Free Republic

The Obama administration reiterated its support Monday for repealing the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) worked to strip language repealing the ban from the annual defense authorization bill. "The White House opposes any effort to strip 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' from the National Defense Authorization Act," said White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer. The written statement came as gay rights groups working to end the ban and liberal bloggers raised concerns that McCain would succeed in stripping repeal language from the massive defense policy bill. McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services...

With most predicting he will go down in defeat, Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold earned compliments from his former GOP ally, Sen. John McCain, on Monday. The Arizona senator and 2008 GOP presidential nominee has campaigned hard for Republican Senate candidates this cycle while sharply criticizing their Democratic rivals, such as Sens. Barbara Boxer (Calif.) and Patty Murray (Wash.) But McCain saved kind words for Feingold (Wis.), with whom he worked on landmark campaign finance reform legislation eight years ago.

John McCain said Tuesday that tea party supporters are "the messengers" — and the message they're sending at the ballot boxes today is not an "affirmation" of Republicans but rather a rejection of the president. McCain, the GOP's 2008 presidential nominee, who is expected to handily win a fifth Senate term today, said his party must deliver on cutting spending, repealing health care reform and eliminating earmarks if it is to continue its political upswing in 2012. Though tea party activists have drawn much media attention, he said their complaints are the same held by the "majority of Americans." "That...

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Arizona Sen. John McCain is coming to Nevada to stump for Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle. McCain spokesman Brian Rogers confirmed the 2008 GOP presidential nominee will attended a rally for the tea party favorite at a Las Vegas casino on Friday.

"One thing I think we ought to do, other than blocking his agenda and controlling spending, is trying to solve a hard problem like Social Security, and if we show our willingness to work with him on that, I think that would be well-received by the American people," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told WVOC-AM.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. John McCain says he shares Sarah Palin's opinion that Republican congressional candidates could suffer at the polls if they stray from the tea party's anti-spending, anti-tax message. (snip) The Arizona Republican said that when Republicans gained majorities in Congress in 1994, "they betrayed our base, particularly in the area of fiscal responsibility" and were repudiated in the next two elections. McCain said, "What Sarah is saying is, 'We've got to get fiscally responsible Republicans in.' "

National Democrats have asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate whether Arizona Sen. John McCain violated campaign finance laws when his campaign paid to run ads for Republican House candidates in Arizona — charges the McCain campaign said are “baseless.” The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee filed a FEC complaint Tuesday against McCain and his campaign committee, Friends of John McCain, because of recent ads backing Ruth McClung, the GOP nominee in Arizona’s 7th District, and Jesse Kelly, who is running in the 8th District. The complaint also asks the FEC to investigate whether McClung, Kelly and their respective campaign committees...

(snip) ...as McCain again said he supported his former running mate former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin. "I haven't seen anyone since Ronald Reagan that with certain individuals and large groups of individuals who really have this passionate belief and support for her," he said, "It's really a remarkable thing to observe." (snip) "I couldn't be more proud of the campaign she waged," he said. "I couldn't be more proud of her or her performance and her continued performance. So, I think, you begin to think about legacy and I think that Sarah Palin will play a very big role in...

“Dirty, Sexy Politics” author Meghan McCain slammed Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell on ABC's “This Week” on Sunday, calling her candidacy “scary.” "I speak as a 26-year-old woman, and my problem is that, no matter what, Christine O'Donnell is making a mockery of running for public office," McCain told host Christiane Amanpour. "She has no real history, no real success in any kind of business." McCain said that O'Donnell's lack of experience sends the wrong message to her generation that “one day you can just wake and run for Senate, no matter how [much of] a lack of experience...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is always ready to share news from his day with his 1.7 million Twitter followers. Tuesday evening was no exception when he ran across an exotic bird in the southwest Arizona city of Yuma. "Guess what just walked by ... in Yuma?!" he tweeted around 6 p.m. PST (see photo below).

(snip) Yet months earlier, according to Ryan Lizza’s New Yorker piece about the failure of climate-change legislation this year, McCain became "enraged" when a December 2009 article on Time's Web site passed the nickname on to Sen. Lindsay Graham, whom the headline called the NEW GOP MAVERICK IN THE SENATE. Writes Lizza: Graham told colleagues that McCain had called him and yelled at him, incensed that he was stealing the maverick mantle. “After that Graham story came out, McCain completely stopped talking to me,” Jay Newton-Small, the author of the Time piece, said. With that, McCain’s statement to NEWSWEEK in...

An insight into how liberals and conservatives differ not just in politics but also ways of thinking.

Link only, per FR posting rules

NASHUA, N.H. (AP) — If John McCain hadn't made it clear before, he's leaving no doubt that the presidency is a dream gone by. Addressing a veterans rally for a Republican Senate candidate in Nashua on Saturday, the Arizona senator was reminiscing about his presidential campaigns in New Hampshire, where he won the Republican primaries in 2000 and 2008. He told the audience of 200 that "this may surprise you, but I will not be running for president again." He promised, though, that he will do everything in his power to make sure New Hampshire maintains its first-in-the-nation presidential primary...

PHOENIX (AP) — Republican Sen. John McCain framed the porousness of America's borders as both a national security concern and a human rights issue Sunday in the only scheduled general election debate in Arizona's U.S. Senate race. McCain noted politicians in Mexico have been targeted by the cartels that are smuggling drugs into the United States and that hundreds of illegal immigrants die in the desert every year trying to sneak into the country. "The brutality and the human rights abuses are beyond horrendous," McCain said.

U.S. Sen. John McCain launched a 60-second, Spanish-language radio ad Friday, saying he’s working against higher taxes, to help rebuild the economy and protecting Arizona’s military bases. The ad comes as McCain and three challengers vying for his seat — including former Tucson City Councilman Rodney Glassman — face off Sunday in a televised debate, which is expected to be the only one this election cycle. The debate, held in Phoenix, begins at 6 p.m. and will be televised live on KTTU Channel 18 in Tucson. (snip) Here’s the English translation: These are tough times in Arizona. Takes strong men...

A day after a tense exchange between two Arizona political heavyweights, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Thursday formally offered to brief Sen. John McCain on the measures the administration is taking to secure the Southwest border.

Video at link. McQueeg goes back to his old, nasty, open borders habits.

SANTA ANA — Securing the border and comprehensive immigration reform are two different things, said Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) after speaking with sheriffs from border states at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort Wednesday. (snip) McCain spoke at the Southwestern Border Sheriffs’ Coalition. “We are a nation of immigrants unless you’re Native American,” McCain said to a roomful of law enforcement officials. “We are a proud nation of immigrants... but immigration has to take place legally.” (snip) “I think we are safer (since 9/11),” he said. (snip) “If the federal government had secured the border, which is their responsibility, Arizona wouldn’t...

Arizona Senator John McCain was in New Mexico Wednesday night as the guest speaker at the border sheriff’s conference held in Sandoval County. The Southwestern Border Sheriffs’ Coalition annual conference was held at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort. The alliance includes law enforcement from 26 counties along the U.S.-Mexican border, from Texas to California, whose goal is to help combat violence along the border. McCain’s frustration was obvious as he addressed the law enforcement officials, saying the president isn’t making border security a high enough priority. “It’s not appropriate, in my view, for the president to tie securing the border...