Posted on 05/21/2006 7:31:33 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
Holding a grudge in politics is particularly foolish, says Sen. John McCain, and taking an expedient political position usually does not turn out well.
McCain has been criticized for reconciling with the Rev. Jerry Falwell, with whom McCain clashed during his failed campaign for the Republican nomination for president in 2000. McCain, considered a leading GOP hopeful for 2008, gave the commencement address at Falwell's Liberty University this month.
"I think one of the stupidest things you can do in politics is hold grudges. It's a waste of time and it doesn't do anything for you or for your constituents," McCain said on "Fox News Sunday."
Critics of the Arizona Republican see the Falwell reconciliation as McCain's bid to win over right-wing conservatives. McCain, however, said he has found that political expediency can create problems.
For example, McCain said, in 2000 he supported flying a Confederate flag over South Carolina's Capitol to avoid alienating "a certain voting bloc" ahead of the state's presidential primary. Blacks and many others see the Civil War-era Confederacy as a symbol of slavery and racism, not merely an emblem of a heritage cherished by many white Southerners.
"I shouldn't be involved in it, it was a state issue. It was an act of cowardice," McCain said in looking back.
"We're all gifted, no matter how principled we are, with the gift of rationalization. But I knew it was wrong at the time, but I rationalized it: Well, you know, I can use this as a way to avoid a political, you know, downside. And it was wrong," he said.
Asked how he knows he would not do that again if he ran for president, McCain responded:
"Well, I've learned a lot of lessons in my life. I'm older than dirt. I've got more scars than Frankenstein, but I've learned a lot of things along the way. And that was a very strong lesson for me. And there have been other times in my life. But I can tell you that I know the difference between right and wrong."
It might be bad for the stomach but before that I drank cokes all day!! Don't know which is worse.
With McCain in office they'd be 3/4 of the way there on that merit alone!
(uh, his continued heresy).
Cokes are bad, too. I don't know if it's true, but I heard that if you drink out of the aluminum cans, it supposedly contributes to Alzheimers.
had he finally given up his "deep" grudge against Bush? (doubt it)
LOL, well I'm not THERE yet!!
no, but McRino is! : )
This had to come from the Asspress. Confederate flags and Jerry Falwell are the conservative movement? Only a complete buffoon would believe we were a bunch of gun toting Yosemite Sam's hanging sheets in our closet. That's the liberal template on who we are. Ron Fournier or some commie clown like him had to have written this.
This shows what the senator from my state thinks we are: hayseeds, yahoos, simpletons, rednecks, and racists. What an insult this man is.
Hey, you and me agree on something. Good job. Maybe the aroma of John McCain will unite us all yet.
Which is why it isn't going to happen. How anyone can trust that lunatic is beyond me.
I voted for Carter in 1976 because Ford was the original Captain Rino. We got the Gipper in 1980, so I don't apologize for it. Now if you voted for Carter against Reagan........
I think Jim Robinson pretty well summed up McCain here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1601416/posts
Yes, he certainly did!!!
This bears repeating:
"If you do run, I'm afraid you're gonna be at least one vote short. It'll be a cold day in hell before a traitor like you ever receives my vote. And that's a campaign promise you can take to the bank."
It's one of the best answers I've seen to a McCain run for anything. Jim Rob can sure get to the heart of things when he wants to.
Exactly so and is scared to death, that he will be defeated in his insatiable yearning to be president, because of what he has and is doing and saying.
a 2008 race between Hillary and McCain would be like voting for Hitler or Stalin.
Either way you lose!
But I'm a deep undercover agent and you're blowing my cover. ;-)
Oh, hah hah hah, Senator. You are so right. We don't hold a grudge against you for sponsoring the most egregious violation of our First Amendment rights that has ever been codified into law.
Not.
John McCain has held a grudge since the 2000 primaries !
Beyond that, he can't be trusted .
No one who spends so much time on the Daily Show or Saturday Night Live, is of us . .
The Nuke York Media are not the friends of us Real Americans !
"I can tell you that I know the difference between right and wrong."
But, Senator, do you know the definition of amnesty?
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