12
College Tribune | October 14th 2008
Features News
The real McCain A prisoner of war, victim of a homosexual smear campaign, anti-abortionist, so just what is John McCain all about, asks Chris Bond For those of us with even a passing interest in the US elections, we’ve heard an awful lot about ‘hope’ these last few months. But if there’s one person who you can testify that hope prevails even in the most adverse conditions, that person is John McCain. And with the election now just days away, and McCain behind in the polls, it’s worth remembering that the Arizona Senator has spent his entire life gasping for breath whilst taking the knocks. As a prisoner of war McCain was almost driven to suicide by torture and maltreatment at the hands of the Viet Cong. At one stage he was offered early release, but turned it down because he refused to betray his comrades. The consequence of rejecting the Viet Cong’s terms was spending the next 2 years in solitary confinement. After five long years of suffering in a Vietnamese jail, McCain was finally released in 1973 in accordance with the Paris Peace accords. After years as a Senator for Arizona, John McCain contested the Republican Presidential Primary in 2000. After a strong start, his reputation was destroyed by rumours that he was a homosexual and that he fathered a black child outside of wedlock. Although it was an anonymous smear campaign there are many who maintain that the allegations were a deliberate ploy by George W Bush, who eventually went on to win the nomination. In 2007 McCain declared his intention to run for President of the United States again. However things didn’t get off according to plan. Towards the end of ‘07 his campaign was in jeopardy due to lack of funds and many opinion polls showed him to be behind Rudi Guliani. To make matters worse, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee emerged as frontrunners for the Presidential nomination by the end of the year. Despite being a non-runner at the first contest in the Iowa Caucus, McCain dragged his campaign out of the wilderness and scored a decisive victory at the New Hampshire primary, carrying the momentum all the way through to Super Tuesday. Both Huckabee and Romney had terminated their campaigns by March, paving the way for McCain to be confirmed as the Presidential nominee at the Republican Convention in St Paul, Minnesota last month. McCain is trying to build support for an agenda based on belief in the free market, a hawkish foreign policy and defence of conservative values at a time when public opinion seems to be dead set against the Republican Party. Elections are often a matter of rallying one’s base; social conservatives have played a key role in ensuring
that Republican Party has dominated the Office of the president of the United States for all but 12 of the past 40 years. But McCain’s relationship with the party’s conservative base has been far from amicable. His opposition to the use of torture in Guantanamo and his support for the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act have led to clashes between McCain and the party’s conservative base, giving rise to the nickname ‘Maverick.’ McCain’s selection of right-wing Alaskan governor Sarah Palin as his running mate is the latest attempt to win over many social conservatives who have other wise been tepid towards his candidacy. At a debate early this year McCain stated that if elected he would be a “pro life presi-
dent.” He has pledged to overturn Roe V Wade, effectively rendering abortion illegal in the United States. Running mate Sarah Palin is opposed to abortion even in the case of rape and incest. Some of McCain’s religious right supporters include Pastor John Hagee who claims that Global Warming is a liberal conspiracy – along with denouncing Harry Potter for what he calls the “preaching of witchcraft.” Like his opponent Barack Obama, John McCain is trying to transcend party lines, reaching out to independents and disillusioned Democrats. McCain purports a record of bipartisanship, and has worked on legislation with even the most liberal of Democrats. Along with Democratic Senator Russ Feingold, McCain was
the chief sponsor of the bipartisan campaign reform act which called for upward limits on campaign spending. Former Democratic running mate for Al Gore in 2000, Joe Lieberman, is McCain’s closest friend in the United States Senate. Despite spending most of his life as a Democrat, Lieberman backed McCain at the 2008 Republican Convention, citing his bipartisan successes. In a similar vein, the McCain campaign also wasted no time in trying to sway some of the disenchanted supporters of failed Democratic candidate Hilary Clinton. In the run up to the Democratic National Convention, McCain’s campaign launched an ad which highlighted the animosity between
Obama and Clinton during the primary season. The ad was also aimed at those who were disappointed that Obama didn’t choose Clinton as his running mate. McCain’s website also contains a video testimonial by Debra Bartoshevich – a former Hillary Clinton supporter who is now campaigning for McCain. Scarred for Life after his POW experience in Vietnam and a victim of several political setbacks, McCain has defied the odds throughout his whole life. He is fighting again with his back up against the wall. He is hoping that his message will triumph against a background of unpopularity with the Bush Administration, dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq and diminishing confidence in the free market on the part of ordinary Americans.