McCain: Shifting American Politics to the Left - MSM Loving it!

The only good thing for conservatives about John McCain is that he survived as a POW. Aside from that John McCain is a flip flopping liberal. Now I am not good enough to claim when someone is a hypocrite, but I think John McCain comes pretty close. For instance, he stated he wouldn't get involved in negative politics, yet McCain has been called on the carpet by news outlets and bloggers for his dishonest characterization of Mitt Romney's position on Iraq. Here are a few comments on the subject:

[McCain] said he was quoting Romney as favoring a "timetable" for withdrawal and argued that he was not misquoting Romney, saying, "Clearly, the impression was that he was ready to set a date for withdrawal." But Romney quotes circulated by McCain's campaign didn't show Romney making that exact comment _ nor did aides back up McCain's earlier comment that suggested that Romney "wanted to set a date for withdrawal." See the Huffington Post.

In doing so, [McCain] relies on a statement which cannot fairly be construed as advocating withdrawal. This is the conclusion of virtually everyone who has looked at the issue, except for some of McCain’s supporters. McCain, in short, has smeared Romney. See Paul Mirengoff.

John McCain today flat-out lied about Gov. Romney's position on the troop "surge," etc. This is no surprise. McCain's "straight talk express" has been anything but straight for quite some time now. He has been making false claims about what his position on immigration was just last summer. He has been making false claims about why he opposed Bush's tax cuts. He has been making false claims about Romney's stance on "torture." He has made misleading (not exactly false, but certainly misleading) representations about Giuliani's position on the line item veto. He has misrepresented his helpfulness on judicial nominations. And I know I am forgetting some of the other things he has not been exactly straight about. See Quin Hillyer.

Since McCain and his surrogates insist on making this a big issue, let's engage them. They are dissembling about what Romney said. I have provided quotes below. We have now heard from Woolsey, who is repeating the disinformation. And we have now viewed the video-tape, which clears Romney of the allegation, i.e., he did not call for a specific time to withdraw our troops. Now, if this is the big bombshell the McCain campaign is using in the days before the Florida vote (albeit people are casting votes throughout via absentee ballots), it's pretty disgraceful stuff. See Mark Levin.

Yeah, pretty egregious [of McCain]. [Romney] never said he “wanted” to withdraw or that he wanted a date set, and it’s patently clear he doesn’t want any timetables publicly announced. See Allahpundit.

It’s a reminder — like the McCain campaign’s dishonest line of attack this weekend — that as admirable McCain is as both a hero and a politician, he is not irreproachable even on national-security issues. McCain is fond of saying he’d rather lose a political campaign than a war; he now seems to be swimming close to using the war to win a political campaign in the most dishonest of ways. It’s conduct unbecoming a man we all respect. See Kathryn Jean Lopez.

Then he was asked to justify his contention that Romney once supported a withdrawal timetable for Iraq. (I wrote this morning that McCain "stretched" history with the remark, and a few moments before this particular question received a stern talking to by two McCain aides and one reporter.) See Marc Ambinder.

This is a fundamentally dishonest attack. One of the reasons why some Republicans who have opposed McCain over issues like the BCRA and immigration have tried to keep a civil tongue in discussing McCain is because of the respect he has earned as a stalwart on the war. He deserves that respect; he has been an indispensable voice for the effort and has the right to hold himself up as that. However, he should be showing that respect to others who have supported the war and the troops. See Ed Morrissey.

McCain’s unfair stab at Romney this weekend may not cost him anything. The endorsement from Florida’s popular governor, Charles Crist, came at just the right time to bury the item in the local news. And if he does win the nomination, this moment may not even be remembered. Unfortunately, the truth is always too complicated for a quick explanation. See David Freddoso.

McCain is Political Speak:
In the brief economic part of his presentation, McCain is insistent, absolutely insistent, that the Bush tax cuts he voted against, and would still vote against today, be made permanent. It’s hard to imagine how he can say the word “permanent” much more in the course of a couple of sentences: “But I think, my friends, that’s what we should do, I think it’s very important, to keep the tax cuts permanent, make the tax cuts permanent. If we don’t do that, every family and business in America is going to see an increase in their taxes in 2010. So we need to keep the tax cuts permanent.” See article by Rich Lowry.

Doesn't anyone else see what is happening? McCain is a darling of the liberal media (as are all the democratic candidates). If McCain can get elected with the help of the main stream media then the only two candidates available are a liberal democrat and a liberal republican. This dynamic would shift the entire United States of America to the left away from conservatism. Maybe Huckabee is doing to Romney, what Huckabee accused Thompson of doing to Huckabee.

Again, I am shocked at how the other Republican candidates have ganged up against Romney. You've got to see this video.

Update: I stumbled across this article by Vic Lundquist who analyzes the Florida results and discusses religious bigotry in America.