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Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) gave his challenger in the 2008 presidential election a stiff review Sunday as President Barack Obama nears completion of his first year in office. "[Obama] said there would be a change in the climate in Washington," McCain said. "There's been a change. It's more partisan. It's more bitterly divided than it's been." (snip) "At least under 'Hillarycare' they tried seriously to negotiate with Republicans," McCain said."There's been -- there has been no effort that I know of that -- serious across-the-table negotiations, such as I have engaged in with Democrats and with other administrations. And that...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John McCain says he understands why Sarah Palin blacked out his name on a McCain campaign visor so she could avoid recognition while on vacation in Hawaii. The Arizona Republican made the comments about his 2008 running mate on "Fox News Sunday."

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) says that Republicans will "probably not" be able to stop the passage of health care this week, but that his party will continue to "win the battle of American public opinion." "We’ll fight the good fight, we will fight until the last vote," he said on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace. "We must look back and say that we did everything we could to prevent this terrible mistake from taking place."

Federal investigators are scrutinizing the records of Scott Rothstein's former employees -- who gave about $2.2 million to political candidates -- for potential campaign finance and other violations. BY JAY WEAVER, AMY SHERMAN, & MARC CAPUTO Lawyer Steven Lippman and his homemaker wife, Marcy, hadn't donated much to politicians before 2006 -- just $500 to former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, the Florida Democrat. But their generosity exploded after Lippman joined Scott Rothstein's law firm in Fort Lauderdale. Over the next four years, the Plantation couple contributed about $247,000 to Gov. Charlie Crist's campaign for the U.S. Senate, the McCain-Palin presidential...

US Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) proposed reinstating the Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act that split commercial and investment banking to rein in Wall Street firms in response to the financial crisis. McCain and Cantwell join other lawmakers in Congress proposing to reinstate the 1933 law, repealed a decade ago by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act that led to a rise in conglomerates including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America active in retail banking, insurance and proprietary trading. Legislation to reinstate the ban was introduced yesterday in the House. Under the Senate legislation, financial firms operating commercial banks and investment...

American Thinker readers are invited to poll their U.S. Senators concerning their reactions to Climategate. Recently, AT contacted the press offices of GOP Senators DeMint, Graham, McConnell, Hutchison, and McCain and posted their statements, or more accurately their absence of statements, on Climategate.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said she cut short her Hawaii vacation because of paparazzi, who photographed her wearing a sun visor with the name of John McCain blacked out. The pictures were circulated widely on the Internet with speculation the redaction was a slight against McCain, but Palin said she meant no disrespect to her former GOP running mate. "In an attempt to 'go incognito,' I Sharpied the logo out on my sun visor so photographers would be less likely to recognize me and bother my kids or other vacationers," Palin said in a statement.

Former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.) was in D.C. Thursday meeting with supporters of a possible primary challenge to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Hayworth, who lost his 5th district seat to Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-Ariz.) in 2006, told CQ-Roll Call he was "taking a very, very serious look" at the race but had made no decision. "We're just doing our due diligence," he said. Hayworth was spotted with House Minority Leader John Boehner Thursday but said it was not a scheduled meeting. "I just bumped into John," he explained. He declined to say with whom he formal meetings during his swing...

Democratic Sen. Al Franken took the unusual step Thursday of shutting down Sen. Joe Lieberman on the Senate floor. Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, currently is the target of liberal wrath over his opposition to a government-run insurance plan in the health care bill. Franken was presiding over the Senate Thursday afternoon as Lieberman spoke about amendments he planned to offer to the bill. Lieberman asked for an additional moment to finish -- a routine request -- but Franken refused to grant the time. "In my capacity as the senator from Minnesota, I object," Franken said. "Really?" said Lieberman. "OK." Lieberman...

J.D. Hayworth yesterday took to the airwaves to pummel Grant Woods for filing a complaint with the FEC against the talk show host and potential Senate candidate. Woods alleged Hayworth is pulling in $540,000 a week in corporate in-kind contributions from KFYI/Clear Channel for using his show as a campaign platform. The response came in true talk show form as Hayworth called Woods an “ambulance chaser” who cashed in on a tobacco settlement lawsuit that was sold as a public health measure. “You’re even lower than some bacterial forms of algae, and that’s saying something,” Hayworth said, before chiding Woods...

Declaring that she “was honored and proud to run with him,” former Alaska governor Sarah Palin pushed back hard Wednesday against a report that she had disrespected Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) by blacking out his name on a sun visor she wore on vacation. The website TMZ accused Palin of “a frontal attack on Sen. John McCain” during a Hawaii vacation this week: “Sarah chose to wear a visor from her campaign -- a visor that was emblazoned with the former presidential candidate's name ... that is, until Palin redacted McCain's name with a black marker.” But Palin said in...

Sarah Palin Goes Rogue, Scribbles Out John McCain's Name on Blue Visor - The Hollywood Gossip

No sooner did Jeff Merkley announce his opposition to Bernanke ahead of tomorrow's reconfirmation farce/hearing, than key Republican Senator John McCain said that he was leaning against voting for the the Chairman. McCain said he would favor either former Fed Chief (and apparently only sane economist in the Administration) Paul Volcker, or ex-Treasury official, and creator of negative implied interest rates, John Taylor. Some more from Dow Jones: McCain joins at least two other Republicans who plan to oppose Bernanke's renomination. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) has also said he opposes Bernanke's renomination.Despite this, Bernanke is widely expected to be...

One need look no further than my home state of Arizona to see the result of limp-wristed, nice-guy politicians who have abandoned conservative principles and how they will fare in the current political climate. Senior Sen. and former presidential candidate John McCain is in a battle for his political life as he faces re-election in November 2010. His anticipated competition, a former congressman turned radio talk-show host, J.D. Hayworth, is a mere two points behind McCain in a head-to-head Rasmussen poll for the upcoming primary. It is a statistical dead heat. So much for the power of incumbency. But why?...

WASHINGTON — Sen. Lindsey Graham on Tuesday praised President Barack Obama for heeding his advice to bypass the naval brig in Charleston, S.C., and transfer terror suspects instead to an Illinois prison from the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said he spoke with Obama recently and reiterated his strong opposition to moving the Guantanamo detainees to the medium-security brig at the Naval Weapons Station in Charleston. "I spoke to the president about Charleston a couple weeks ago," Graham told McClatchy. "He listened intently as I said I thought Charleston is not an appropriate...

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(snip) MCCAIN: Let me say I have great admiration and respect for Senator Durbin... (snip) MCCAIN: Let me give you a couple of points of straight talk. I resent it enormously when Senator Reid comes to the floor and accuses Republicans or compares Republicans to those who fought against the abolition of slavery. He said that. That's -- that's unacceptable. As far as the president's commitments are concerned, he made that commitment to the American people, so he didn't tell the American people the truth when he was campaigning for president. How's that?(snip)

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Vietnam's defence minister, making a rare visit to the United States, met Tuesday with a key US Senator who called ties between the two former war foes "very important." General Phung Quang Thanh met with Democratic Senator Jim Webb, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, and was to meet with Senator John McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee's top Republican. "It is vitally important that the United States engage with Southeast Asia at all levels," Webb, a former Marine who served in the Vietnam war and visited Hanoi in August, said after his...

WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. government must craft a plan next year to get its ballooning debt under control or face possible panic in financial markets, a bipartisan panel of budget experts said in a report on Monday. Though the government should hold off on immediate tax hikes and spending cuts to avoid harming the fragile economic recovery, it will need to make such painful changes by 2012 in order to keep debt at a manageable 60 percent of GDP by 2018, according to the Peterson-Pew Commission on Budget Reform. Without action, investors could lose confidence in the...

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Soundly beaten for the presidency a year ago, an unbowed Sen. John McCain has re-emerged as the happy GOP warrior against President Obama and the Democrats' health care reform agenda. FOXNews.com AP Soundly beaten for the presidency a year ago, an unbowed Sen. John McCain has re-emerged as the happy GOP warrior against President Obama and the Democrats' health care reform agenda. The Arizona Republican was also front and center over the weekend against wasteful Democratic spending on Capitol Hill. "I urge, no I don't urge, I demand the president of the United States veto this bill," he said on...

Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) tells NRO that he is disappointed with how Sen. Joe Lieberman (I., Conn.) has been treated by the Left. “I’m sorry to see how some Democrats and liberals have attacked him in such ferocious fashion,” says McCain. “No one should question Senator Lieberman’s integrity or principles.” McCain’s comments follow Lieberman’s announcement on Sunday that he will not support the Senate’s Obamacare bill in its current form. Since then, Lieberman has been attacked by many liberal bloggers, such as the Washington Post’s Ezra Klein, who writes that Lieberman “seems willing to cause the death of hundreds...

SARAH PALIN'S CERTAIN PATH TO ELECTION IN 2012 The McCain/Palin team were faced with almost every possible impediment to victory.Number one,and perhaps the key factor,was a media hugely,in fact obsessively in the can for Obama.Further,rather than as a corollary simply ignoring the GOP team the media embarked on a campaign of vilification perhaps unprecedented in recent electoral history-to the level in fact that any semblance of balance was destroyed. Secondly,the Republican team were shouldered with the burden of an extremely unpopular President,so unpopular that mechanisms were found to keep both Bush and Cheney from the nominating convention. Thirdly,and perhaps the...

If anyone had any doubts whatsoever that the Republican Party has lost its way and is no longer a true friend to the core conservative values of individual liberty and limited government, those doubts should be put firmly to rest considering the current debate in Washington over the proposal for socialized health care coming out of the far left. It is no wonder that conservatives, people who actually believe in the Constitution, are upset with Republicans who time and again run out to stand before the cameras and at Tea Parties to proudly proclaim how much they understand us and...

After Lying Low in Wake of 2008 Presidential-Election Loss, Arizona Senator Mounts Opposition to Obama's Top Priority. BY NAFTALI BENDAVID & GREG HITT Sen. John McCain kept a relatively low profile for months after he lost the 2008 presidential election to Barack Obama. Those days are over. In the health-care battle, the Arizona Republican has suddenly emerged as the John McCain of old -- a vigorous political combatant. He has publicly hammered Democratic proposals, engaged in heated exchanges on the Senate floor and lent his voice to automated telephone calls pressuring Democratic senators in Arkansas, Colorado and Nebraska on their...

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And it’s also why there was speculation that the post-presidential McCain would return to the Senate and emerge as an Obama ally, the latest turn in his “Country First” narrative going something like this: White House dreams dashed, the grizzled old politician yet again puts service over self, patriotism over party and joins with the new young president to guide America through a crisis. It seems clear, though, that winning another Profile in Courage Award and the approval of elites by following such a course is not what McCain has in mind. Why exactly he has gone from McCain the...

Barack Obama began his presidency with an open hand toward the man he had just defeated in a race that was at times bitter. "There are few Americans who understand this need for common purpose and common effort better than John McCain," said Obama at an inauguration-eve tribute dinner to his former foe. But in the year since that evening of comity and collegiality, McCain has emerged as one of the leading critics of the new president. On foreign policy, his traditional area of expertise, and domestic affairs, where McCain has shown new passion, the 72-year-old Arizonan is making it...

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R) -- two of conservatives' favorite anti-illegal immigration firebrands and potential 2010 candidates for statewide office in Arizona -- have teamed up to raise more than $100,000 as part of a holiday party being held Dec. 5. A recent poll from Rasmussen Reports showed Arpaio leading all comers in the Arizona governor's race, while Hayworth is in a statistical tie with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in a hypothetical primary match-up. Both men have been coy about their intentions but any sort of electoral alliance between the two would strike fear...

McCain to ACORN/SEIU activists for "comprehensive immigration reform" aka amnesty for illegal aliens, Miami-Dade Comm. College, Miami, Fl., on 20 Feb. 2006: "What makes America special is what's in this room tonight." McCain at ACORN/SEIU rally in South Florida, 2006 20 Feb. 2006 coverage from WFOR-TV CBS Channel 4 Miami, Fl.

Phoenix -- Arizona politics has been buzzing in the last couple of weeks since a Rasmussen poll suggested that Republican Sen. John McCain might be vulnerable in a primary fight against a more conservative challenger. The poll, released November 20, showed McCain ahead of potential opponent J.D. Hayworth, the radio host and former congressman, by just two points -- a 45 percent to 43 percent margin. Yes, McCain -- the longtime incumbent and recent presidential candidate -- is a mere two points ahead of a challenger who isn't even a challenger yet. I talked to Hayworth recently, and he is...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The former chairman of the Republican National Committee says that new immigration reform efforts will give his a party a chance to soften its tone on the issue. Ed Gillespie said Tuesday the GOP should present itself as anti-illegal immigration but not anti-immigrant in the debate. Gillespie said he thinks some of the party's harshest voices were the loudest the last time Congress debated immigration reform. Gillespie, who also served as counselor to former President George W. Bush, said Republicans need to do a better job of reaching out to minorities.

Like most Americans, I am grateful for Sen. John McCain's heroic service as a fighter pilot, a prisoner of war and, for nearly a generation, a member of the House and the Senate. But I am troubled by reports in recent weeks that Mr. McCain has been, as Politico put it, "working behind-the-scenes to reshape the Republican Party in his own center-right image" and has "emerged as a political godfather" to moderate candidates, including my opponent in the race for the Republican Senate nomination in Kansas. In that spirit, I would like to make Mr. McCain an offer he shouldn't...

(snip) So I really, of course—I wish we'd had done better. Of course we made mistakes and of course there were all kinds of things, if you had to do over again, I would do X or Y. But I look back on it in its entirety as a remarkable, incredibly wonderful experience. So, looking at it that way, you respect the winner and try to assume the role of loyal opposition. And obviously that means that when you can be loyal and find ways to be loyal, do it. There are too many things happening domestically and national securitywise...

Arizona Sen. John McCain came to the defense of his former GOP running mate Sarah Palin on Sunday. But in doing so, he used an adjective that some might not consider such a compliment. McCain was responding to a question from NBC’s David Gregory on “Meet the Press,” about whether Palin’s brand of conservatism is “what the Republican Party needs to regain power in the midterms and ultimately in 2012.” McCain responded that the former Alaska governor has “earned herself a very big place in the Republican political scene” and that he was “proud of her.” Then came this: “I...

President Barack Obama's attempt to clarify his July 2011 deadline for a US departure from Afghanistan has resulted in more confusion and will dilute Pakistan's commitment to fighting the Taliban, Senator John McCain has told The Daily Telegraph. Sen McCain, who has led criticism in Washington over the President's most controversial element said that senior administration officials had only contradicted each other when trying to explain how the timeline for the beginning of a US troop withdrawal would work in practice. "Since the President made his speech we have not had further clarification, in fact we have had further contradiction,"...

WASHINGTON - Soon after the Senate opened its long-awaited debate on health care legislation this week, John McCain strode into the chamber to spearhead his party's efforts to reshape the massive bill. He offered Republicans' first amendment and leveled the party's most politically stinging charge--that its cuts in Medicare spending will hurt the elderly. A day later, McCain took the lead in grilling President Obama's team on its newly minted plan for the Afghanistan war. Why, McCain pressed, had the president set a deadline for withdrawing U.S. troops? "A withdrawal date only emboldens al Qaeda and the Taliban," he complained....

(snip) Don Imus and the Arizona Republican were talking Friday morning about the February stimulus vote when McCain, who kept his famous temper at bay during the '08 campaign, went Howard Beale. Imus: Did you support that bill? McCain: Hell no. Imus: I don't think you have to swear at me Senator when I'm just asking a... McCain: I'm not swearing at you. I'm swearing I've had to have been smoking something pretty strong to vote for that outrageous use of taxpayers' dollars. Toggling to the economy at large, McCain added: "There's not a lot of happy people out there,...

Sen. John McCain is urging senior citizens to cut up their AARP membership cards and mail the pieces back to the organization, claiming AARP has betrayed them. Sen. John McCain is urging senior citizens to cut up their AARP membership cards and mail the pieces back to the organization, claiming AARP has betrayed them. Citing AARP's past opposition to proposed cuts in Medicare, McCain expressed dismay Thursday that the senior group has suddenly changed its position to support $460 billion in cuts to the program proposed by Democrats to help pay for health care legislation. "Shame on AARP," McCain, R-Ariz.,...

A few Democrats are seeing the light: Democrats, having defeated a Republican attempt to block proposed Medicare cuts, now face an even bigger headache: concern among members of their own party over the program’s future funding. President Barack Obama wants to cut spending on the federal insurance plan for the elderly to help fund his health-care overhaul. Part of that proposal would cut more than $100 billion from Medicare Advantage, through which the government hires private insurers such as Humana Inc. to deliver Medicare benefits to 11 million seniors, including extras like reduced co-payments and even gym memberships. Should Congress...

Well he wouldn't be wasting our time in Scandinavia, Check out all the others parrots saying it's "real".

McCain was noticeably angry that AARP opposed his amendment. He spoke directly to seniors from the Senate floor, "Take your AARP card, cut it in half and send it back. They've betrayed you." Obstetrician-turned-Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma was even more blunt regarding the seniors , "I have a message for you: You're going to die sooner."

The latest Rasmussen poll shows some numbers that may startle outsiders to Arizona's political scene. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely 2010 Republican Primary voters in Arizona finds the longtime incumbent in a virtual tie with potential challenger J.D. Hayworth. McCain earns 45% of the vote, while Hayworth picks up 43%. Hayworth, a harsh critic of McCain on immigration policy who doggedly attacks the senior Senator over his many breaks with conservative ideology most afternoons and evenings on his highly rated Phoenix talk show, has not yet announced his candidacy. In the interest of disclosure, I'm a big...

The new war strategy of a Nobel Peace Prize winner came under fire from both left and right yesterday as President Obama’s three most senior lieutenants endured marathon sessions on Capitol Hill to start selling the strategy to voters, Congress and the world. Their toughest challenge was not to explain why a 30,000-troop surge was necessary in Afghanistan, but how Mr Obama could know when it would end. While Democrats questioned the need for a $30 billion escalation of the war in pursuit of a few hundred al-Qaeda operatives, Republicans launched a ferocious attack on the 18-month deadline set by...

If America’s elderly think there is an eerie echo in all of the warnings in Washington about frightful cuts to Medicare as a result of the Democrats’ proposed health care legislation, they are right. They have heard it all before. Just 14 months ago, then Senator Barack Obama accused his Republican rival in the presidential race, John McCain, of proposing “drastic cuts to Medicare.” The Obama campaign asserted that Mr. McCain’s health care proposal posed a serious risk for Medicare beneficiaries, by proposing cuts that would total $882 billion over 10 years and would likely require “cuts in benefits, eligibility...

Listening to the morning radio program on Chicago’s WIND AM 560, I was stopped dead in my tracks. One of the hosts, John Howell, asked Chicago Tribune editorialist Clarence Page about a contentious issue; whether candidates for the office of President should have to present proof of citizenship before being allowed to vie for the office. Mr. Page’s answer was not only a slight to the Constitution; it placed him firmly in the camp of the constitutionally illiterate. When asked if vetting candidates for national office, specifically the presidency, wasn’t something that all Americans could agree upon, Mr. Page replied:...

Here is video of Sen. John McCain last night, correcting President Obama's Hirohito gaffe, and then commenting on Obama's Afghanistan speech. Sean Hannity led into the interview with McCain by showing clips from Obama statements over the last two years regarding his view on the importance of Afghanistan, and his unwillingness to use the word "victory." He played the clip of Obama saying he is "worried about using the word 'victory,' because it invokes the image of Hirohito coming down and signing the surrender to MacArthur." Problem is, Japanese Emperor Hirohito did not sign the surrender on the Battleship Missouri....

**U.S. Senator John McCain will be appearing on the following television programs TOMORROW December 2, 2009, beginning at approximately 7:00 am ET. 7:00 am NBC’s TODAY Show with Matt Lauer 7:00 am ABC’s Good Morning America with Robin Roberts 7:00 am CBS’ Early Show with Harry Smith 7:30 am CNN’s American Morning with John Roberts 8:00 am Fox News’ Fox & Friends 7:00 pm CNBC’s Kudlow Report 5:30 pm BBC Newsnight with Gavin Esler 7:00 pm BBC World News America with Matt Frei

Hours before he was set to address the nation on his new Afghanistan strategy, President Obama and members of his war council spent about an hour briefing senior members of Congress at a White House meeting. Three GOP sources told CNN that Sen. John McCain used the meeting to directly challenge the president on his exit strategy. The sources said that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell deferred to McCain, who questioned the concept of announcing now plans to begin withdrawing in July, 2011.