Think Progress

Straight Talking McCain Takes Both Sides of Gay Marriage Amendment Debate

In 2004, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said he opposed a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage:

Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona broke forcefully with President Bush and the Senate GOP leadership Tuesday evening over the issue of same-sex marriage, taking to the Senate floor to call a constitutional amendment that would effectively ban the practice unnecessary — and un-Republican. “The constitutional amendment we’re debating today strikes me as antithetical in every way to the core philosophy of Republicans,” McCain said.

But yesterday, ABC reported that McCain confided to Jerry Falwell that he would support such an amendment:

McCain “reconfirmed” to Falwell that he would support a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman if a federal court were to strike down state constitutional bans on gay marriage.

Since aligning himself with Falwell and far right conservatives, gay marriage isn’t the only issue on which the “straight talk express” has backtracked. In 2000, McCain called Falwell one of America’s “agents of intolerance;” now he has agreed to give the commencement address at Falwell’s Liberty University on May 13.

UPDATE: Carpetbagger has more.



64 Responses to “Straight Talking McCain Takes Both Sides of Gay Marriage Amendment Debate”

  1. Ryan Neat says:

    “McCain Takes Both Sides of Gay Marriage Amendment Debate ”

    So does that make him bi-cameral? ;)


  2. Krazny says:

    McCain is going down faster then a $2.00 dollar hooker when the fleet pulls in.


  3. Gary Kleppe says:

    I support gay marriage rights, but I’d make an exception for the two in the picture. Ugh.


  4. Bill says:

    Where is the earlier post about the Democrats’ national security strategy, and the lack of any cohesive plan on Iraq? Are the beltway Dems twisting the screws on CAP, or what is going on here?


  5. lost soul says:

    Isn’t that “flip, flopping”?


  6. wisedup says:

    you beat me to it Gary Kleppe..1st admendment, ‘except when kissing a bush’.


  7. bushllit says:

    #5, i would classify it as rolling over!


  8. Jules says:

    #4 – I am still waiting for a republican strategy – after all they are the ones that got us here. And stay the course IS NOT a strategy!!


  9. Preznit Pinhead says:

    Why do people keep electing these troglodytes?

    Wish I could post my picture of Bush with his arm around McCain, who’s tarted up like whore.


  10. kindness says:

    Jeez. I’m inclined to say something lewd & baudy involving both McCain & Falwell, but I would hate to cause Judd any more anguish than I already do.

    Let’s just say that Jerry and John are both very hot on each other. Get a room boys!


  11. Zookeeper says:

    Me too, kindness. I just can’t think of a way I could put down what I’m thinking in a less than disgusting manner. Oh well…


  12. Jules says:

    Is it me or do they look like they are about to kiss?


  13. NTodd says:

    But he reallyreallyreallyreallyreally wants to be preznit…


  14. Lee says:

    Once upon a time, I supported McCain…but no longer. His straight talk was all fairy tale.


  15. bushllit says:

    i see once again the nation’s most important issues will be on the front burner….there is no way to defeat these anti-american greed whores if we keep playing by their rules – the country is better than this and needs some one to stand up for them – NO GREED WHORES in 06 or 0 fucking 8


  16. bobcat_grad says:

    Once upon a time, I supported McCain…but no longer. His straight talk was all fairy tale.

    In today’s political world crafted by the Republics, you can’t get elected if you try to be honest.


  17. bushllit says:

    but since the thread is already here i think a caption contest is long over due:

    Though Bush & McCain continue to bang heads, a deep affection began to arise between the two.


  18. bushllit says:

    “Theat blue tie really brings out your eyes”
    “Aww shucks, partner you know how to get me all buttered up. Hehehe”


  19. Blowhard » McCain Flip Flops says:

    [...] I guess they all just eventually cave in and give up any sense of principle.  I had such hopes for McCain.  I supported him for 2000 and thought he got a very raw deal.  I was hoping to support him for 2008 but alas, it seems he is heading to the crossroads in order to get elected. [...]


  20. Joe Sixpack says:

    McCain “reconfirmed” to Falwell that he would support a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

    But was that before or after he knelt and kissed Falwell’s ring?


  21. Silly Little American Boy says:

    McCain is owned and operated by the neocon spies now.
    OWNED
    Soon, they’ll own all of us.
    But I’m not sure how many of us will get the same precious photo opportunities to snuggle with Bush as McCain does.


  22. yankeluh says:

    I don’t think that was what he was kneeling for.


  23. Zookeeper says:

    #20 – Depends on where he’s keeping that ring.


  24. David says:

    More red meat for the base. How dare those sickos think that being an American guarantees them the same rights as all the good Christian, GOP voting, bigots and homophobes. How dare they…


  25. 66Jake77 says:

    VERY clever #17. VERY clever.


  26. bushllit says:

    last one:

    “So, I just grab your soul from here, then you’ll be my puppet….hehehe”


  27. katy says:

    McCain “reconfirmed” to Falwell that he would support…
    “reconfirmed” – he confirmed again? when did he first confirm that support?


  28. SKdeA says:

    It is so weird ow mcCain has become a pod person… maybe he’s doing it on purpose? Win the election and become president, then pull an FDR and turn socialist in his backers?


  29. georgy & johnny says:

    “i wish i could quit you”


  30. the fly-man says:

    Here is a great link just scroll down and read it all .http://www.answers.com/topic/siamese-twin


  31. Joe Sixpack says:

    Amanda ought to be ashamed of herself. Check out the pic of junior and McCain with this post. What the hell are those two guys doing?

    I mean, I don’t want to hear squat about homosexuals from now one from either of those two fags.


  32. Michdem says:

    Does this suprise anyone , McCain allways sits on the fence . he sides with wherever political gain can be made , I’m really suprise though that he didn’t mention he stayed in the Hanoi Hilton , just in case we forgot . I don’t have a caption for the pic but it does look like the Brokeback Mountain poster minus the cowboy hats .


  33. Glenn Becker says:

    “NO GREED WHORES in 06 or 0 fucking 8″

    Oh, man … this is a vision I’ll undersign! But is it possible any more? Isn’t GREED HO’IN’ what politics is all about, any more?


  34. DS says:

    Caption:

    “Doctors were optimistic that at least one of the two would survive the separation surgery.”


  35. AvengingAngel says:

    McCain is following his “have it both ways” formula that proved so successful in the aftermath of the draconian South Dakota aboirtion restrictions. For the details, see:
    “The Prostitution of John McCain.”


  36. Snappy says:

    McCain is so lame and has no backbone. He’s beneath content. Can you just retire? You’ll never be president. Just give it up already.


  37. capainter45 says:

    I’m not interested in being soft on any Republican until I get my government back on the road to REALITY. I see that photo and think; what the hell kind of moment are they sharing? From the color if Bush’s hair, it would seem that this sweetheart pose of Bush and McClain had to have been taken a few years back. I do think when old photos are used that the date should be posted below it. There still a lot of stink that cannot be denied with that kind of embrace. But the date or some notation as when it was taken may even enhance the remarks it is now accompanying.


  38. katy says:

    i went to images.google.com to try to find a date for that photo -
    lots of george + mccain pics! can’t find that date yet, but looky at this:
    http://www.radicalruss.net/blog/images/mccain-bush.jpg



  39. GURU says:

    McCain is a keating five phoney.He is too old and cancer infested.Just a matter of before right wingnut radio turns on him.foget abad im.


  40. GURU says:

    #40 should read ‘just a matter of time’.Thanks.


  41. katy says:

    another funny…after 10+ pages, i found that pic once, at this site
    with this caption, from 2000:

    Aw, c’mon John, I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.

    The strange ritual dance of the Politicus Candidatus has entered a new, if predictable phase.
    Now the official alpha males of their respective clans, GW Bush and Al Gore, are to be observed clucking, preening and cooing sweetly to John McCain and Bill Bradley, their erstwhile competitors. The ruffled feathers must be recoiffed. It is important to woo the bruised and the disaffected back into the tent for the really big spectacle in November.
    (With apologies for the license taken by use of this AP photo of Bush and McCain. It appears to demonstrate, however, the Politicus in full preening maneuver).

    heh…”politicus candidatus”…


  42. rMatey says:

    Oh, sure pick on McCain. He’s against gays all the way. He only goes Brokback Mountain whenever Bush is around.


  43. Doctor Texas says:

    Sell out bitch! HELLO, can anyone say flip flop? How about Swift Boating his ass and coming up with someone who swears he sold out his fellow inmates at the Hanoi Hilton? Any takers?


  44. Tim O. says:

    Straight Talkin out of both sides of his mouth!



  45. Cyra Brown says:

    IF this idiotic idea SOMEHOW managed to be passed, and be signed into law, kiss the “church wedding” goodbye. The separation of Church and State would make “civil” weddings the rule. People could still have a “ceremony” in the church, but it would have no legal validity. Right now, people can be legally married in many different venues. But they can only go to a court of law to obtain a divorce. The reality is, “God” dosen’t “marry” you, the State does. Gawd, why don’t the “scaredy-cats” just “trademark” the term “marriage” and get it over with? It would be just as rational. Onion Heads.


  46. GURU says:

    No one is going to vote for ‘Keating five’ McCain after all this.


  47. Jay Randal says:

    Any guy who kisses Bush is Gay or Bisexual, so that means McCain has been outed now, and Lieberman has been outed too > lol.


  48. Tundra says:

    Lets be honest here,

    If they said Zell Miller said BLAH, BLAH how many people on the left would care?

    Same goes for McCain on the republican side. Sure he pulled Farwell in for a minute (it won’t last, he is way too extreme).


  49. Cyra Brown says:

    #49- Come on now, Jay! Get crucial here. Honestly, no SELF-RESPECTING Gay man would bring their lips within a mile of GWB!!! Now the Self-Loathing ones are an entirely different matter altogether. But it is insulting to “lump” all gay men together. It is like saying all lesbians wouldn’t mind making out with “Pickles” Bush. Talk about YUCK!!! You don’t need to use Republican tactics. It is beneath you!


  50. ohdave says:

    FLIP FLOPPER!!!!!


  51. progressive and proud says:

    They are always snuggling. Yuck!


  52. Jay Randal says:

    Post 49 lol I never inferred that openly Gay men would have anything to do with a closet queen like President Dubya! Yes the self-loathing guys like McCain and Lieberman only! Any self-respectfull male would NOT kiss Bush > PERIOD.


  53. Robert Olive says:

    And here we thought this guy was principled. Not when getting elected is on the line. Readers on this site may label it flip flopping, but will the pundits? Not likely. Someone needs to start keeping a list anway – this isn’t his first by any means. Not that it matters, it didn’t with Bush when page after page of his “partly truth, partly fiction, he’s a walking contradiction” episodes were spread across the web, but at least it is entertaining viewing.


  54. Solitaire says:

    I guess it all depends on what the definition of ‘is’ is.
    If the situation is calling for supporting equal rights, he’s all for equal rights. But when the situation changes five minutes and ten feet down the road, then he’s anti-equal rights. He flips more than a pancake, depending on which side he wants to butter.
    For me, that picture of the oh-so-sweet hug after Bush slandered McCain’s entire family says it all. He’s Golum. He’s hugging his ‘Precious’ and his eyes are closed in ecstacy.
    My eyes, however, are never going close again when it comes to McCain.


  55. Glenn Becker says:

    #36, Snappy, “McCain is so lame and has no backbone. He’s beneath content. ”

    I know this is a “Freudian slip,” but it’s a GREAT Freudian slip.

    ALL REPUBLICANs seem to be pretty much beneath content. :^)


  56. Progressive Lyceum » Feet of clay says:

    [...] and ABC news reports (via thinkprogress) McCain “reconfirmed” to Falwell that he would support a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman if a federal court were to strike down state constitutional bans on gay marriage. [...]


  57. appletree » Blog Archive » McCain Aide Thrashes New School Graduate Jean Rohe says:

    [...] By the time he got to Liberty University, his position was more in line with that of his audience: McCain “reconfirmed” to Falwell that he would support a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. [...]


  58. Mccs1977 - » Take your pick. says:

    [...] Straight Talkin’ McCain Takes Both Sides of Gay Marriage Amendment Debate [...]


  59. Rob Lowar says:

    McCain , do not waste UR time


  60. Rob Lowar says:

  61. Dear Kitty. Some blog :: USA: Senator McCain, a danger to himself, the USA, and the world :: January :: 2007 says:

    [...] on “Straight Talkin’” John McCain’s whack-a-mole positions regarding Iraq, gay marriage, and the Christian Right as the champagne smash across the bow of a new website, [...]


  62. Big Country House » Blog Archive » McCain, the Hack says:

    [...] put in a damage-control call to his pal Jerry Falwell to assure him that he was sticking with his most recent opinion. Until the polls urge him to believe otherwise, that’s what he feels in his heart. (thanks [...]



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