Not one week ago, John W. McSame got a bit defensive when addressing charges that he is running for Bush’s third term:
“You will hear from my opponent’s campaign in every speech, every interview, every press release that I’m running for President Bush’s third term,” McCain said. “You will hear every policy of the president described as the Bush-McCain policy. Why does Senator Obama believe it’s so important to repeat that idea over and over again? Because he knows it’s very difficult to get Americans to believe something they know is false.”
False, eh?
Care to explain just how that is false, and in what particular area or issue or topic or vote or policy that would be, Senator? Because frankly, I’ve been doing quite a bit of writing and reading about what you stand for and what your positions are and how you vote and who you associate yourself with and what you believe in and I’ll be damned if I can see any real difference.
Anywhere.
It wouldn’t be your voting record, which was 100% with Bush in 2008, and 95% in 2007 (not to mention an average of over 90% in just about every year since 2001 with one exception.). And it wouldn’t be your role in the notorious “Gang of 14” to ensure that Bush’s odious judicial appointments got through (not to mention the fact that SCOTUS judges like Alito, Roberts and Scalia would be precisely who you would appoint).
It wouldn’t be in the area of leveling with the American public, as evidenced by Bush-like double talk on Hurricane Katrina (and just remember what you were doing and who you were with the day that Katrina hit) or on health care (more on that below).
It wouldn’t be on the domestic front either – since the very same tax cuts that you said you were against are the very tax cuts you voted to extend and have proposed yourself. And it wouldn’t be on social security privatization where your positions are pretty consistent with each other. Nor would it be in the area of health care, where experts in the industry say it falls far short of covering people who need it and need it now. Couple this with your support of Bush’s SCHIP veto or your rating as the worst Senator for children’s issues.
Or more-of-the-same foreign policy, where your top foreign policy advisor is a major neoconservative and your agreement with Bush on Iran (whether it be echoing talking points, threatening to bomb bomb bomb them or falsely linking Iran to al Qaeda). Iraq is no different as there is no plan to do anything – not just not do anything different, but not do anything. Anything, that is, except for wishing that things will be all rosy and just plain not knowing what the hell is going on there (or willfully ignoring what is going on there).
And on the economy, where other republicans proudly crow about how the economic policies will be a third Bush term and how “that’s a good thing”, or how bailing out Bear Stearns is more important than helping taxpayers.
Of course, we can ask what Bush thinks of this? It is a good thing that he is on record here:
Mark Halperin: The President behind the scenes has told people for months that he thought McCain would be the nominee. Even during some of those dark periods he still thought he could win. And also that McCain would be the best to carry forth his agenda. I’ve got news for you before the president starts, Karl Rove, a friend of Fox, Fox Contributor, yesterday delivered a check for $2,300 to John McCain.”
Maybe you are right – just by saying something over and over, doesn’t make it more true. And by saying something over and over because it is very difficult to get Americans to believe something they know to be false.
Like you not being as close to a third Bush term as anyone could possibly get.