He did call for a compromise on wiretapping, as I recall, which pissed a lot of Dems off. No cite, as I’m at work with no time to look it up, but someone else may be able to provide it easily.
Sure except he provably is not that guy any more. Ernie Banks (to extend the metaphor) was great in his day but I do not think anyone wants him in their lineup now.
In the last 8 years McCain has sided with Bush 90% of the time. 100% of the time in the last year and 95% (if I remember what I read) the year before. Bush was positively awful to McCain in the primaries running up to the 2000 election and now McCain is embracing not only Bush and his policies but his people as well. McCain has flip-flopped 61 times and most of those are recent issues (post 2000) with him lining up for the party/Bush.
Sorry but just not the same guy willing to buck his party anymore. Not even close.
You’re welcome. I’d recommend investigating his Death Penalty Reform legislation further, and you will discover. . .
Well done. I’ll check it out.
More than a compromise, IMHO. But, then, I’m one of those pissed-off people. Not that it changes my support for Obama in the least, because I’m not so stupid as to think that a politician will never have to compromise.
But ohhh…could Ernie belt them out in his prime. That was a thing of beauty to watch. Banks. Williams. Santo. Beckert. Sob. Sniff.
You mean the immigration bill that he sponsored and is now against? I agree it was reasonable, and in fact this was one of Bush’s better moments. It’s too bad the Republicans killed it, and that McCain now seems to be under their control.
I, too, am one of the people who was royally pissed off about his capitulation on FISA. However, if you can believe it, it’s one of the things that actually impresses me most about him. He proved that he was actually a thoughtful legislator who considered more than just his current ratings appeal when making decisions that will impact this country profoundly. I wish we could have held out, but he made me understand that we were really between a rock and a hard place, and that it was a compromise that needed to be made at that time.
Eh…count me as another royally pissed off person over FISA. I’d be curious to see what you read that brought you to understand Obama had no choice and did the best that could be done under the circumstances. As noted I grant that politicians must be able to compromise but this one to me went down under “principled stand” in my head and I was very disappointed at his ultimate capitulation.
He’s still miles ahead of McCain in my view so he did not lose my vote over this which I suspected was his analysis…those people likely to be pissed over FISA are solidly in his court anyway and he could afford it. Smart politics perhaps but doesn’t mean I like it.
Sorry for the hijack…just curious.
Idaho,
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Universal healthcare is not the same as single payor. Are you against having everyone in this country having some form of health insurance including those forms currently available?
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As has been pointed out, today’s McCain is a far cry from the old image we had of him. And how much of that image was reality is an open question. I do think that he was, once upon a time, willing to take on some part flak as it played well to his local needs. But now he is willing to completely pander to the hardest of the hardcore. On the backbone test he has had now several innings of strike-outs. I’ll take Obama’s solid run of singles and doubles.
- Of course I’m not against everyone having some form of health insurance. I’m very, very for it. For example, I would like to buy an insurance policy that
- Protects me and my wife from catastrophic illness. Probably cancer, since we have some family history of that
- Protects our children from catastrophic illness.
And that’s about it. We don’t need maternity care, dental care, mental health care, drug coverage, and a billion other things. If I were picking a menu I would click ‘Deselect’ on those items.
I am willing to pay a very low premium for a very high deductible. And I guarantee that there are insurance companies that could cook up a policy for me in about 30 seconds using existing data.
Problem is, I can’t purchase it. A thicket of local and national regulation prevents it. That’s only one, tiny example of the type of reform I want to see in healthcare.
- I’ve heard the arguments. I see the noise in the signal-to-noise ratio myself. The dude goes off the rails with unflattering frequency. I guess it’s still a judgement call that we both shall make.
And as I mentioned in an earlier post, the ‘reaching-across-the-aisle’ track record was below the line, smaller potatoes, nice-to-have stuff for me. I liked Shayna’s links and I’ll go read up on them. That was some good education for me that came from this thread. But it won’t be enough to move the needle for me.
You know, year 2000 McCain was a decent dude. I’d have probably voted for him. This recent creation isn’t even that old McCain. He’s a shell of his former self and sometimes little slivers of it come out, which is disappointing because you wonder what it have been like if he didn’t sell himself out.
He was a decent dude every time he got caught.
This is where you lose me.
The best you have is a “feeling” that McCain is a stand-up dude and a maverick willing to reach across the aisle and buck his party. This despite an avalanche of evidence to the contrary. Was McCain once that guy? Yeah, to some extent. But he has not been that guy for a long time. This is provable as has been cited here and can be cited more and more if you like.
At the end of the day you will pull the lever for whomever you want for whatever reason you want…who has the best haircut if that is your criteria. You seem a thoughtful sort and honest about your stance though so I guess I am asking for something more than your gut feeling as a basis that McCain should be the guy. Of course you do not owe it to us and of course whatever you post will likely be picked apart but this is GD on the SDMB…it’s what we do here. 
This was one place where Clinton had it over Obama. I understand your position - my daughter is in a very similar one. But healthcare works best as a national pool (the bigger the pool, the more the risk is spread.) When you get to be my age you will feel very differently about the coverage you want. You can think of the money you’d pay now under her plan as an investment in your future. Now, she was talking about people being out of the system, but the principle is similar.
Not that you shouldn’t pay less today than I do, being healthier.
I’m curious why you think you are immune from several expensive problems cropping up at once. It happens even to people who live healthily.
Now, if you are rich enough to be able to afford all this care, I withdraw my objection. You are paying list price, not the discounted prices negotiated by insurance companies, and so are subsidizing everyone else. Cool with me.
I am probably at your age. Maybe even past it. At least, it feels that way to me.
Thanks for the feedback. Here’s a short, borderline-flippant summary of what I think has transpired.
Me: I want smaller government, lower taxes, and free markets. McCain has some evidence of actually delivering that in his past. And that’s already more than 99% of any Congressman in history.
The Board: Maybe. But that was in the past. He won’t do it anymore. He’s changed. Obama is smart and decent. If smaller government, lower taxes, and free markets are the right answer, he’ll do it.
Me: Maybe. I don’t see any evidence of it. In fact, I see a lot of talk by Obama to the contrary that frightens me. At least there is some evidence that McCain has actually done it.
The Board: Don’t worry. If it’s the right answer, Obama will do it. And you shouldn’t trust McCain to do it anyway. He’s become a lapdog of the Republican Party. In summary, vote for Obama.
Sorry, still not enough. But I enjoyed the debate.
Still going with the cantankerous ex-divorcee and the chick with the shotgun. At least for now.
Cite?
Currently that does not seem to be the case:
So Bush is a train wreck. We all know this.
Now here is your guy who will bring your wished for government. Mind you this your guy talking about himself and how he sees it. Add in McCain’s record of voting with Bush 90% of the time as an actual record. Sorry but still not seeing where your faith comes from.
As for Obama granted he does not have the same tenure in office as McCain does to be able to pick over his record. But we do have evidence of who Obama is as has been cited up-thread and in other places.
Of the two Obama is clearly the more intelligent. That is not a partisan swipe but an obvious truth. IIRC McCain graduated in the bottom 5 (not 5%…5) from the Naval Academy. Obama was the first African-American editor of the Harvard Law Review. His intellectual curiosity is apparent as is McCain’s lack of it (e.g. McCain admits he cannot even send an e-mail and has mentioned he just is not up on economics…a rather glaring gap in a Presidential candidate and we’ve seen what a disaster that lack amounts to in Bush).
Additionally we noted up-thread the differences between who Obama picks as his advisors compared to McCain. That says a lot about how we think they might form their cabinet if they gain office and the difference is stark.
Further, you seem to imply that democratic policies are opposed to good governance (smaller government, free markets, lower taxes). However, as I detailed in another thread history does not bear out that democrats are worse than republicans when it comes to the health of the economy. Indeed the reverse is true and unless you are Warren Buffet or the head of Halliburton the vast majority of Americans prosper noticeably better under Democrats than Republicans. Again the difference is rather stark and even for the very well off they do better too.
So standing the two men together I am finding it difficult to see any way to choose McCain over Obama unless you are a far right social conservative.