McCain praises public opinion, except when it disagrees with him.
McCain praises public opinion, except when it disagrees with him.
Yesterday, after visiting Katrina-ravaged New Orleans, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) finished his poverty tour by serving as the “guest speaker” at the 25th annual Business Awards and Hall Of Fame banquet. In his speech, McCain offered his belief that “the best companies respect public opinion“:
Tonight’s awards recognize the qualities that make for excellence in business. And though many different types of business are represented here, I suspect the basic qualities are the same. …The best companies respect public opinion, among other reasons because they know their customers have the option of going elsewhere.
McCain has not always held public opinion in such high regard. In April 2007, he criticized public opinion polls, saying that politicians should not seek “the temporary favor of the latest public opinion poll.” If McCain were a business, by his own definition, he would not be amongst the best.
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The best President’s should also respect public opinion, and when their approval ratings fall below 30%, they should resign, or be removed by the board of directors (Congress).
April 25th, 2008 at 12:11 pmMcJowls: I was for public opinion before I was against it.
April 25th, 2008 at 12:20 pmBravo #! RUCerious..Good post as alway’s..
I have a request to TP….We are being over run with thread’s about McCain….There is other new’s going on, how about putting some other thing’s up for comment..And while I am at it, drop the pictures of all these reich winger’s, they all look like rove, cheney, bush any way….Blessings
April 25th, 2008 at 12:24 pmOne cannot sacrifice principles that one does not have! McCain’s policy positions as a Presidential candidate are *all* based on focus groups. He supports wedge issues which are designed to shore up his base. He supports budget busting proposals without any way of paying for them. He gives lip service to important issues like the economy, the war, disaster relief, veterans benefits, and the environment, but never backs it up with action.
April 25th, 2008 at 12:27 pmHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!! Uncle Ho, you beat me to it. ;o)
~ A
April 25th, 2008 at 12:27 pmI agree Witch. TP should do more of a McCain roundup, under a ThinkFast format, combining his radical right positions and contradictions into one daily post with one or two supplemental posts as needed. This TP post is a prime example of preaching to the choir and doesn’t need to be separate, or repeated.
April 25th, 2008 at 12:32 pmMr. McCain, public opinion polls largely disagree with your unabashed support of ’staying the course’ in Iraq.
McCain: So?
April 25th, 2008 at 12:32 pmPeople like John McCain and George W. Bush are in love with the IDEA of being the President of the United States, but they hate the PEOPLE of the United States.
Get it, people? Stop voting for people who HATE YOU.
April 25th, 2008 at 12:32 pmReich wingers only see government as a window to the private sector, Zooey. But I’m sure that’s archived news to you.
April 25th, 2008 at 12:36 pmMcPander Bear has managed the rare accomplishment of learning to talk out of both sides of his mouth, and his a$$, simultaneously. Now, if he could learn to “sign” with each hand? He could express 5, contradictory, thoughts at the same time.
April 25th, 2008 at 12:41 pmSo far, McCain seems eerily unaware he is running for President.
April 25th, 2008 at 12:42 pmMcNumbNuts is eerily unaware . . . period!
April 25th, 2008 at 12:47 pmI can’t believe that I have to defend McCain here, BUT
The very idea of good government is to have elected officials who do not sway with every whim of public mood.
Generally, the public has a very short term outlook while we expect our politicians to be thinking long term. In a best case scenario, they do things like increasing auto emissions standards which may lead to short term auto price increases but long term, will lead to less dependence on foreign oil.
An elected official SHOULD listen to the public to some degree, but elected official should not move with every whim. McCain was right on that one.
Business is slightly different. In business, you are selling a product, so the opinion of the customer should be first.
The two scenarios are very different.
Thank you. Now I will return to my preferred activity of bashing McCain for not understanding sunni v. shiite, for not understanding the military chain of command, and for using language that terms terrorists into holy warriors.
And the countdown to toss insults at me for not claiming that every word uttere by McCain is heresy starts . . . NOW!
April 25th, 2008 at 12:50 pmNo insults here, Skeeter. You make a valid point. However, the Republicriminals have taken the next step; from resisting the whims of those polled, to, denying the WILL of the nation.
Even the President is supposed to represent the people of this country. The President is not a ruler or, strictly speaking, even a leader. We have lost sight of that fact and that may be the biggest problem we face today. I really don’t think we could survive another defiant President.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:10 pmPresident McCain = 4 years of “So?”
April 25th, 2008 at 1:12 pmFor what its worth —
April 25th, 2008 at 1:17 pmUntil this election, although I rarely agreed with anything that McCain said, he was always somebody I had a great deal of respect for. He was one of the few in the GOP (or in politics generally) who seemed to care more about “right” than about “popular.”
McCain’s general views are far from my own, but at least I respected him for thinking for himself.
Something happenend to him in this race though. Instead of being a thoughtful and independent voice in the GOP, he’s turned into just another B-Team shill, politely towing the Bush line. He’s gone from a guy who I rarely agreed with but usually respected into a guy who I rarely agree with and respect only for his military service.
Skeeter1
April 25th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Taking McCain’s excessive pandering and having an opinion to fit every occasion into account, why should we have any faith that he has the best interests of this country at heart?
Like George W. Bush, McCain wants to be president so badly he can taste it — but he will hate being president, and this country will continue to suffer.
I think most people polled would be against that, don’t you?
April 25th, 2008 at 1:17 pmI’m inclined to give McCain a pass here, only because politicians from both parties routinely praise public opinion when it supports their agenda, and routinely trivialize it in favor of “true leadership” when it swings the other way.
Jon Stewart did a hilarious riff on Hillary Clinton’s evolving view about voters on one of his shows earlier this week. It started out with clips of Hillary saying “I trust the voters — let them decide.” Then as Obama won Iowa and other caucus states, she dissed caucuses as “not representative of the true electorate” — then when Obama started winning actual primaries such as South Carolina and Louisiana, she made comments about the long tradition of the “African-American electorate” (as if that somehow discredited the results????). The piece concluded with Hillary passionately arguing for the super-delegates being better able to decide the nominee because they “know the candidates” better than the ordinary people. So I guess she’s only in favor of letting the voters decide if they are deciding to vote for her.
Hillary and McCain are only two examples. It’s done by so many politicians (from both parties) that I hesitate to bash only McCain for it. However, I will say that just because it’s the way politics seems to work doesn’t make it right.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:44 pmBut Hillary was worse than McCain.
Hillary went from up to down. First she said that the voters should decide, then she said they shouldn’t.
McCain said that leaders should not listen to every poll, but business should.
Too bad that McCain doesn’t follow his own advice, and luckily we Sen. Obama is going to beat them both.
A footnote: Before this election, I had a great deal of respect for both McCain and Hillary. I’ve lost most of that respect in this race. McCain is now a guy who I don’t have much respect for (but thank him for his Viet Nam service) who I rarely agree with, and Hillary is a woman who I don’t have much respect for but, on the issues, usually agree with. What a shame. What is it about running for President that turns people into idiots?
April 25th, 2008 at 2:02 pmSkeeter – McCain lost every single ounce of respect I had for him in 2000.
After Bush slimed his family – his wife and child in the vilest fashion, McCain knelt and kissed Bush’s ass.
Since then, he has shown that he is willing to say anything he thinks anyone wants to hear – if it will benefit him and further his quest for power.
McCain is a man with no conscience, no scruples and no morals; a man who is far too dangerous to have the kind of power the presidency would give him. Period.
April 25th, 2008 at 5:21 pmAnnie,
McCain really didn’t start kissing B-Team ass until about 2006.
He voted against the tax cuts, etc. (one of only senators two in the GOP) and otherwise acted as a decent thorn in the side of the B-Team.
There are not many in the GOP that I like and respect (even if I don’t agree with them on much). McCain, Hagel, and even Specter were in the list of people on that side who could be reasonable and thoughtful. Tbey stood up to the extremists in their party. We should give credit where credit is due, even if the credit is for being “not as bad as the rest.”
About 2006 though, McCain started to cave and become just another B-Teamer. He decided that “being President” is more important than “being honorable.”
It is shame because I would look forward to a race between Obama and the 2000 verion of McCain. Those two would have run an interesting campaign. Too bad McCain 2008 is not McCain 2000.
April 25th, 2008 at 5:45 pmMAVERICK-
Definition; doesn’t give a damn about realistic substanciated facts or opinions of others. Only his own opinion counts against all others.
Coming soon, the definition of dictator
April 25th, 2008 at 8:55 pm