Obama for America

DEBATE REALITY CHECK: MCCAIN IS NOT A MAVERICK

Tonight, Sarah Palin said: “What I have done as a governor and as a mayor is true, they had the track record of reform, and I joined this team that is a team of mavericks with John McCain also, with his track record of reform, where we are known for putting partisan politics aside to just get the job done.” [Vice Presidential Debate, 10/2/08]

McCain Has Been A Reliable Vote For George Bush And THE Republican Party

· McCain Has Voted With Bush 90 Percent Of The Time In The Senate. According to Congressional Quarterly, McCain has voted in support of President Bush's position 90 percent of the time since the beginning of his administration. [Congressional Quarterly, 8/15/08, http://www.cqpolitics.com/cq-assets/cqmultimedia/flash/votestudy/index.html]

· Arizona Republic Headline: “In Tight Senate Votes, McCain Not A Maverick. When It Matters The Most, He Seldom Bucks His Own Party.” “Over the years, Sen. John McCain has publicly condemned Republican Party leaders and occasionally voted against the GOP on selected issues. But an Arizona Republic analysis of his Senate votes on the most divided issues in the past decade shows that McCain almost never thwarted his party's objectives.” [Arizona Republic, 5/7/08 ]

· McCain: On The “Most Important Issues Of Our Day, I Have Been Totally In Agreement And Support Of President Bush.” In a June 2005 interview on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” John McCain stated that he was a strong supporter of President Bush: “I have agreed with President Bush far more than I have disagreed. And on the transcendent issues, the most important issues of our day, I have been totally in agreement and support of President Bush.” [NBC, “Meet The Press,” 6/19/05]

MCCAIN’S ABRAMAOFF INVESTIGATION “IGNORED” ACTIONS BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

· McCain Acknowledged That Members Had Responsibility In The Lobbying Scandal, But Refused To Investigate Members’ Actions In An Investigation That “Ignored” Congressional Republicans. McCain acknowledged that Members were responsible for their conduct in Congress surrounding the lobbying scandal but refused to include the legislative actions taken by Members of Congress saying, “We stop when we find out where the money went.” The Associated Press reported that, “The intervention by congressional Republicans…was all but ignored in recent hearings on Capitol Hill led by [McCain], that examined Abramoff's lobbying inside Interior. [Senator McCain, CQ Transcriptions, 1/25/06; Roll Call, 3/10/05; AP, 11/17/05]

McCain Backed Away >From Bipartisan Reforms He Once Championed

· McCain Acknowledged His Shift On Immigration From Supporting Comprehensive Reform To Supporting An Enforcement First Strategy. “McCain spent months earlier this year arguing that the United States must combine border security efforts with a temporary worker program and an eventual path to citizenship for many illegal immigrants. Now, the Republican presidential candidate emphasizes securing the borders first. The rest, he says, is still needed but will have to come later. ‘I understand why you would call it a, quote, shift,’ McCain told reporters Saturday after voters questioned him on his position during back-to-back appearances in this early voting state. ‘I say it is a lesson learned about what the American people's priorities are. And their priority is to secure the borders.’” [Associated Press, 11/3/07]

· McCain Said He Would Oppose the Legislation He Authored With Kennedy. Asked whether he would vote for the immigration legislation he previously sponsored, McCain eventually replied, “No, I would not.” [CNN GOP Presidential Debate, 1/30/08]

· McCain Was “Noticeably Missing” From Latest Campaign Finance Reform Legislation, Likely To Avoid Charges Of Hypocrisy If He Side Stepped The System In 2008. With McCain “noticeably missing” as one of the former “key proponents of BCRA,” Senator Feingold and Congressmen Shays and Meehan offered campaign finance reform legislation “to raise the spending limits for the primary and general elections and significantly boost the matching funds available to candidates. McCain, who was “conspicuously absent from the latest [campaign finance reform] effort” was not made available for comment by his office. “Several people involved in discussions about the legislation said the senator's absence was related to his widely expected bid for the presidency in 2008.” [Roll Call, 7/27/06; New York Sun, 7/28/06]