The McCain Mutiny

And so the game begins. As I’ve been predicting, the savy and eloquent Barak Obama will make mincemeat out of John McCain. Obama’s criticisms of McCain are polar opposite my criticisms of McCain - but all stem from the same fundamental problem: McCain is not a man of principled political views. I know that flies in the face of conventional wisdom on McCain - but you can see it in the way McCain handles taxes.

First, here’s the full text of Obama’s speech this evening to Virginia’s Jefferson-Jackson dinner.

Now, pay attention to this attack on McCain:

This week we found out that the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party is Senator John McCain. Now, John McCain is a good man, an American hero, and we honor his half century of service to this nation. But in this campaign, he has made the decision to embrace the failed policies George Bush’s Washington.

He speaks of a hundred year war in Iraq and sees another on the horizon with Iran. He once opposed George Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthiest few who don’t need them and didn’t ask for them. He said they were too expensive and unwise. And he was absolutely right.

But somewhere along the line, the wheels came off the Straight Talk Express because he now he supports the very same tax cuts he voted against. This is what happens when you spend too long in Washington. Politicians don’t say what they mean and they don’t mean what they say. And that is why in this election, our party cannot stand for business-as-usual in Washington. The Democratic Party must stand for change.

Notice that part about McCain’s position on Bush’s tax cuts.

McCain opposed them on the basis of some trumped up liberal-minded class-warfare argument. It was typical John McCain - trying to be a liberal in Republican clothing.

But now, McCain tries to swing to the right to convince us conservatives - that’s despite his demonstrated history - he really is one of us - and he thinks those tax cuts that he said were bad, really should be made permanent.

Of course my opposition to McCain is based on something 180 degrees offset from Obama’s criticism. I can’t support McCain precisely because he voted against the tax cuts. The fact that now he wants to make them permanent is just evidence of his lack of a principled stand.

The fact is, Obama will decimate McCain in the general election. Make no mistake about, it will be Obama. Clinton is is big trouble and Obama is a steam-roller that can’t be denied.

Meanwhile, Huckabee had a good night. He won Kansas and almost certainly won Louisiana although the results won’t be known until Sunday morning. Because Huckabee didn’t get about 50% of the vote in Louisiana, the delegates go to the convention basically as free-agents. But the symbolic victory is impressive. And Huckabee may win the Washington caucuses.

Can Huckabee rally a victory over McCain in the late 4th quarter? Only time will tell.

Sphere: Related Content

Filed under: News