John McCain is not a liberal.
It seems the latest conventional wisdom among Republicans is that John McCain is a liberal.

They like to cite two bills that McCain coauthored with Democratic senators…The McCain-Feingold bill and the McCain-Kennedy bill. This is a shallow attempt to tar McCain with the liberal brush by some conservatives by associating him with people who are generally considered liberal. But political philosophy is not based on personalities. (This is the same group that thinks that global warming can't be happening because they can associate it with Al Gore, whom they do not like.) Instead it is based on policy specifics.

First of all, lets examine these two specific bills.

McCain-Feingold was a campaign finance reform effort. The intent was to reduce the influence of big money in government. Campaign contributions today are simply a form of legalized bribery. Don't misunderstand, we have no problem with an individual sending an hundred bucks to his favorite candidate. But do you really think that these corporate representatives that bundle hundreds of thousands of dollars (to get around existing campaign finance laws) to give to candidates do it out of altruism? Out of the goodness of their hearts? Of course not. They expect a waver in a law that will let them dump their pollution in the river that a community drinks from, or they expect a no--bid government contract worth many times the amount of the contribution, etc. For these contributors (i.e. bribers) these contributions are merely and investment. How anyone could advocate for this practice is beyond us.

The McCain-Kennedy bill was an effort to handle the mass of illegal immigrants that have appeared in our country over the last several decades. Illegal immigration is a complicated issue that does not separate itself neatly along liberal/conservative lines. You will find individuals of each persuasion promoting pro and anti immigrant causes. Conservatives and liberals often arrive at the same positions from different directions, but they still find themselves in agreement on a course of action. This issue is neither liberal or conservative.

Finally, lets examine the two defining issues of the campaign.

McCain is in favor of extending the Bush tax cuts. (Although he did vote against them originally.) These tax cuts for the wealthy have driven the federal government towards massive borrowing and are bankrupting our country.

McCain also proposes extending the occupation of Iraq indefinitely. This is bankrupting our country, as well as bankrupting our reputation on the world stage.

McCain is on the wrong side of the two most important issues in this campaign. That makes him conservative by definition.

Is John Edwards a liberal? Probably. Is Dennis Kucinich a liberal? Certainly.

Is John McCain a liberal? Of course not.

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3/28/2024

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