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Republicans like to point to Ronald Reagan for inspiration. However, we have to resign ourselves to the fact that Ronald Reagan is dead. Worse, his legacy was killed off by his own party, the same Republicans who say he inspired them. The only lasting legacy to George W. Bush was the nomination of two constructionist judges and a fading response to terrorism. For eight years, we saw GW insist more on getting along than being right. Even the war in Iraq was fought on the cheap, probably out of fear of the cost of waging war, which defies the logic...

Former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.) is unlikely to run in a GOP primary against Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), let alone win, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said Monday. Kyl, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, said he expects the former congressman, who's been mulling a primary challenge to McCain's right next year, to carry on his activities as host of a radio show, and not as a candidate.

John McCain's problems inside his own party were hardly overcome by his place as its nominee, Rasmussen reports. The new poll shows McCain up just two points, 45% to 43%, in a hypothetical contest with former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, now a popular local radio talker, who's mulling a bid.

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) urged a group of chief executives on Tuesday to think of ways to help small businesses and extend credit to help heal the economy. The Arizona Republican acknowledged that these aren't the responsibilities of big businesses, but he talked about how angry Americans are about financial institutions getting bailed out while they are struggling, and he said access to credit is a big issue.

Senator McCain Poised to Snatch Defeat from the Jaws of Victory August 24, 2009 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Try this, ladies and gentlemen. State-controlled Associated Press: "Senator John McCain says that President Obama will have to drop proposals for a government-run health insurance option if he hopes to reach congressional agreement on health care reform." So far, so good. I'm still reminded of last week. I was laughing myself silly when news came out and how big news it was that McCain was voting with Republicans. (laughing)Our nominee, our presidential nominee, and there was a huge story, about it: "Ah,...

Mayor Bloomberg said Tuesday he never thought he was on the short list to be Republican Sen. John McCain's running mate last year -- even though a new book claims he was one of the six finalists for the coveted slot. McCain's staff took Bloomberg's chances seriously, the book claims -- especially when they were told to set up a short podium for the still-secret vice-presidential candidate. "When I told them to lower it for someone who was 5-7, they thought it was Bloomberg," McCain aide Davis White says in "The Battle for America 2008: The Story of an Extraordinary...

There are, of course, a whole lot of truly baffling things about the Birther movement and its theories. But perhaps one of the most puzzling is this unanswered question: If President Obama really were born in Kenya, why didn't the McCain or Clinton campaigns dig up the evidence and publicize it? Why has that task fallen to the ragtag crew that is the Birthers, led now by Orly Taitz, a dentist/lawyer/real estate agent who got her law degree online and is regularly admonished for having little, if any, idea how to properly file her court papers? Turns out there's an...

WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who helped vote down U.S. ratification of a nuclear test ban treaty ten years ago, said he would now consider supporting it. McCain told The Associated Press that he could support the treaty, a priority of former presidential rival President Barack Obama, if concerns are addressed before another vote.

I am 58 years old and a lifelong Republican. I am writing this letter on behalf of myself and countless other Republicans who feel the same way I do. I am that good person who is tired of sitting back and doing nothing to change our government for the better. I am calling on Sen. John McCain not to run again for the Senate from Arizona. He has served that state as a progressive Republican for a very long time and for the most part, I believe, honorably. There are two problems with that statement — one, that he is...

WASHINGTON – Sen. John McCain wants to remove the $1.75 billion recently inserted into the proposed 2010 defense budget for more fighter jets from Lockheed Martin. The Arizona Republican's spokeswoman says he plans to file an amendment to cut the extra money for seven more F-22's. The Senate Armed Services Committee last month narrowly approved the additional funding requested by Georgia Republican Saxby Chambliss.

Washington -- President Barack Obama's landmark bill on energy and global warming squeaked through the House this week only after the White House made dozens of concessions to coal, manufacturing and other interests. As the battle moves to the Senate, Obama faces demands for more concessions, including to open the coastline to offshore oil and gas drilling. The Senate will take up issues that were glossed over or omitted from the House bill. Among them is giving the government sweeping new powers to overcome local objections and approve thousands of miles of new transmission lines to carry electricity to coastal...

Alaska's lipstick-wearing pit-bull is a "Little Shop of Horrors." That's how one longtime friend and campaign trail companion of John McCain, the vanquished 2008 GOP presidential nominee, described veep nominee Sarah Palin. In an expansive story in the August edition of Vanity Fair, a slew of senior members of McCain's campaign team told reporter Todd S. Purdum that they suffer a kind of survivor's guilt following the 2008 presidential election.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John McCain says his opponent in last year's presidential campaign, Barack Obama, has "done well" in his first five months in the White House. The Arizona Republican says that using a legislative scorecard to judge the presidency so far, Obama has achieved all his legislative goals.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John McCain says his opponent in last year's presidential campaign, Barack Obama, has "done well" in his first five months in the White House. The Arizona Republican says that using a legislative scorecard to judge the presidency so far, Obama has achieved all his legislative goals.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two of President Barack Obama's top priorities -- healthcare reform and reducing global warming -- are in disarray on Capitol Hill, with no sign of bipartisan consensus, Senator John McCain said on Friday. The Arizona Republican, who was defeated by Obama for the presidency last November, said in an interview with Reuters that climate change legislation "is just dead in the water. It's not got momentum." Efforts to overhaul America's costly healthcare system need to begin anew after the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said a draft bill would cost $1 trillion and insure only 16 million of...

(snip) We asked Sen. McCain if he saw Whitman as the future face of the Republican Party and he said "yes." He also mentioned three current governors as the next generation of leaders. Noticeably absent from that list was his former running mate, Sarah Palin.(snip)

As the old political saying goes, you can’t beat somebody with nobody. But a plurality of national Republican voters still think nobody’s running the show for the GOP. Still, it’s better than two months ago when 68% of Republican voters said the party had no clear leader. Now only 37% of GOP voters feel that way. Arizona Senator John McCain, last year’s unsuccessful presidential candidate who is already facing a primary challenge in 2010, is seen as the party’s leader by 18% of Republican voters. National party chairman Michael Steele, who has been plagued with gaffes since taking the job,...

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Democratic National Committee criticized the Republican Party in a new Web video released Sunday evening for having former Vice President Dick Cheney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Sen. John McCain serve as the GOP’s national spokesmen. The 38-second clip, posted on YouTube, opens with the statement: “Meet the New GOP Sunday Show Guests” stripped across the screen before it shows the three Republicans being introduced on the Sunday morning talk shows. The videos closing line: “The New GOP. Same As The Old GOP.”

King: Does Obama seem like the same guy who ran against your dad? How do you view him? McCain: He's our president and when the election was over and when President Obama won, all negative feelings were gone. I support the president.

With the Bush administration ending and the Obama administration beginning, it is worth pondering John McCain’s gracious concession speech, giving due consideration to the ways in which the political opposition behaved during the tenures of our last two presidents. Even though President Bill Clinton governed as a centrist and most of his major accomplishments were ripped from the conservative playbook (balancing the federal budget, passing a major free trade act, enacting dramatic reforms of the country’s welfare program), he inspired a visceral hatred from the base of the Republican Party. Perhaps it was his draft dodging, his inveterate extramarital liaisons,...

South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint on Friday became one of the first high-profile Republicans to publicly criticize John McCain following his electoral defeat, blaming the Arizona senator for betraying conservative principles in his quest for the White House. The conservative senator, speaking to a group of GOP officials gathered in Myrtle Beach at a conference on the future of the Republican Party, described how the party had strayed from its own "brand," which, according to DeMint, should represent freedom, religious-based values and limited government. "We have to be honest, and there's a lot of blame to go around, but I...

WASHINGTON — John McCain’s close friend and ally from South Carolina, fellow Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, will be on hand in Chicago Monday as McCain meets with his former rival, President-elect Barack Obama. Also attending will be Obama’s new chief of staff, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill. In an interview Friday, Graham said Emanuel asked for the meeting about a week ago. “We were talking about some things that we could work together on,” Graham said.

11.13.08 MSNBC Hardball Video - Will the GOP Back Palin? (11:33 minutes) - - Is Palin the future of the Republican Party, or does the somewhat chilly reception she's received from her fellow governors at the Republican Governors Association Conference in Miami suggest tougher times ahead for her? Discussion by moderator Chris Matthews, Pat Buchanan, and Republican strategist Mike Paul. They also discuss what GOP changes are necessary. The conversation becomes heated between Buchanan and Paul. Watch how RGA Chairman Gov. Rick Perry of Texas jumps in and rudely cutoffs off press questions to Gov. Palin. Transcript

Shortly after the left-lurching Democrats were beaten back by the American people in 1994, Republicans and conservatives were instructed not to gloat. Shortly after Republicans attained all three branches of government in 2000, we were instructed not to gloat. Beginning last night the Democrat gloating had begun, but we Republicans also have a reason to gloat. The Republicans-in-name-only are officially dead. As is their ability to do so, Democrats will now go on a search-and-destroy mission of all things that have been a thorn in their side for all these years. They will attempt to silence talk radio, internet conservatives,...

I can’t underscore enough what a rotten idea John McCain’s ACORN-like government mortgage buy-up is. I said it during my liveblog. And I’ll say it again: “HE WANTS TO EXPAND THE BAILOUT. He wants to do what ACORN wants to do. We’re Screwed ‘08.” This was his supposed “game-changer.” This was the very first thing out of his mouth during the debate tonight — his big pitch right off the bat. The McCain campaign immediately sent out this fact sheet on the proposal, which will cost at least $300 billion. The proposal involves directing the Treasury Secretary to “purchase mortgages...

So if Bill Clinton was our first black president based on various things, considering all McCain has done so far to bolster the amnesty fight, I think that would make him our first mexican president.

BLAINE, Minn. – Ron Paul supporters shook things up in at least three of Minnesota's congressional district conventions yesterday when they captured nearly all of the national delegates and alternates for the Republican National Convention this fall. There was controversy at Minnesota's 6th Congressional District Convention. The district covers part of the Twin Cities metro area and extends to the west and into nearby St. Cloud, Minn. Paul supporters were accused of dirty tricks. "They hijacked the convention," said Jeff Johnson who serves as Minnesota's Senate District 15 co-chairman. Two out of three national delegates elected were Ron Paul supporters...

McCain Almost Left the GOP -- Twice March 24, 2008 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT Senator McCain has not wrapped up the Chuck Hagel endorsement yet, and I wanted to mention this to you. Hagel was on This Week with Stephanopoulos on Sunday, and Stephanopoulos said to him, "Senator McCain is a good friend of yours. Why haven't you endorsed him?" HAGEL: When I work for someone or commit to someone, I want to be behind that person in every way I can. I've obviously got some differences with John on the Iraq war. That's no secret. I want to understand a...

  March 24, 2008   This cartoon/graphic is free for noncommercial use in emails, blogs, and forums.  iowapresidentialwatch.com

The McCain people have been floating the name of Governor Crist of Florida as a potential vice presidential candidate. I realize, of course, that publishing the names of several people in this way is a time-honored practice that gives them publicity and gains the support of people who have no chance of ending up as the vice presidential candidate. As a conservative Republican, I have had to swallow hard to embrace Senator McCain for president, but at least I have always felt that his views, including some that were badly mistaken, were honestly held.

PARIS -- John McCain wrapped up his five-country swing to the Middle East and Europe by meeting with two familiar faces- one old and one new. In London this morning, former Prime Minister Tony Blair and McCain had breakfast together at the swanky Mandarin Oriental hotel. A quick photo-op for reporters before the official visit quickly became a reflection of McCain's recent travels. On the friendship with Britain, McCain said, "What I've learned from our trip is that our alliance and our relationship is still strong. There are areas such as climate change, transparency of international financial institutions, Israeli-Palestinian peace...

LONDON (AFP) - US Republican presidential hopeful John McCain Friday discussed the situation in the Middle East and global warming with former British prime minister Tony Blair, the ex-premier's spokesman said. Blair met with McCain in London as well as US senators Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham, McCain's colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee who are travelling with him, the spokesman told AFP. "They met, but also, obviously with Senator Lieberman and Senator Graham. The subjects they spoke about were the Middle East and climate change," he said. McCain, who is on a week-long tour of Europe and the...

As Senator John McCain slips further and further into the grips of age-realted dementia, his arguments in favor of legalizing 38 million illegal aliens become more and more specious. In 2007, for instance, McCain issued a very bizarre challenge to American patriots who oppose the amnesty travesty that McCain favors. Speaking at a fund-raiser in Houston, the senator said: "I think it’s (immigration reform) a matter of national security,” McCain said, “and to do nothing - to leave the status quo - would be an abrogation of our responsibilities to the American people.” The addled senator added, “If they’ve got...

Mitt Romney leads the VP Stakes at GOPNation.com. Vote today for your choice for VP! The top three so far are Romney (25 percent) Condi Rice (18) and JC Watts (14). http://gopnation.com/wordpress/?page_id=357

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Here's what leading presidential candidates have said about climate change and energy policies, and what they want to do. REPUBLICAN ARIZONA SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: "I know that climate change is real ... we've got to address it, we can do it with technology, with cap and trade, with capitalist and free enterprise motivation." Co-authored bill to cut emissions by 65 percent by 2050, favors unspecified fuel efficiency increase and overall energy efficiency. DEMOCRATIC NEW YORK SEN. HILLARY CLINTON: "We need to start on a path to slow, stop and reverse the growth of greenhouse gas emissions." Supports...

Arizona Sen. John McCain, who blamed illegal immigration Monday for Republican losses in major congressional races, has rejected Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta’s invitation to discuss the issue. “Sen. McCain truly appreciates your invitation and the valuable opportunity it represents,” Jo Black, a scheduling official in the presumptive Republican nominee’s presidential campaign, wrote in a letter to Barletta’s congressional campaign Wednesday. The letter cited “tremendous demands” on McCain’s time and a “large volume of similar requests.” Efforts to reach McCain’s campaign were unsuccessful. Last week, Barletta invited McCain and the Democratic presidential candidates, Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, to come...

Americans and Europeans share a common goal – to build an enduring peace based on free­dom. Our democracies today are strong and vibrant. Together we can tackle the diverse challenges we face, whether radical religious fanatics who use terror as their weapon of choice, the disturbing turn towards autocracy in Russia or the looming threats of climate change and the degradation of our planet. But the key word is “together”. We need to renew and revitalise our democratic solidarity. We need to strengthen our transatlantic alliance as the core of a new global compact – a League of Democracies –...

Why McCain Should Pick RomneyStephen M. Studdert, FSM Editor-at-Large.John Nance Garner IV, the nation’s 32nd Vice President, once described the office of the vice presidency as being "not worth a bucket of warm spit."  Unlike most past elections, this year things are different. Throughout most of the primary season the major issues facing the next president seemed to be getting out of Iraq and how to solve growing health care problems. No longer.  Today the country is immersed in what may well prove to be a deep and lingering economic crisis, with cracks appearing everywhere in our private and public...

Arizona Sen. John McCain has rejected Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta's invitation to come to the southern Luzerne County city and discuss illegal immigration. "Senator McCain truly appreciates your invitation and the valuable opportunity it represents," a scheduling official, Jo Black, in the presumptive Republican nominee's presidential campaign wrote in a letter. Barletta's congressional campaign released the letter today. "Unfortunately, I must pass along his regrets as I do not foresee an opportunity to add this event to the calendar." Black said McCain has "tremendous demands on his time" and because of "the large volume of similar requests, events such as...

WHEN Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, arrives in Britain this week, he will start the job of presenting a new face of America to Europe. “We need to do a better job on America’s image,” he said, citing the many differences he has had over the years with President George W Bush, from the conduct of the war in Iraq to the importance of climate change. Once he reaches British soil, he intends to adopt a more neutral tone. It is against diplomatic protocol to criticise your country abroad. In any case, McCain is grateful to Bush for...

(The Politico) "The hot-button issue of immigration doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon – at least not in Republican circles. On NPR’s “Morning Edition” today, John McCain suggested that strong anti-immigrant rhetoric contributed to two recent, high-profile GOP Congressional losses – of former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, who badly lost to Sen. Bob Casey in 2006, and Jim Oberweis, who lost the heavily Republican seat of former House Speaker Dennis Hastert this month in a special election.

Sen. John McCain and his staff have been adamant for days that his upcoming overseas trip to Britain, France and Israel is not political. /snip ...Apparently, though, there will still be room for fundraising. McCain's campaign has sent out an invitation for a March 20 luncheon at Spencer House -- the neo-classical home built for an ancestor of Diana, the late Princess of Wales -- "by kind permission of Lord Rothschild OM GBE and the Hon. Nathaniel Rothschild." The price to attend is $1000 to $2,300. And the dress code for the event? "Lounge suits" -- British for business...

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: And welcome to this special program. We have Senator John McCain for the full hour tonight. Senator, how are you? SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good. HANNITY: Good to see you. MCCAIN: Thank you. Thanks for having me on. HANNITY: Well, we really appreciate it, especially all the time you're going to be giving us here. Let me start -- tomorrow is the 35th anniversary of your return from Vietnam. And I went back and I looked. You were held for five and a half years of your life, tortured, beaten. Take us back...

To the Leaders of the Republican National Committee and the Members of the State Legislature in the state of_________________: We, the undersigned registered members of the Republican Party in the state of ____________________, hereby protest and reject the current and ongoing results of the 2008 Republican presidential primary selection process on the grounds that the incongruous methods, rules, and provisions set forth by the individual and various state Republican National Committee Leaders, and the members of the various State Legislatures, have failed to provide the members of the Republican Party across the nation with an effective primary election process, thwarted...

The NAFTA Controversy by: Cliff Kincaid, March 14, 2008 On another critical issue, McCain has emerged as a vocal proponent of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), despite the fact that one of its major supporters, Robert A. Pastor, admits that, in one key respect, it has been a colossal failure. Pastor, a Democrat who runs the Center for North American Studies at American University, says that NAFTA has resulted in economic integration and increased trade but has “fueled immigration by encouraging foreign investment near the U.S.-Mexican border, which in turn serves as a magnet for workers in central...

Rove explained that he and McCain “got to know each other during the 2004 campaign.” In a separate interview, Mehlman noted that “McCain was completely loyal to the president in 2004 and worked incredibly hard to help him get elected.” According to Taylor, “The Bush Republicans here in town are excited for John McCain.”

WASHINGTON -- A largely unreported meeting held at the State Department discussed integration of the U.S., Mexico and Canada in concert with a move toward a transatlantic union, linking a North American community with the European Union. The meeting was held Monday under the auspices of the Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy, or ACIEP. WND obtained press credentials and attended as an observer. The meeting was held under "Chatham House" rules that prohibit reporters from attributing specific comments to individual participants. The State Department website noted the meeting was opened by Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy and...

It’s not the kind of endorsement that a Republican presidential candidate should welcome. But former Clinton State Department official and alleged Russian dupe Strobe Talbott says that Senator John McCain and Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are all “moderate pragmatists” in foreign policy “with the demonstrated ability to reach across party lines.” This is “good news,” says Talbott, who is an advocate of world government. Can our media stop talking about race, sex and gender long enough to examine whether the American people will be given a choice or an echo on foreign policy issues this November?...