Applesauce » Why can’t Republicans tell us how John McCain would be different from George W. Bush?

Why can’t Republicans tell us how John McCain would be different from George W. Bush?

September 5th, 2008 at 09:59am Pat Cunningham

The Republicans are trying their best to wrest the change theme from Barack Obama, but NONE OF THEM can explain how a McCain administration would be different from the Bush administration.

Maybe some of you Applesauce readers can tell us.

Entry Filed under: John McCain, President Bush, Barack Obama

10 Comments Add your own

1. Becca Ketter | September 5th, 2008 at 10:41 am

Have you seen any of the last 10 years reports in the media regarding him? The some Republicans have been wary of him because he distances himself from them and tries to make himself look more moderate. So they see him as being too “left” (remember the torture debate last year?).

If he’s elected, he will be different from Bush. Not a 180, but a gentle shift, in part because examples like this:
1.John McCain Voted Against The 2005 Energy Bill Backed By President Bush That Included Billions In Subsidies For The Energy Industry. “Democratic candidate Barack Obama criticized Republican John McCain on Tuesday for taking a page out of ‘the Cheney playbook’ on energy, overlooking his own support of oil-friendly policies that the unpopular vice president helped to craft. Obama voted for a 2005 energy bill backed by President Bush that included billions in subsidies for oil and natural gas production, a measure for which Vice President Dick Cheney played a major role. McCain opposed the bill, saying at the time that it included billions in unnecessary tax breaks for the oil industry.” (Tom Raum, “Critical Of McClain, Obama Quiet On Own Energy Vote,” The Associated Press, 8/5/08)
2.The Bush Administration Lobbied Against John McCain’s Amendment To Ban Torture And President Bush Promised To Veto The Bill With The Included Amendment. “The issue heated up again in January 2005. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales disclosed during his confirmation hearing that the administration believed that antitorture laws and treaties did not restrict interrogators at overseas prisons because the Constitution does not apply abroad. In response, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, filed an amendment to a Defense Department bill explicitly saying that that the cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of detainees in US custody is illegal regardless of where they are held.
3.John McCain Broke With President Bush On The 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Bill. “McCain has broken with President Bush and many GOP lawmakers on the 2003 Medicare prescription drug benefit bill, stem cell legislation and earmarks.”
4.By Supporting The Shield Law, McCain Is “Breaking Ranks With The Bush Administration.” “Breaking ranks with the Bush administration, Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, Ariz., said he would support a law to protect journalists’ secret relationships with anonymous sources. ‘If the vote were held today, I would vote yes,’ McCain told the audience at the Associated Press’ annual meeting in Arlington, Va.” (Justin Rood, “McCain Lends ‘Narrow’ Support To Shield Law,” ABC News, 4/14/08)

Like he said last night, “You know, I’ve been called a maverick; someone who marches to the beat of his own drum. Sometimes it’s meant as a compliment and sometimes it’s not. What it really means is I understand who I work for. I don’t work for a party. I don’t work for a special interest. I don’t work for myself. I work for you.”
2. Pat Cunningham | September 5th, 2008 at 10:53 am

Well done, Becca.
3. Mike Carroll | September 5th, 2008 at 3:23 pm

Becca-I would echo Pats comment but add that it won’t take McCain 7 years to discover that he has a veto pen.
4. gowader | September 5th, 2008 at 3:59 pm

Answer me this? What make Obama any different than Bush?
5. Pat Cunningham | September 5th, 2008 at 4:31 pm

Brains, for one thing. Also, Obama wouldn’t have started a war in Iraq. Obama wouldn’t have cut taxes for rich folks during a war. Obama wouldn’t have run up record federal deficits. Obama wouldn’t oppose a woman’s right to choose. Obama wouldn’t have proposed privatization of Social Security. Obama wouldn’t have meddled in the Terri Schiavo case. An Obama administration wouldn’t have opposed the over-the-counter sale of emergency contraception. There’s more, but I’ve got other fish to fry right now.
6. Peter Gunn | September 5th, 2008 at 5:07 pm

B.K Desrves an A+ For at least trying to answer the question that Pat posed here.

The problem of course is consistency.

Even a few of the things She mentioned as being “Different from Bush”,
have been either changed or heaped with contingencies and qualifiers.

If not outright changed in position and support.

McCain has flip flopped so much on so many different levels and issues
that it’s hard to tell where he stands TODAY on ANY particular issue.

And in my mind, THAT, is in part due to his attempts to keep the “Maverick”
mystic alive and well.

Even though he may latter have come back and either
voted or supported the complete opposite of what the original “Maverick” would have done in the middle of the night or on a heavy news day.

It’s a magic act, Slight of hand Three Card Monte Act.

Anyone whose walked the boardwalk in the old days is quite familiar
with what we are seeing in John “The Maverick” McCain here.

So no hard feelings towards anyone who would get confused as to what he actually stands for.

I’ve read tons of his speeches and proposals over the years.

But I STILL don’t have a clue to the REAL John McCain, Do You ?

So is he just another Bush ?

I’m afraid not, I think, If possible,
John McCain could be even worse than the man we call BUSH !

Stop the Drama
Vote Obama
7. Jason C | September 5th, 2008 at 7:25 pm

I liked McCain in 2000, but thought he caved too easily to Bush in the primaries. I’d be tempted to consider him this time around if he hadn’t started to attach himself to Bush at the hip and changed his views. But then he started lying about Obama. Then he selected Palin to be his running mate… there ain’t no way in hell I’ll vote for him now. Of course, I was planning to vote for Obama long before McCain’s candidacy was a sure thing.
8. Billybeermonicagar | September 6th, 2008 at 9:53 am

Pat,nice to hear you have a job in Wisconsin on Friday nights
9. Pat Cunningham | September 6th, 2008 at 10:27 am

Actually, Billybeer, Wisconsin is uniquely known for its fish boils, especially in areas with large Scandinavian populations. Fish fries, on the other hand, are more widely common throughout the Midwest and Northeast.
10. Billybeermonicagar | September 6th, 2008 at 11:56 am

Pat, Maybe you would come to our next fish boil. We usually have one in late fall. We thought we knew what were doing until our exchange student from Finland showed us otherwise.