Isn't John McCain a NeoCon?

[FrenchieCat]

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), a leading candidate for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, has been one of the key congressional supporters of the interventionist foreign policies of the George W. Bush administration, including the Iraq War.

McCain's affiliation with the neoconservative political faction reportedly extends to a relationship with Weekly Standard editor William Kristol: "Kristol is predictably modest about his influence on the Arizona senator, although he acknowledges, 'I talked to McCain on the phone and compared notes.'
...when McCain wanted to hire a new legislative aide, his chief of staff, Mark Salter—himself a former aide to neoconservative Jeane Kirkpatrick—consulted with Kristol, who recommended a young protégé named Daniel McKivergan. Marshall Wittmann, one of Kristol's closest friends, became a key adviser during McCain's presidential campaign. Randy Scheunemann, who had drafted the Iraq Liberation Act and was on the board of Kristol's Project for the New American Century (PNAC), became McCain's foreign policy adviser.

One person who has worked closely with Kristol says of Kristol and McCain, 'They are exceptionally, exceptionally close'" (New Republic, October 16, 2006).

McCain, frequently described by the media as a political maverick, speaks and votes as a social conservative, a fiscal conservative, and a war hawk. Yet a minority of his positions, including those on immigration and corporate regulation—as well as his willingness to join with Democratic partners on congressional bills—have gained him a reputation as an independent.
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/3890.html

John McCain, Neocon

The canonization of John McCain has begun. In his Monday New York Times column, William Kristol suggested that McCain isn't simply a candidate for president. He's something more-the next Winston Churchill who can lead the U.S. to victory in the war on terror. According to Kristol, who has long been a close friend of McCain's and quoted him reciting a turgid Victorian poem, he is a "not-so-modern type. One might call him a neo-Victorian - rigid, self-righteous and moralizing, but (or rather and) manly, courageous and principled." For both Kristol and David Brooks, McCain epitomizes the belief in American national greatness that can replicate the glories of the nineteenth century British empire. In reality, their anachronistic exaltation of warfare as the highest test of manly courage may end up ruining the U.S., much as it did the British empire.
<>
The neocons became close to McCain in the 1990s, when they supported American intervention in the Balkans. According to the New Republic's John Judis, the first sign of neocon influence on McCain came in 1999. McCain delivered a speech at Kansas State University in which he touted "national greatness conservatism,"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-heilbrunn/john-mccain-neocon_b_82530.html

The last neocon

The Iraq Study Group shot down Bush's failed war strategy. Yet John McCain stubbornly supports it -- calling for more troops and promising unattainable victory.
By Joe Conason

At this late date, very few politicians are as eager as the Arizona Republican to echo the calls for escalation in Iraq now heard from neocon opinion leaders in the Weekly Standard, the Wall Street Journal, the National Review and the New York Post, whose front page caricatured James Baker and Lee Hamilton as "surrender monkeys" on the morning after they released the ISG's findings. Among his Capitol Hill colleagues, McCain was almost alone in joining the right-wing attack on the bipartisan Baker-Hamilton Commission, whose report dismissed demands for additional combat brigades as unrealistic. He was enraged by the report's emphasis on political negotiations and on the excessive costs of the military effort.
<>
According to McCain, there is no alternative to winning except losing, and losing would create an existential threat to the United States. "The consequences of failure are so severe that I will exhaust every possibility to try to fix this situation," he recently told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week." "Because it's not the end when American troops leave. The battleground shifts, and we'll be fighting them again. You read Zarqawi, and you read bin Laden ... It's not just Iraq that they're interested in. It's the region, and then us." He doesn't seem to understand that the late Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's "al-Qaida in Iraq" organization is only a small part of the Iraqi insurgency, most of which is devoted solely to expelling the U.S. occupation.http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2006/12/08/iraq_mccain/

[FrenchieCat]

1. I just wanted to make sure everyone was informed of this important fact.....

In particular, those weighing whether they will ponder voting for McCain over Barack Obama.....

We wouldn't want folks becoming NeoCons without realizing it. Bad enough the Supreme Court.

[Double T]

4. Definitely is a NEOCON.

I find it interesting that SOME Democrats would be willing to vote for george w. mccain OVER BO; obama generating this level of aversion from MANY in his own political party certainly makes BO unelectable and a sure win for the rethug party. WHY would Democrats once again nominate such a weak and divisive candidate?

[Forkboy]

2. He most definitely is.

And we need to keep reminding people of that until November, online and off.

:kick:

[FrenchieCat]

3. Yep.

I would hate for any above and beyond Joe Lieberman to find themselves at a NeoCon house Party supporting John McCain. That would be something, hey? Think they'd scratch their ass and try to figure out how that happened?

[FrenchieCat]

5. Odd how McCain Threads are "let it sink" so easily......

More interesting reading.....

John McCain and the Neocon Resurgence
http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/4050

Unholy trinity

US elections 2008: John McCain's neoconservative foreign policy has won him the unlikely support of the religious right
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/lee_marsden/2008/04/unholy_trinity.html

[LaurenG]

7. 5th rec, no sinkage! nt

[LaurenG]

6. Frenchie, you gave me the giggles

We wouldn't want folks becoming NeoCons without realizing it. <----- No we wouldn't want that. Never let your friends become neocons!

[cyclezealot]

8. All the major neocons long ago, have lined up behind McCain.

You can judge us by our friends. What is there to doubt. Only candidate the neocons might have liked more than McCain would have been Rudy.

[Perry Logan]

9. Neocons don't much like McCain. He's playing ball with them, but he's not really one of them.

[FrenchieCat]

10. Really? OK.........

Make that case.


Thanks.

[Perry Logan]

11. I would cite the smear campaign they leveled against him in 2000. That's not love.

[FrenchieCat]

13. Well McCain has been kissing plenty ass since then......

[Perry Logan]

14. True. There's no doubt he's trying to accommodate them.

I've just heard a lot of wingers complaining about his lack of conservative credentials. He'll do his best to turn into one, I'm sure.

[FrenchieCat]

37. Odd of you. Are you justifying those who might want to vote for McCain?

He is a neocon, no matter when and why.

[Forkboy]

12. He was ranked the 8th most conservative senator this last session, and 2nd most the session before.

and 4th most before that.

http://voteview.com/sen110.htm

The studies, by political science professors Keith Poole and Jeff Lewis, ranked McCain the Senate's eighth-most conservative member during the 110th Congress, the second-most conservative senator during the 109th Congress, and the fourth-most conservative senator in the 108th Congress. The studies were based on the Poole-Rosenthal ratings system, developed by Poole and political science professor Howard Rosenthal and known as NOMINATE, which has become widely used among political scientists. The system uses every non-unanimous vote cast by every legislator to determine his or her relative ideology.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200803250006

The McCain "Maverick Myth"

But is John McCain really a maverick? A look beyond the media's repetition of the word at McCain's actual record suggests that the answer is no. In fact, McCain is a reliable conservative, and if not a perfectly loyal Republican, at least a reasonably loyal one.

According to Congressional Quarterly's party unity scores, which track how often members of Congress side with their party on key votes, over the course of his career McCain has voted with his party 84 percent of the time—not the highest score in the Senate but hardly evidence of a great deal of independence. Similarly, the American Conservative Union gives McCain a lifetime rating of 82.3, making him a solid friend of the right's. And according to the widely respected Poole-Rosenthal rankings, McCain was the eighth-most conservative senator in the 110th Senate.

http://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2008/02/the-mccain-mave.html

[Fabio]

15. He is most certainly not a neocon

for about 50 different reasons. nonetheless, he is increasingly sympathetic to a world view espoused by neocons like wolfowitz and robert kaplan. I can recommend a few books that give some color to the genesis and evolution of neoconservative thinking. I think the term is too loosely used for its true meaning to be understood. Anyhow, he aint much a realist anymore.

[TwilightGardener]

28. If he agrees with and espouses neocon thinking and worldview, then yes, he is

MOST CERTAINLY a neocon. Remember "rogue state rollback" in 2000?

[wrando]

16. No

he's been this way forever

there's nothing neo about him except all the issues he's flipped on

the most important issue he should flip on is the war and there he's held steady

bill from ct

[RC]

17. John McCain is not a neo-con. He is a shape shifter.

John McCain will be whatever John McCain needs to be at the moment. He is otherwise an empty waste of ego dominated space.

[bluetrain]

18. Obviously, he's OK according to Obama supprorter because Obama's backers Kerry & Kennedy were

for him the last got round. So, in their eyes, ostensibly, there's no difference between Obama and McCain.


Scary,

And just another reason to vote for Clinton, the obvious anti- corporate


It's really silly at this point, we should all know by now that if someone is favored by the tv we all pull for the chick. Obama has lodged the most illogical and dirtiest campaigm in history. The Clintons are not rascists. We all know this.

[Orsino]

19. Of course he is--or might as well be.

He makes the occasional show of independence, but can be depended upon to vote neocon. He has promised to continue the neocon agenda as president. What other requirements need there be?

He's a neocon.

[against all enemies]

20. In "The Assassins Gate", Packer states that McCain was the Neocons choice

in the 2000 elections over George Bush. Plus Lieberman is tied to his side.

McCain is a Neocon.

[Jennifer C]

21. Yes, they preferred McCain in 2000

...The great mystery of George W. Bush’s presidency is why he ever jumped into bed with neoconservatives in the first place. During the presidential primaries in 2000, The Weekly Standard, by then neoconservatism’s pre-eminent publication, had preferred John McCain.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/books/review/Noah-t.html?_r=1&oref=login

[Jennifer C]

22. More

Arguing the GOP

How McCain brought the neocons back to life

Marvin Olasky was right. John McCain's campaign is crawling with Zeus worshipers. George W. Bush's evangelical crony was a bit opaque in his now-infamous article in the February 16 Austin American-Statesman, but he was on to something: Jewish neoconservatives have fallen hard for John McCain. It's not just unabashed swooner William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard. McCain has also won over such leading neocon lights as David Brooks, the entire Podhoretz family, The Wall Street Journal's Dorothy Rabinowitz, and columnist Charles Krauthammer, who declared, in a most un-Semitic flourish, "He suffered for our sins."

The McCain campaign has inadvertently revealed a shocking fact about neoconservatism: it lives. Before the current campaign, most observers assumed that the movement's Jewish intellectual stalwarts had seamlessly assimilated into the post-Reagan conservative establishment, trading the City College debates of the 1930s for 1990s seminars at the American Enterprise Institute. Kristol became conservatism's most prominent TV personality. Even Norman Podhoretz wrote a "eulogy" for his movement, claiming that its triumph in the great ideological disputes of the age had rendered it obsolete.

But, with McCain, neocons have reemerged as a distinct group. They've decided they're not as comfortable in the GOP country club after all. And they've forged a new identity for themselves: anti-establishment "rebels." In the New York Post, Podhoretz has cheered McCain for "upending the old coalition." Kristol has goaded McCain to wage a "battle for the soul of the party." At times Kristol even seems to be reenacting his father Irving's struggles with the Democratic Party of the 1970s, only on the other side of the aisle. And, like his father two decades ago, Kristol is becoming a dissident among his own people. Because of his support for McCain, he has been hammered in the National Review, The Washington Times, and Human Events and badmouthed by Republicans throughout Washington.

http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=23c3a0ff-9d55-4d28-a94e-0b0e09e26505

[HooptieWagon]

23. I don't think he was several years ago

but he seems to be positioning himself as one now.

[sofa king]

24. Lets compare him to the last smart neocon left.

Dick Cheney is the last and most powerful neoconservative in power in this fucked up White House (Bush is too stupid to count). How do McCain and Cheney line up?

McCain at ontheissues.org.

Cheney at ontheissues.org.

Issues on which the two differ are denoted with an asterisk. An exclamation point denotes an egregious error. You should probably check my work, and the existence of that error may suggest there are others I did not spot.

1. Abortion is a woman's right: Both oppose.

2. * Require hiring more women & minorities: McCain favors, Cheney opposes.

3. Same-sex domestic partnership benefits: Both favor.

4. Teacher-led prayer in public schools: Both favor, Cheney strongly.

5. Death Penalty: Both favor, McCain strongly.

6. Mandatory Three Strikes sentencing laws: Both strongly favor.

7. Absolute right to gun ownership: Both favor, McCain strongly.

8. More federal funding for health coverage: Both oppose.

9. Privatize Social Security: Both strongly favor.

10. Parents choose schools via vouchers: Both strongly favor.

11. * Replace coal & oil with alternatives: McCain favors, Cheney (for obvious reasons) strongly opposes.

12. Drug use is immoral: enforce laws against it: Both strongly favor.

13. Allow churches to provide welfare services: Both strongly favor.

14. Make taxes more progressive: Both oppose, Cheney strongly.

15. * Illegal immigrants earn citizenship: McCain favors, Cheney opposes.

16. * Support & expand free trade: McCain strongly favors, Cheney opposes.

17. Expand the armed forces: Both favor.

18. * Stricter limits on political campaign funds: McCain favors, Cheney opposes.

19. The Patriot Act harms civil liberties: Both strongly oppose.

20. ! US out of Iraq: Obviously there is an error here, because Cheney's page claims that the architect of the war strongly favors getting out. We know both they plan to occupy Iraq forever.

____________________

So how do they compare? Noting #20 due to its obvious error, McCain and Cheney agree on all but five out of twenty issues. Of those five issues, two are of strong personal interest to the individuals: Cheney opposes alternative fuels because he and his pals are getting filthy rich off of oil; McCain supports campaign reform because it's a pet issue of his own creation. Reject those two issues, and the two agree on fifteen out of eighteen issues.

The three remaining topics on which they disagree are the following: Hiring women and minorities, citizenship for illegal immigrants, and supporting and expanding free trade. As all Republicans have done once they've attained office, I think we can safely expect McCain to dump his support for all three of these issues once he steals the election, as Cheney did. It's probably worth mentioning that although Cheney paid valuable lip service to same-sex partnership benefits, he did nothing about it in seven years, and we can probably expect McCain to do the same.

Now, it's important to note that in practice neoconservatism relies on supporting domestic wedge issues in order to get into office, then once in, they've effectively ignored those issues or left implementation to incompetent bible-thumpers and crooks. Neoconservatism is a primarily foreign-policy position which postulates the existence of an American empire which is to be managed ruthlessly and never without placing the interests of the United States (and Israel) above all others.

After seven years of dictatorial rule, neoconservatives are thoroughly incorporated deep into the Republican Party, the intelligence community, and the American bureaucracy and they will rely upon their Republican allegiance to stay there even if McCain has some theoretical opposition to certain policies. Will they do what McCain tells them if it differs with their plans? Of course not.

So in the end, it doesn't really matter if McCain is a neoconservative or not. He'll be one by default after inheriting the criminal empire forged by the neoconservatives. Only a candidate willing to clean house from top to bottom will be able to sway American foreign policy away from its current disastrous course.

But I think the above comparison shows that whatever McCain would be if President, he wouldn't be different enough to make a difference.

[FrenchieCat]

33. Sounds like Cheney is more moderate than McCain on most things! LOL!

[Jennicut]

25. He has always been a conservative, in the tradition of Reagan.

I don't know if that makes him a neoconservative. Some things he has very clear differences on, like climate change, cutting spending, and illegal immigration. Or at least he used to. He has contorted himself to fit into their group to get the nomination. Shrub's tax cuts are okay now, torture is okay now. McCain is not so much a maverick anymore, he is jsut an ass kisser. He sold his soul a long time ago. Don't forget, he is was involved in the Keating Five a long time ago. That showed lack of character. I'm not sure what McCain believes in anymore except for war. He likes that.

[TwilightGardener]

27. Neoconservatism is about foreign policy, not domestic issues--

that's why Joe Lieberman is a neocon--very pro-Israel, very aggressive interventionist policies in countries that hold some resource or strategic interest for us (read: oil). It has nothing to do with climate change, abortion, or anything else. So yes, McCain is a neoconservative--one of the MOST neocon of the Senate, actually.

[samsingh]

26. seems to be

[TwilightGardener]

29. People here apparently don't know what a neocon is. Yes, McCain is a neocon.

"Neocon" doesn't mean "ultraconservative" or even "Republican". It's a foreign policy outlook, an attitude, a vision of what America can and SHOULD do with its military power around the world, all in name of "democracy". McCain is a BIG BELIEVER in using military might to grab up resources, impose strategic regional footholds (100 years in Iraq), and to transform other governments and societies into American-friendly (corporate-friendly) places. Has nothing to do with how "conservative" someone is. My Senator, Hagel, is more conservative than McCain, and yet is NOT a Neocon.

[applegrove]

30. Glad this is coming out.

[anonymous171]

31. Know your enemy!

K&R :kick:

[IndianaGreen]

32. McCain was a fine maverick until he entered the alien spaceship

and had his brain replaced with a Bush clone.

He has become another fundie neocon!

[RichardRay]

34. Paleo-con...

He doesn't have the track record to be a neo-con.

[opihimoimoi]

35. I agree, he is a wannabe con....

[Traction311]

42. He's far from a paleo-con

Pat Buchanan is a paleo-con. They are isolationist, against war, hate Isreal and the UN with a passion, and want to end immigration.

[Traction311]

43. He's far from a paleo-con

Pat Buchanan is a paleo-con. They are isolationist, against war, hate Isreal and the UN with a passion, and want to end immigration.

[TragedyandHope]

36. Bob Dole III

John McCain: Bob Dole, The Second Coming

[FrenchieCat]

38. Yes, they remind me of each other quite a bit........

although Dole was a better speaker.

[democracy1st]

39. Definitely a Neocon

and i'm looking forward to this challenge

[FrenchieCat]

40. It is important for folks not to forget who and what he is.

low information voters are dangerous.

[NeedleCast]

41. Not Really

I guess it depends on how you define Neocon. I think of them as the religious right, war-loving 25%'ers who still can't come to grips with the fact that Bush has been a total failure as they struggle to put gas in their F-150's and food on their tables.

If it were a choice between Obama and McCain I'd pick Obama. A choice between Hillary and McCain, I'd pick Hillary. A choice between Bush and McCain, I'd pick McCain. The last one is sort of like asking whether I'd prefer a kick in the crotch or a kick in the face, but there's a difference. I tend to view Bush as a Neocon Republican and McCain as a conservative, and please believe there's a difference. I don't agree with conservatives, but they're a hell of a lot better than religious right, lock-step Republicans who will support the Republican candidate no matter what.

[anonymous171]

44. Neoconservatism is an actual political philosophy.

It doesn't have a lot to do with the Religious Right.