Free Republic

Those of us who got our hopes up that $4 gas would finally galvanize the country to break the strangle-hold the extremists in the environmental movement have on our lives and on our future – and impel the Congress to do something sensible for a change – are going to have to grit our teeth and fight even harder. Not only have these five Republican Senators joined with Democrat environmentalists to scuttle all attempts for citizens of the U.S.A. to begin to achieve some semblance of energy independence, but they may have robbed John McCain of the hottest issue to...

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain’s (Ariz.) latest television ad says that the country is in worse shape now than it was before President Bush began his second term. “Washington’s broken. John McCain knows it,” the ad says. “We’re worse off than we were four years ago.” The ad, titled “Broken,” shows that McCain is, at least in part, running away from President Bush’s record and looking to win favor with the centrist voters who have supported him in the past. The ad, which is slated to run in key states, comes after Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) made...

The liberal media are unhinged over John McCain's recent ad campaign against Barack Obama, which erased Obama's 9-point lead in the polls and tied the race. How dare McCain challenge their anointed one? Obama is not the only one convinced he is "the one we've been waiting for." The media are also annoyed they have to endure this irritating uprising from McCain, who is officiously intermeddling with the inexorable flow of history. Sunday show hosts, editorial pages, and both print and TV news stories this past weekend were pregnant with outrage over McCain's "negative" campaigning – "negative" being defined as...

Here is video of one of the truly great conservative voices today summing up in just under three minutes why is it essential for John McCain to be elected President. The video shows Columnist Charles Krauthammer speaking at the Munk Debates in Canada this past May 26. He perfectly lays out the truth of what has been at stake for the United States in Iraq, and why the Democrats would lead America to a "catastrophic defeat" if they take the White House. What he said about Iraq two months ago has been verified since then -- that America is on...

Up until now, I have been urging caution in (over)interpreting the results of the Gallup and Rasmussen tracking polls, which had shown the presidential race tightening to a near-tie in recent days. Although the tracking numbers are important sources of information, this trend had not really been reflected in much of the state polling, nor in other, one-off national polls. Today, however, we have a set of state polling out that does indicate some tightening in the race: (Table at link) The most interesting results are in Florida and Massachusetts. In Florida, SurveyUSA shows John McCain ahead by 6 points....

Hewing to campaign conventions, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) today visited a local pastry shop here, praised his fellow Republican officeholders and declared Florida is "a battleground state" in the election. McCain entered Pancho's Spanish Bakery & Deli in Orlando this afternoon along with his wife Cindy, Florida GOP Gov. Charlie Crist and Orange County mayor Richard Crotty (R). They all shook hands with many patrons and a few employees. There was scattered applause. "Thank you," McCain said. "We have the mayor and the governor, how about that?" Upon seeing Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), who was seated at a table, rise...

Republican Sen. John McCain, engaged in increasingly sharp attacks on rival Barack Obama, pledged that if elected president, he would work closely with Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, praising her as an effective leader and an "inspiration to millions of Americans." "I respect Speaker Pelosi. I think she's one of the great American success stories," McCain said during an interview with The Chronicle prior to a fundraiser at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. "We talk about (New York Sen.) Hillary Clinton and her inspiration to millions of Americans. Speaker Pelosi has been an inspiration as well" in a role...

<p>Republican presidential candidate John McCain tried to strike a balance at a town hall meeting Tuesday between the independence he boasts of and his avowed conservatism.</p> <p>McCain also told a disabled woman that he would step up enforcement of the Americans With Disabilities Act and assured a self-described cancer survivor that he supported stem cell research.</p>

My former next-door neighbor Ramesh Ponnuru of the National Review takes note of an apparent flip-flop by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on taxes. In March 2007 McCain told Ponnuru the following: Ponnuru: If you could get the Democrats to agree, or at least to come to the table on entitlements or on tax simplification, are those circumstances under which you’d be willing to accept a tax increase? Sen. McCain: No; no. PONNURU: No circumstances? Sen. McCain: No. None. None. But on This Week with George Stephanopoulos Sunday McCain sounded a bit different, saying of Social Security, "I am a supporter...

"What if a presidential candidate took a position on gay marriage that was different from your own? Would you still consider voting for him because of his position on other issues, or would you not vote for him under any circumstances?" . Still Consider Not Vote For No Answer/ Unsure % % % 6/18-25/08 72 22 6

I have been in sackloth and ashes ever since the end of the Republican primary season dwelling on the mess we find ourselves in. Conservatives have watched the Republican nomination process get hijacked from them while they were debating whether our candidate should be socially conservative (Huckabee) vs economically conservative (Romney). Now we have McCain, who has historically proven to be mediocre at best on both sets of issues. His only strength was his view on the Iraq war. Now that we appear to have turned the corner in Iraq, the whole withdrawal argument may be moot. If things continue...

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson slammed GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain today, calling his criticism of Barack Obama's trip to Europe and the Middle East as nothing more than "sour grapes." Richardson, one of Sen. Obama's most high-profile surrogates, also said that the Obama campaign was considering a trip to Latin America sometime prior to the November election. "There are discussions about it. He wants to emphasize that his administration would not be Europe-centric or only focused on the Middle East," said Richardson in an interview. The trip would also likely generate excitement among many of the country's Hispanic...

In the rush to bulldoze the Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac and housing bailout bill through Congress this week, scant attention has been paid in Washington to how the U.S. system fell into this hole. Thus it was refreshing to see Senator John McCain step up and speak rude truth to his colleagues about the fiasco in an op-ed piece this week. "Americans should be outraged at the latest sweetheart deal in Washington," the Republican presidential hopeful wrote in the St. Petersburg Times, stating the clear but all-too-often unspoken reality about this greatest of boondoggles. Yesterday 80 Senators voted to end debate...

Republican presidential candidate John McCain's short list of vice presidential possibilities has been essentially narrowed to six, according to a source familiar with the search. Factions within the Arizona senator's campaign are pushing for their favored candidate, sources tell the Phoenix Business Journal, a Baltimore Business Journal sister publication.

The original draft of John McCain’s speech at the Livestrong Summit Thursday evening made no mention of his own struggle with cancer. The text made a jab at Barack Obama, emphasized the need for improved health care and vowed to take on the tobacco industry — but excluded all references to the Arizona senator’s bout with melanoma.

I'm optimistic that in this election we are choosing between two good and uniquely qualified individuals seeking the job with a least a more inherent civility, let alone grasp of history, than we've experienced in the last eight years. This can only be a good thing. I like John McCain. I wouldn't walk across the street to shake George Bush's hand, but I'd walk a country mile, barefoot, to shake McCain's.

Media sources such as CNN, and also several questionable academics have come out with a multi-pronged attack on John McCain's knowledge of the "Information Economy" this week. Amongst those is a media professor from American University named Steinhorn Comments By L. Steinhorn, Prof of Communications Steinhorn claims that McCain's funny syllogism of "A Google", his desire to avoid email, and lack of a MySpace webpage prove that McCain does not understand the Information Economy. He points to Barrack Obama's use of YouTube and MySpace to win over young voters as proof that he understands modern economics. This is false on...

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo sent an open letter to Sen. John McCain criticizing his recent meeting with Hispanic leaders where he reportedly pushed his amnesty agenda.

John McCain and Barack Obama have both changed positions in this campaign. That's OK. Voters understand that politicians can and, sometimes, should change their views. After all, voters do. Witness the wide swings in their answers to opinion polls. But before accepting the changes, voters typically ask themselves three questions: Does the candidate admit he's shifting? What's the new information that altered his thinking? Does the change seem reasonable and not calculating?

Washington - In a campaign week dominated by Barack Obama's trip abroad, the pro-John McCain camp has made headlines by complaining about coverage of Senator Obama's trip abroad. For Senator McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, crying foul on the news media represents a double-edged sword. On the plus side, he plays into the longstanding narrative that asserts reporters are rooting for Obama, the likely Democratic nominee, to win in November. Hillary Rodham Clinton played that card during the primaries, to some effect, but ultimately unsuccessfully.