Monday, April 10, 2006
Liberals Turn on McCain
Liberals who have championed John McCain as a "maverick” Republican are turning against the Arizona Senator as he positions himself more in the conservative mainstream.
McCain – a likely presidential candidate in 2008 – has recently reached out to mend fences with Jerry Falwell, whom he called an "agent of intolerance” six years ago. He has also supported President Bush on most issues and voted in favor of making permanent the tax cuts he once opposed, the Washington Post reports.
That has led New York Times columnist Paul Krugman to write: "It's time for some straight talk about John McCain. He isn't a moderate. He's much less of a maverick than you'd think. And he isn't the straight talker he claims to be."
Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne wrote: "If McCain spends the next two years obviously positioning himself to win Republican primary votes, he will start to look like just another politician. Once lost, a maverick's image is hard to earn back."
Mark Schmitt of The American Prospect has written that people should "have no illusions: McCain is a very conservative Republican who has now embarked on the project of reaffirming his position as the rightful heir to Barry Goldwater's politics as well as his Senate seat."
Blogger Arianna Huffington says she "loved" McCain but now writes: "Watching a true American hero hang a For Sale sign on his principles is a profoundly sad thing."
And on "Meet the Press," Tim Russert asked McCain: "Are you concerned that people are going to say, 'I see, John McCain tried "Straight Talk Express," it didn't work in 2000, so now in 2008 he's going to become a conventional, typical politician, reaching out to people that he called agents of intolerance, voting for tax cuts he opposed, to make himself more appealing to the hard-core Republican base'?"
What’s behind the liberal media’s shift?
"In 2000, he was a colorful underdog running against the party establishment's candidate,” Howard Kurtz writes in the Post. "He championed what seemed like a quixotic crusade for campaign finance reform. He was a certified war hero as a former prisoner at the Hanoi Hilton ... And, in the view of the press, he had little chance of winning.
"This time around, McCain is arguably the front-runner for the GOP nomination. If he runs, he could well win the White House, shutting out the Democrats for the third straight election. And that is rallying the pundits of the left.”
Liberals who have championed John McCain as a "maverick” Republican are turning against the Arizona Senator as he positions himself more in the conservative mainstream.
McCain – a likely presidential candidate in 2008 – has recently reached out to mend fences with Jerry Falwell, whom he called an "agent of intolerance” six years ago. He has also supported President Bush on most issues and voted in favor of making permanent the tax cuts he once opposed, the Washington Post reports.
That has led New York Times columnist Paul Krugman to write: "It's time for some straight talk about John McCain. He isn't a moderate. He's much less of a maverick than you'd think. And he isn't the straight talker he claims to be."
Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne wrote: "If McCain spends the next two years obviously positioning himself to win Republican primary votes, he will start to look like just another politician. Once lost, a maverick's image is hard to earn back."
Mark Schmitt of The American Prospect has written that people should "have no illusions: McCain is a very conservative Republican who has now embarked on the project of reaffirming his position as the rightful heir to Barry Goldwater's politics as well as his Senate seat."
Blogger Arianna Huffington says she "loved" McCain but now writes: "Watching a true American hero hang a For Sale sign on his principles is a profoundly sad thing."
And on "Meet the Press," Tim Russert asked McCain: "Are you concerned that people are going to say, 'I see, John McCain tried "Straight Talk Express," it didn't work in 2000, so now in 2008 he's going to become a conventional, typical politician, reaching out to people that he called agents of intolerance, voting for tax cuts he opposed, to make himself more appealing to the hard-core Republican base'?"
What’s behind the liberal media’s shift?
"In 2000, he was a colorful underdog running against the party establishment's candidate,” Howard Kurtz writes in the Post. "He championed what seemed like a quixotic crusade for campaign finance reform. He was a certified war hero as a former prisoner at the Hanoi Hilton ... And, in the view of the press, he had little chance of winning.
"This time around, McCain is arguably the front-runner for the GOP nomination. If he runs, he could well win the White House, shutting out the Democrats for the third straight election. And that is rallying the pundits of the left.”
