Dee Dee Myers' husband Todd Purdum in Russert's wife's Vanity Fair profiles McCain -
Prisoner of Conscience.
Given his popular status as a maverick war hero, John McCain has a good shot at winning the 2008 presidential election - if he can get his party to nominate him, writes the former NYTimer.
Please read if you didn't already, McCain concedes that media is his base. See how he allows his advisers to "mold" him. Of course, NBC & MSNBC is his second home, as Hugh says.
Given his popular status as a maverick war hero, John McCain has a good shot at winning the 2008 presidential election - if he can get his party to nominate him, writes the former NYTimer.
McCain has several big issues to overcome:
McCain on the First Amendment isn't going to help him either:
"I work in Washington and I know that money corrupts. And I and a lot of other people were trying to stop that corruption. Obviously, from what we've been seeing lately, we didn't complete the job. But I would rather have a clean government than one where quote First Amendment rights are being respected that has become corrupt. If I had my choice, I'd rather have the clean government."
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Recall that McCain, under McCain-Feingold CFR, has tried two different times to restrict voters' rights:
FEC Won't Regulate Internet Politics
Posted 03/27/2006
The Federal Election Commission decided Monday that the nation's new campaign finance law will not apply to most political activity on the Internet. In a 6-0 vote, the commission decided to regulate only paid political ads placed on another person's Web site. The decision means that bloggers and online publications will not be covered by provisions of the new election law. Internet bloggers and individuals will therefore be able to use the Internet to attack or support federal candidates without running afoul of campaign spending and contribution limits. "It's a win, win, win," Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub said, adding that...
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McCain-Feingold's Electioneering Communication Prohibition Held Unconstitutional as Applied to Genuine Grassroots Lobbying
Posted on 12/21/2006
Today the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held that the ban on corporate electioneering communications is unconstitutional as applied to the three grassroots lobbying ads for which Wisconsin Right to Life ("WRTL") sought judicial relief in WRTL v. FEC. Judge Leon wrote the opinion and was joined by Judge Sentelle in the majority of the three-judge court.
Look for more attempts by McCain, and possibly Hillary and Jon Carry, to restrict voters' rights and Internet use during the coming year.
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McCain Looked into Caucusing with Democrats
Posted on 01/05/2007
Some of us have joked that McCain would be a great candidate--for the Democrat ticket. But it turns out that there is an element of truth to the joke. This month's Vanity Fair has a long fawning profile of McCain entitled Prisoners of Conscience. It says that the Bush-McCain relationship was so frayed after the 2000 election that in 2001, McCain strategist John Weaver actually sounded out Democratic Senate leaders about having McCain caucus with them. That would have given the Democrats control of the Senate.