Sun 27 Jan 2008
One of our writers got a little snide with the title of a story so in an attempt to tone it down we are going to cover just the facts of Senator McCain’s ratings from the American Conservative Union. His lifetime rating of 82.3 has been cited often. One of the state’s other conservative blogs pointed out that his most recent score from the ACU was 65 for 2006.
We thought it would be instructive to look at the senator’s whole record. His first term was in the House in 1983. In 1987 he began his service in the Senate. Here are the scores from the last 24 years. The average of his first 10 years in office is 85.8 and for the most recent 10 years it is 74.9.
1983 96
1984 86
1985 81
1986 73
1987 91
1988 80
1989 93
1990 87
1991 86
1992 85
1993 83
1994 96
1995 91
1996 91
1997 80
1998 68
1999 77
2000 81
2001 68
2002 78
2003 80
2004 72
2005 80
2006 65
January 27th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Hmmm…shame they don’t rate Romney…I bet if you looked at most of HIS record, you’d find that he is anything but a conservative. I bet he would rate below McCain…seriously. Check out his health plan for starters…the one that he not only signed but, in fact, led.
January 27th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Start practicing these words
resident McCain Commander in Chief.
Just wondering on his inaguration day is Haney going to return to the Mother Ship ?
January 27th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
I’ll bet that Romney’s ACU rating went up over the years, not down ( like Sen. McCain ). Keep in mind that Sen DeMint ( who is the highest rated by the ACU ) is an early Romney backer.
January 27th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
AS is Thompson. I believe he will endorse Romney.
January 27th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
McCain’s ACU ratings the first ten years 86, last ten years 75, last three years 72, and last year 65.. I think I see a trendline.
Also Rick Santorum’s comments last week should be noted by all:
“It’s amazing to hear what McCain is trying to convince the voters he is all about. The bottom line is, I served 12 years with him, six years in the Senate as one of the leaders of the Senate, trying to put together the conservative agenda, and almost at every turn, on domestic policy, John McCain was not only against us, but leading the charge on the other side.”
Game — Set — Match
January 27th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
It will be interesting to see if the Crist and Martinez endorsements help McCain to stop Romney’s momentum in Florida. If McCain loses Florida, then Super Tuesday is going to be a slugfest. Do endorsements matter as much as the hundreds of ads Romney can afford to buy, which McCain can’t hope to match in Florida or elsewhere? I think McCain is getting a little desperate about Florida based on how he twisted the truth about Romney’s position on Iraq.
As for Thompson, he will endorse McCain, but who cares? It’s not like he brings a lot of voters to the table. Giuliani may also back McCain when he is toast, which may be more meaningful. McCain can then point to support from moderates, too, which counters Romney’s “full spectrum” argument.
Why has McCain not tried to make peace with Limbaugh like he did with Falwell and Bob Jones? The daily blasts from Rush can’t be helping. I also see that National Review has backed Romney and I believe (but am not certain) that The Weekly Standard did, too.
The conservative backlash against McCain is growing, not diminishing. It will cost him the nomination. We Democrats should start planning to run against Romney. By the way, I don’t see him as a pushover, but that is a subject for another day…
January 27th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Good post, factual and lets folks draw their own conclusions.
January 27th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
It is very interesting that when Santorum was fighting for his political life in 2006, who did he call? John McCain. He asked for and received John McCain to stump for him and appreciated the endorsement so much that he put the video on his web site.
January 27th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Ann, good call. By the way, didn’t Santorum also back Arlen Specter when he was challenged by Club for Growth poster boy Pat Toomey? Specter is MUCH more liberal than McCain. My guess is that McCain chewed his ass one day and Santorum didn’t like it. I always thought of Santorum as a weasel.
On the subject of McCain’s celebrated temper, did anyone see what Senator Thad Cochran said the other day about McCain when he endorsed Romney? He referred to McCain as “erratic” and “a hothead.” McCain was asked about this on Meet the Press and dismissed Cochran as “an appropriator” who must be upset about McCain’s battles against pork. Anyone buying that?
January 27th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
For the record, McCain-Feingold was actually McCain-Feingold-Cochran.
Thad Cochran is a very good man but cut from a different cloth than McCain. Thad has a grand piano in his office and can play it well. He was a college cheerleader at Ole Miss while McCain was at the Naval Academy and fighting a war. Not good or bad on either account, just different personalities and experiences.
I cannot imagine the he is the first and only angry senator to say those words to another. Furthermore, I doubt if he was the only senator to say it on that day! McCain is a third generation sailor, so where’s the surprise that he has a potty mouth? At least he isn’t doodling with the interns or aides. Been there, done that and don’t want to go back.
January 28th, 2008 at 1:46 am
Why am I now stuck with an image of Ann doodling with the interns or aides?
January 28th, 2008 at 4:33 am
Ann must be the twin of Bettina Nava – an unpaid staffer for McCain. Anyone who is that blindly supportive of our Senor Senator is not willing to look at the facts.
Wikepedia uses these adjectives to describe him:
quick temper
aggressive
fiery
contentious
rebellious
lackluster naval academy record
unconcerned with naval regulations
political maverick
Keating Five
poor judgment
has “unbounded respect and admiration” for John Kerry
grandstanding
lead sponsor of gun-control legislation
rebelliousness
compromised his principles for pollitical gain
an impatient man
loses allies by telling off other Senators
the most difficult Senator on Capitol Hill
second “hottest temper” in the Senate
irremedial wiseass
Not the type of personality we need as the most powerful person in the world – It would bring a whole new meaning to the term “Ugly American.”
January 28th, 2008 at 4:59 am
PS: This morning at 4:55 am – Joe Scarborough, “John McCain saying some bizarre things.”
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
January 28th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Oh John!
I meant Clinton et al!
Ben,
Wikipedia? Honestly. Did you go in and edit it, which is of course absolutely the way that site is compiled. Any one with half a wit can put whatever they want on that site. And anything taken out of context with some of the surrounding words taken away can make apoint. Here are some examples, taken out of context, from Wikipedia:
*Romney supported raising various fees, increased the state gasoline tax.
*The combined state and local tax burden in Massachusetts increased during Romney’s governorship.
*Romney signed the law which requires nearly all Massachusetts residents to buy health insurance coverage or else face a substantial penalty in the form of an additional income tax assessment.
*Romney backed a state constitutional amendment in February 2004 that would allow civil unions. In May 2004 Romney instructed town clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
*Romney was filmed participating in a Pro-Choice Planned Parenthood fund raiser in 1994 in conjunction with a family contribution, and has made many pro-choice comments in the past.
*Romney has been a strong supporter of gun control legislation and enforcement
*Romney’s lawn care company had illegal aliens working at his private residence for nearly a decade and Romney had them fired after the fact was revealed during his current campaign for President.
I do not dislike Romney nor do I have any need or desire to discredit him. He is a fine man and is due respect and admiration. In its entirety, it is very flattering. But if someone wants to make a point, it could be done.
Hey guys, I do not want a President Clinton or Obama. I do not want to ever see the destruction our country faced on 9-11 be waged in a shopping mall or elementary school. I do not want to pay $5 a gallon for gas and I do not want my children to accept the cost of years of free spending while tax cuts pacify the unrest.
At this point I am more worried about the A-Bomb than the F-Bomb. I am more concerned about spending AND tax cuts rather than pacification and semantical appeasement. I want someone who knows what is what and where the bodies are buried. The learning curve is steep for this job, we saw what happened when a well-meaning Governor was thrust into an untested position and leaned heavily on advisers.
Sure I wish I could still be a Fredhead, but in looking at the choices, McCain is the one.
January 28th, 2008 at 9:22 am
I was waiting for someone to start posting Romney’s record and I am rather shocked that McCain or Rudy hasn’t started bringing it up. Its not that hard to find if you look at government records in Massachusetts.
Well done, Ann.
January 28th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Geez, was it the rain tht made you all cranky? Good post Ann. I would love to see McCain choose Thompson as his running mate.
January 28th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
If you don’ think that the new Kennedy-Obama coalition will bring up every possible thing to make Romney look like a John Kerry replica, think again.
January 28th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Ann,
You make me glad Fred dropped out of the race. I cannot imagine how I could explain that we were supporting the same candidate.
I just love how you consistently try to denigrate ANY source of information that does not agree with you. You would probably find some way to infer that the Congressional Record was wrong if it disagreed with your position.
Welcome to McCain’s Double Talk Express – all that is said there comes from Old Forked Tongue.
January 28th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Oh Ben, surely my support for Fred should offer some idea that my views are mine and mine alone.
Please enlighten me to what it is that I denigrated. Surely you do not mean Wikipedia? Why, because I too can cut and paste?
Will someone please tell me who Bettina is? Twice Ben has referenced her and I have no idea who he is talking about.
Out of pure respect and no hidden agenda I offer this to you. I was a true believer in Fred and would have gone the distance. His commitment to Federalism, his ability and willingness to call it as it is, and his well-thought conservative approach to the many, many issues we must deal with or face a certain ugliness that none of us cares to meet.
When I had to move on I did so with careful thought and consideration. I spoke to folks with an insight from experience and knowledge from other states, from within our state, and from other candidate teams. I sincerely evaluated each one and the ability to do more than have a great campaign. I looked at what we will face home and abroad, the issues that will make or break our country.
I chose McCain.
January 29th, 2008 at 7:24 am
ANN,
I hope that you know Spanish fluently if J-Mac is elected because you will need it. If that happens would you like to guess where our country’s foreign policy will go?
I am concerned about our influence around the world and that we have a strong military – my God, my son is a Bomb Disposal Tech deployed over there as we speak. I have always believed in peace through strength.
But, even more importantly, every strong nation in history has failed internally, not as a result of its military strength. If you won’t learn from history, you are damned to repeat it.
John McCain’s policies on the First Amendment, the Second Amendment, the Sovereignty of our country, the RUle of Law, Keating Five, Gang of Fourteen, ANWR, etc. etc. etc. are exactly what will lead to what we fear the most.
January 29th, 2008 at 8:48 am
I will respect your personal privilege and acceptance of responsibility to think and reason according to your own conscience. That is all I ask of others.