearance.
#47: John McCain supported an extra tax on Tobacco before he opposed it. He is now against a $1.10 tax that is aimed at cutting down on smoking.
#48: John McCain continues to lie to slam Barack Obama. In a new ad out on August 8, he says Obama would raise taxes on anyone making over $42,000 a year - not true.
#49: John McCain is against giving proper health care to our nation's veterans. In 2006, he voted against a bill that would give $20 million to the VA for health care facilities. He also voted against a bill that would increase Veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion.
#50: John McCain mocks energy conservation. Barack Obama worked hard highlighting little things like properly inflating tires to help conserve energy, and McCain made fun of it.
#51: John McCain thinks we are better off now than we were eight years ago. Yes, his latest ad contradicts that, but in the Republican debate in January 2008, he said we were better off now than we were eight years ago. Fact is, inflation and unemployment rates are up.
#52: John McCain is in the pocket of big oil. He has accepted over $2 million in contributions from big oil companies, and has offered tax breaks to them as well. Barack Obama highlights these bad ideas in a TV ad.
#53: John McCain opposes the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). This plan would make it easier for American workers to decide if they wanted to unionize at their workplace, and McCain doesn't support giving them that right.
#54: John McCain played the race card. His ad featuring Paris Hilton and Britney Spears injected race into the campaign.
#55: John McCain promised a clean campaign, based on the issues - but has not stayed that course. He has started running negative attack ads, after saying he had respect for Barack Obama.
#56: John McCain flip-flopped on taxes. He once said he'd never raise taxes. Now - he's open to raising Social Security taxes.
#57: John McCain flip-flopped on affirmative action. He used support it…now he changed into the wrong direction and supports a measure on the ballot in AZ to end the policy.
#58: John McCain is two-faced on lobbyists. He has constantly said he wants nothing to do with 'big-moneyed special interests'…but he has taken in $181,000 in donations from lobbyists.
#59: John McCain's priorities for health insurance companies are flawed. He is all for them covering Viagra, but not birth control.
#60: John McCain is still fixated on the 'surge.' He doesn't get that the surge is over - he believes it's still going on.
#61: John McCain isn't fit to be commander in chief. He lost five Navy aircraft during his flying career.
#62: John McCain needs a geography lesson. He brags he's been to Iraq so many times, but he said Iraq borders Pakistan. Look at a map, John….there's a little country called Iran in between.
#63: John McCain supports the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy in the military. He believes the anti-gay policy is working.
#64: John McCain has slammed Obama for only attending one Afghanistan hearing…but McCain's even more guilty! The Arizona Senator has not attended any committee hearings on Afghanistan.
#65: John McCain says the war in Iraq is not related to the war in Afghanistan. Barack Obama pointed out that the Senator from Arizona is dead wrong.
#66: John McCain's top economic advisor thinks the poor economy is just a 'mental recession.' Phil Gramm called America a 'nation of whiners.'
#67: John McCain's Gas Tax Holiday is a joke. Virtually every economist has shot down McCain's idea of a gas tax holiday. It just won't work!
#68: John McCain flip-flops on immigration. First he applauded a clear route to citizenship, now he's changed to a "fences-first" stance.
#69: John McCain gives us double-talk on Iraq. He says on the one hand, we gotta keep it going with no timetable. Then, more recently, he says we'll balance the budget by winning the war in Iraq and getting the troops home.
#70: John McCain represents the third term of Karl Rove. Steve Schmidt is the latest person to be at the top of the campaign - another name involved with McCain who worked closely with Karl Rove.
#71: John McCain is taking money from Swift Boat veterans. In 2004, he called them dishonest and dishonorable.
#72: John McCain flip-flopped on swiftboat veterans. In 2004, he condemned the swiftboat veterans, now, he endorses them, with Bud Day back on the scene.
#73: John McCain is a tax cheater. Cindy McCain failed to pay property taxes on time - that is not the type of responsibility that we want in the White House.
#74: John McCain is an opponent of helping rail transit. When he chaired the Senate Commerce Committee, he opposed public financing of Amtrak - a service very important in this day of high fuel prices.
#75: John McCain's healthcare plan would not help Americans. It would tax your healthcare benefits and leave working families at the mercy of big insurance companies.
#76: John McCain is a fear monger. Adviser Charlie Black suggested another terrorist attack would help McCain and the Republicans win.
#77: John McCain is more of a game show host than a candidate, offering up gimmick after gimmick. First it was the gas tax holiday, but now - he wants taxpayers to give $300 million to whoever develops the next new electric battery. Too bad the Japanese are already five years ahead of the US in developing the next generation battery.
#78: John McCain does not have a good environmental record. The League of Conservation Voters gave him a zero rating when it comes to pro-environment votes.
#79: Cindy McCain criticizes Michelle Obama for not "always" being proud of her country. Guess what - John McCain said the same thing.
#80: John McCain graduated fifth from the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy. Out of 899 graduates, he was ranked 894.
#81: John McCain uses scare tactics. John McCain accuses Barack Obama of having a "September 10″ mentality. We've heard this before from George W. Bush. Republicans have NO problem using September 11 for political gain.
#82: John McCain is in favor of offshore drilling for oil. Of course, this is AFTER he was opposed to it. Drilling for oil off the shores of the United States WON'T ease the gas burden.
#83: John McCain was part of the Keating Five. John McCain was part of the five Senators who were tied to dirty deal with Charles Keating.
#84: John McCain doesn't support prisoner's rights. The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Gitmo detainees. John McCain says that the ruling "concerns" him.
#85: John McCain doesn't care about women's interests. He wants to overturn Roe v. Wade (among other things) - Planned Parenthood gives him a zero lifetime voting record on women's issues.
#86: John McCain won't repeal George Bush's tax cuts. This is another issue that he has flip-flopped on, and his plan will continue to put this country into a deeper budget deficit.
#87: John McCain agrees with Bush's illegal wiretapping policy outside of FISA. At one point he did disagree with Bush on the subject, but he flip-flopped and now supports the President.
#88: John McCain doesn't know anything about the economy. He himself said he doesn't know as much about it as he should.
#89: John McCain voted with George Bush 89% of the time through his administration. Just more proof that if he's elected, it's more of the same.
#90: John McCain is a fake campaign finance reformer. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) presented this reason during his in-studio visit, and believes McCains back-room dealings need to be exposed.
#91: The Supreme Court. John McCain himself has said he wants to appoint clones of Alito and Roberts to the high court. With that, Roe v. Wade and other important decisions will go right out the window.
#92: His bad "comb-over," that he won't admit to. He won't just be honest and admit he's balding - what else won't he be honest about?
#93: John McCain supports the war in Iraq. He stated he would stay in Iraq for 100 years.
#94: John McCain will be nothing but a third term of George Bush. He wants to continue the same policies that have failed for the last eight years, as Barack Obama pointed out.
#95: John McCain is too old to run the country. He'll be 72 this year. Back in 2000, he admitted to PBS's Jim Lehrer he's too old to be President!
#96: John McCain does not support the GI Bill. He's against giving our veterans full scholarships to college upon returning from service.
#97: John McCain has bad judgment related to the people he cozies up to. He was endorsed by, and was good friends with John Hagee - it took him three months to reject the endorsement! What other type of people might he get close to when he's president?
#98: John McCain doesn't know Shiite from Shinola. Even Joe Lieberman corrected him when he mixed up Shiites and Sunnis.
#99: John McCain doesn't want to change anything about our relationship with Cuba. He is attacking Barack Obama's willingness to meet with Raul Castro.
#100: John McCain will try to stir up war with Iran. We've seen this with his recent exchange with Barack Obama, saying we shouldn't talk - we should just bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.
#101: John McCain's connection with Lobbyists. Special Interests, Special Interests. Ouch. The prime connection is Thomas Loeffler - who resigned from McCain's campaign because of his lobbyist connections.
Comment by Suze — October 15, 2008 @ 4:00 pm
101 Reasons to Vote Against John McCain
Every day, tune in to hear a new reason NOT to vote for John McCain in November! We'll then list them here - send them along to all your friends!
The list gets updated weekdays with a new reason each day. By the time Election day rolls around, you'll have all 101 reasons!
#15: John McCain is injecting a bogus issue into the campaign: ACORN. Barack Obama once worked with the Department of Justice and ACORN, but McCain's accusations of Barack Obama attempting to commit voter fraud are baseless.
#16: John McCain opposes having women register for Selective Service. Barack Obama believes in equality and thinks women should be afforded all the opportunities and responsibilities that men do.
#17: John McCain refuses to repudiate and condemn the Chairman of the Virginia Republican Party. Jeff Frederick compared Barack Obama to Osama Bin Laden. McCain said he 'didn't know the context' of the comments.
#18: John McCain has a bad temper that is not acceptable for a President. It's known around the Senate as the "McCain Rage."
#19: John McCain is trying to paint Barack Obama as a terrorist. He said nothing at a rally when his supporters called Obama a terrorist, and said "kill him." In fact, in February, he said he would not allow these negative attacks to come from his surrogates, when Bill Cunningham viciously attacked Obama.
#20: John McCain called Barack Obama "that one." It was during the 2nd debate that he made this condescending remark.
#21: John McCain will raise your taxes for his health care plan. He will raise your income taxes on the $5000 health care tax credit he's offering, which in turn, will also cause your employer to stop offering coverage.
#22: John McCain accused Barack Obama of lying. That's just about as low as you can get in politics, especially when it's not true.
#23: John McCain wants to destroy health insurance for non-elderly Americans. He plans to eliminate tax breaks for employer-provided health insurance, which would cause 20 million Americans to lose their coverage.
#24: John McCain originally voted against supporting the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. It wasn't until he had presidential ambitions that he supported it.
#25: John McCain's tax plan helps the rich. He is only looking out for himself because he and wife Cindy would save $373,429 if his tax plan were enacted.
#26: John McCain has a gambling problem. He freely throws around chips at the table and has done it for years…he'll probably do some gambling in the government if he were to be elected!
#27: John McCain tried to blame Barack Obama for the financial crisis and the bailout failure. Actually, plenty of his own GOP friends voted to can the bill!
#28: John McCain showed a poor performance in the first one-on-one debate. He was mean and never looked Barack Obama in the eye, not to mention having poor answers to questions.
#29: John McCain grandstanded during the financial crisis. He played the card going into Washington like "Arizona Jones" to save everything…yet he's got nothing to do with the crisis, which may be a major part of the reason why the bailout fell apart.
#30: John McCain can't the handle the pressure. He suspended his own campaign when he fell behind in the polls and the going got tough - will he just suspend the presidency if he gets in a tough spot?
#31: John McCain is two-faced when it comes to lobbyists. He attacks Barack Obama for having ties to lobbyists. McCain's own campaign manager, Rick Davis, is a lobbyist - he was paid by Freddie Mac through August of this year!!!
#32: John McCain wants to deregulate the health insurance industry like they deregulated Wall Street. He is against universal health care, which would give health insurance companies much more power than they already have.
#33: John McCain thinks he has oversight over the SEC. He said he would fire the SEC Chair…but he can't constitutionally do that.
#34: John McCain Knows Nothing About Spain. In an interview, McCain clearly didn't recognize the name of Zapatero, the Prime Minister of Spain. He also said Spain is in our hemisphere, and referred to "our friends in Central America."
#35: John McCain Flip Flopped on AIG. John McCain was AGAINST the bailout of AIG BEFORE he was against it. After publicly saying that he didn't think AIG should be bailed out, less than 24 hours later, he called it a good decision.
#36: John McCain helped create the economic mess we're in. By backing de-regulation for so many years and fighting for big corporations, John McCain helped destroy the American economy.
#37: John McCain claims to be an agent of change. Barack Obama has been running as the "Change" candidate for almost 2 years. McCain has been in Washington politics for 26 years. How can McCain claim to be a change agent??
#38: John McCain voted against raising the minimum wage 19 times. While this last time around he did vote yes, why did he make the mistake of not helping working families 19 times?
#39: John McCain is calling a remark offensive - a remark which he once used himself. McCain used the "Lipstick" line - which has been used for years, Obama said nothing new - against Hillary Clinton during the primary race.
#40: John McCain's running mate ripped off her taxpayers for personal gain. Sarah Palin billed the state of Alaska for 312 nights spent in her own home, for travel and meals.
#41: John McCain showed poor judgement in his running mate choice. Sarah Palin does not have the qualifications to be Vice President of the United States.
#42: John McCain doesn't know how many houses he owns. He is so out of it, he can't count how many houses he owns…does he belong in the White House?
#43: John McCain is an elitist with 10 homes. He is out of touch with the American people because of his wealth, yet he attacks Obama for being elitist?
#44: John McCain cheats in church! He KNEW the questions going into the Saddleback forum with Pastor Rick Warren - and was not in a cone of silence. If he cheats on that…would you want him as President?
#45: John McCain would gut Social Security as President. His plan includes a higher retirement age, and he would cut benefits to moderate and higher income earners, plus, he would like to privatize Social Security as well.
#46: John McCain is in bed with Ralph Reed. McCain is scheduled to attend a fundraiser with the Abramoff-scandal-involved man, and is ignoring calls to cancel his appearance.
#47: John McCain supported an extra tax on Tobacco before he opposed it. He is now against a $1.10 tax that is aimed at cutting down on smoking.
#48: John McCain continues to lie to slam Barack Obama. In a new ad out on August 8, he says Obama would raise taxes on anyone making over $42,000 a year - not true.
#49: John McCain is against giving proper health care to our nation's veterans. In 2006, he voted against a bill that would give $20 million to the VA for health care facilities. He also voted against a bill that would increase Veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion.
#50: John McCain mocks energy conservation. Barack Obama worked hard highlighting little things like properly inflating tires to help conserve energy, and McCain made fun of it.
#51: John McCain thinks we are better off now than we were eight years ago. Yes, his latest ad contradicts that, but in the Republican debate in January 2008, he said we were better off now than we were eight years ago. Fact is, inflation and unemployment rates are up.
#52: John McCain is in the pocket of big oil. He has accepted over $2 million in contributions from big oil companies, and has offered tax breaks to them as well. Barack Obama highlights these bad ideas in a TV ad.
#53: John McCain opposes the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). This plan would make it easier for American workers to decide if they wanted to unionize at their workplace, and McCain doesn't support giving them that right.
#54: John McCain played the race card. His ad featuring Paris Hilton and Britney Spears injected race into the campaign.
#55: John McCain promised a clean campaign, based on the issues - but has not stayed that course. He has started running negative attack ads, after saying he had respect for Barack Obama.
#56: John McCain flip-flopped on taxes. He once said he'd never raise taxes. Now - he's open to raising Social Security taxes.
#57: John McCain flip-flopped on affirmative action. He used support it…now he changed into the wrong direction and supports a measure on the ballot in AZ to end the policy.
#58: John McCain is two-faced on lobbyists. He has constantly said he wants nothing to do with 'big-moneyed special interests'…but he has taken in $181,000 in donations from lobbyists.
#59: John McCain's priorities for health insurance companies are flawed. He is all for them covering Viagra, but not birth control.
#60: John McCain is still fixated on the 'surge.' He doesn't get that the surge is over - he believes it's still going on.
#61: John McCain isn't fit to be commander in chief. He lost five Navy aircraft during his flying career.
#62: John McCain needs a geography lesson. He brags he's been to Iraq so many times, but he said Iraq borders Pakistan. Look at a map, John….there's a little country called Iran in between.
#63: John McCain supports the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy in the military. He believes the anti-gay policy is working.
#64: John McCain has slammed Obama for only attending one Afghanistan hearing…but McCain's even more guilty! The Arizona Senator has not attended any committee hearings on Afghanistan.
#65: John McCain says the war in Iraq is not related to the war in Afghanistan. Barack Obama pointed out that the Senator from Arizona is dead wrong.
#66: John McCain's top economic advisor thinks the poor economy is just a 'mental recession.' Phil Gramm called America a 'nation of whiners.'
#67: John McCain's Gas Tax Holiday is a joke. Virtually every economist has shot down McCain's idea of a gas tax holiday. It just won't work!
#68: John McCain flip-flops on immigration. First he applauded a clear route to citizenship, now he's changed to a "fences-first" stance.
#69: John McCain gives us double-talk on Iraq. He says on the one hand, we gotta keep it going with no timetable. Then, more recently, he says we'll balance the budget by winning the war in Iraq and getting the troops home.
#70: John McCain represents the third term of Karl Rove. Steve Schmidt is the latest person to be at the top of the campaign - another name involved with McCain who worked closely with Karl Rove.
#71: John McCain is taking money from Swift Boat veterans. In 2004, he called them dishonest and dishonorable.
#72: John McCain flip-flopped on swiftboat veterans. In 2004, he condemned the swiftboat veterans, now, he endorses them, with Bud Day back on the scene.
#73: John McCain is a tax cheater. Cindy McCain failed to pay property taxes on time - that is not the type of responsibility that we want in the White House.
#74: John McCain is an opponent of helping rail transit. When he chaired the Senate Commerce Committee, he opposed public financing of Amtrak - a service very important in this day of high fuel prices.
#75: John McCain's healthcare plan would not help Americans. It would tax your healthcare benefits and leave working families at the mercy of big insurance companies.
#76: John McCain is a fear monger. Adviser Charlie Black suggested another terrorist attack would help McCain and the Republicans win.
#77: John McCain is more of a game show host than a candidate, offering up gimmick after gimmick. First it was the gas tax holiday, but now - he wants taxpayers to give $300 million to whoever develops the next new electric battery. Too bad the Japanese are already five years ahead of the US in developing the next generation battery.
#78: John McCain does not have a good environmental record. The League of Conservation Voters gave him a zero rating when it comes to pro-environment votes.
#79: Cindy McCain criticizes Michelle Obama for not "always" being proud of her country. Guess what - John McCain said the same thing.
#80: John McCain graduated fifth from the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy. Out of 899 graduates, he was ranked 894.
#81: John McCain uses scare tactics. John McCain accuses Barack Obama of having a "September 10″ mentality. We've heard this before from George W. Bush. Republicans have NO problem using September 11 for political gain.
#82: John McCain is in favor of offshore drilling for oil. Of course, this is AFTER he was opposed to it. Drilling for oil off the shores of the United States WON'T ease the gas burden.
#83: John McCain was part of the Keating Five. John McCain was part of the five Senators who were tied to dirty deal with Charles Keating.
#84: John McCain doesn't support prisoner's rights. The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Gitmo detainees. John McCain says that the ruling "concerns" him.
#85: John McCain doesn't care about women's interests. He wants to overturn Roe v. Wade (among other things) - Planned Parenthood gives him a zero lifetime voting record on women's issues.
#86: John McCain won't repeal George Bush's tax cuts. This is another issue that he has flip-flopped on, and his plan will continue to put this country into a deeper budget deficit.
#87: John McCain agrees with Bush's illegal wiretapping policy outside of FISA. At one point he did disagree with Bush on the subject, but he flip-flopped and now supports the President.
#88: John McCain doesn't know anything about the economy. He himself said he doesn't know as much about it as he should.
#89: John McCain voted with George Bush 89% of the time through his administration. Just more proof that if he's elected, it's more of the same.
#90: John McCain is a fake campaign finance reformer. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) presented this reason during his in-studio visit, and believes McCains back-room dealings need to be exposed.
#91: The Supreme Court. John McCain himself has said he wants to appoint clones of Alito and Roberts to the high court. With that, Roe v. Wade and other important decisions will go right out the window.
#92: His bad "comb-over," that he won't admit to. He won't just be honest and admit he's balding - what else won't he be honest about?
#93: John McCain supports the war in Iraq. He stated he would stay in Iraq for 100 years.
#94: John McCain will be nothing but a third term of George Bush. He wants to continue the same policies that have failed for the last eight years, as Barack Obama pointed out.
#95: John McCain is too old to run the country. He'll be 72 this year. Back in 2000, he admitted to PBS's Jim Lehrer he's too old to be President!
#96: John McCain does not support the GI Bill. He's against giving our veterans full scholarships to college upon returning from service.
#97: John McCain has bad judgment related to the people he cozies up to. He was endorsed by, and was good friends with John Hagee - it took him three months to reject the endorsement! What other type of people might he get close to when he's president?
#98: John McCain doesn't know Shiite from Shinola. Even Joe Lieberman corrected him when he mixed up Shiites and Sunnis.
#99: John McCain doesn't want to change anything about our relationship with Cuba. He is attacking Barack Obama's willingness to meet with Raul Castro.
#100: John McCain will try to stir up war with Iran. We've seen this with his recent exchange with Barack Obama, saying we shouldn't talk - we should just bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.
#101: John McCain's connection with Lobbyists. Special Interests, Special Interests. Ouch. The prime connection is Thomas Loeffler - who resigned from McCain's campaign because of his lobbyist connections.
Comment by Suze — October 15, 2008 @ 4:01 pm
RR;
Only when it comes to you bunky. You have posted some of the most racist trash I've even read but when I point out that your boy and your party is going down, I'm a pyschopath? What kind of perverse logic is that? Oh I forgot, repub logic, enough said. By the way, can you say President Barack "Hussein" Obama, I knew you could. Cheers!
Comment by Mike Coleman — October 15, 2008 @ 4:34 pm
KingCranky, where will Obama get the money to help the wallets of those who want him so much?
Comment by Igor R. — October 15, 2008 @ 5:42 pm
The Dow Jones is collapsing because the investors are getting out before an Obama victory. I predict a Dow average below 6,,800 before he takes office and below 4,800 a year after he takes office. McCain should start a new campaign slogan, vote against your 401K, vote Obama!
Comment by Robert Rosencrans — October 15, 2008 @ 6:32 pm
Igor,
Where does President S*it for brains get all the money he ships to Iraq?
Comment by Jeff — October 15, 2008 @ 8:01 pm
Yes Robert, a new Obama slogan: "Turn your wealth into change, spare change".
By the way, I would say IF he takes office. He needs to be elected first, all the polls not withstanding.
Comment by Igor R. — October 15, 2008 @ 9:00 pm
After watching the debut tonight between the two senators running for Predident, the future is looking like a scary place to be at.
Is there anyone who knows and have some type of understanding as to how to handle the situation that seems to be arising. Help! that what is needed right now some one who really, really does comprehend.
Comment by R.C. Beckom — October 16, 2008 @ 12:40 am
I think Senator Obama handled the Ayers issue, and the ACORN nonsense very well in the debate earlier tonight. The more McCain brings these issues up, the more he puts himself lower on the totem pole. His campaign has deteriorated daily, and this final debate may be the final nail in the coffin. We'll see.
Comment by Joyce — October 16, 2008 @ 1:24 am
Sen. Obama said he would surround himself with some of the great minds in our society–a Warren Buffet, Joe Biden and others–those who have sound economic and foreign policies. He named names, he was specific about what he'll do with his presidency. Igor, in one of the other postings, i got very specific about what i want to see in an Obama administration. Take a look at it–i think it's under Ron Christy's Farrakhan piece. Sen. Obama dealt with every one of my issues. Go Obama/Biden 08 and 012
Comment by Jessara — October 16, 2008 @ 9:33 am
Do You really think Joe Biden is one of our great minds? That is the most ridiculous statement I have ever heard.This guy can,t talk without putting both feet in his mouth.Obama should be consulting Economist,s for information and not other politicians.Remember the politicians are the one,s that got us here.Wake up and smell the coffee Jessara!
Comment by Teerry Gee — October 16, 2008 @ 10:22 am