Bush Approval Rating all-time low

[Zaelath]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/poli ... spoll.html

Does this mean I can expect all those self-congratulating assholes, that thought being in the majority was the same as being right, to give up and go home now?

[Winnow]

Approval rating always dips during extended wars.

Bush needs to get some dirty work done his second term. It's the only time presidents aren't worried about being reelected so can do stuff that doesn't require 50+% of the people being happy about it even if it's the right thing to do.

[Fash]

polls are fucking worthless, tightly focused, carefully worded jerk off sessions.

73% agree!

[Zaelath]

Approval rating always dips during extended wars.

Bush needs to get some dirty work done his second term. It's the only time presidents aren't worried about being reelected so can do stuff that doesn't require 50+% of the people being happy about it even if it's the right thing to do.

Sure, I can agree w/ that, I just found the whole "righteous" bullshit that people went on with because they were in the 51% rather than the 49% irritating =)

[Midnyte_Ragebringer]

Approval rating always dips during extended wars.

Bush needs to get some dirty work done his second term. It's the only time presidents aren't worried about being reelected so can do stuff that doesn't require 50+% of the people being happy about it even if it's the right thing to do.

Sure, I can agree w/ that, I just found the whole "righteous" bullshit that people went on with because they were in the 51% rather than the 49% irritating =)

blah blah blah

52/48 after all the recounts

[Chidoro]

doesn't really make a difference now, we're stuck with this dunderhead from another 3+years. The SS retooling thing has been a disaster, the war doesn't have an exit strategy yet, anybody with half a brain knows that stem cell research is too important to pass up, and he still makes goofy faces in front of the camera.

I do think it's interesting that you can't find Rumsfeld or Cheney anywhere

[Zaelath]

blah blah blah

52/48 after all the recounts

And Capt. Dumbass raises his ugly head. You're in the minority now; people still stupid enough to stand behind Bush and his piss poor administration.

[Hesten]

What war?
I was pretty sure Bush said that war was over over a year ago. Wasnt aware that he officially declared that it was on again.

[Sabek]

polls are fucking worthless, tightly focused, carefully worded jerk off sessions.

73% agree!

Statistics show 43.2% of stats are made up on the spot.

[Metanis]

blah blah blah

52/48 after all the recounts

And Capt. Dumbass raises his ugly head. You're in the minority now; people still stupid enough to stand behind Bush and his piss poor administration.

I'm proud to provide continuing support to President George W. Bush. He's doing a solid job and I'm happy with it.

[Kelshara]

Solid job of what, exactly? Can you even back up that comment?

[Anuin]

Statistics show 43.2% of stats are made up on the spot.

Im pretty sure that one is made up.

[miir]

Solid job of what, exactly?

Solid job of sucking ass.

[Midnyte_Ragebringer]

Solid job of what, exactly? Can you even back up that comment?

He feels Bush has done a solid job as President. See that is the job he holds at the moment. So to recap, if someone says about a person that they think he/she is doing a solid job, it pertains to the job they do.

Are you really this bland? Do we really need to rehash the fact that your opinion of Bush is bad, while others don't think so, and how you think they are morons for having a differing opinion? Do we really? Don't we have eleventy billion threads just like it already? Go be creative and ground breaking elsewhere.

[Marbus]

No I think she is wanting a list of at least one or two good things he has actually accomplished...

Marb

[Fash]

1) the patriot act - ~400 arrests, ~200 convictions, 0 attacks on the homeland, 0 reports of false uses of the patriot act.

2) re-stating the policy of the united states to spread freedom, and protect itself.

3) setting a strong space initiative to get to the moon, mars, and beyond. nothing is more important to humanity and no matter how much time and money they spend on it, it is never enough to me.

4) creating change in the middle east, by hook or by crook. implementing a democratic government in a region littered with psuedo dictatorships, and spreading the importance of human rights.

5) demanding that congress address the admitted issue of social security, and putting all options on the table. adopting ideas from democrats.

i could keep going....

[kyoukan]

1) the patriot act - ~400 arrests, ~200 convictions, 0 attacks on the homeland, 0 reports of false uses of the patriot act.

Thousands of mostly innocent people rotting in a POW camp outside the USA so they aren't protected, most of whom were sold to the army as "terrorists" by local warlords, held against their will without anything resembling due process, a trial, legal representation or even a charge beyond a blanket "enemy combatant" accusation.

0 attacks on the homeland. I seem to remember a pretty big one. no attacks on the homeland under Clinton and Carter though.

I won't even go into the fucking Patriot Act. 743 pages of pork barrel handouts to major corporations and defense contractors. The largest spending bill in the history of the country, and ABC news can still smuggle fissile material into the country.

2) re-stating the policy of the united states to spread freedom, and protect itself.

My definition of freedom and democracy doesn't involve the pentagon approving the political parties and people that are allowed to run beforehand. Nor does it exclude international election watchdog officials to observe the results.

3) setting a strong space initiative to get to the moon, mars, and beyond. nothing is more important to humanity and no matter how much time and money they spend on it, it is never enough to me.

Then why do you support the Bush administration cutting 1.2 billion dollars from NASA's budget over the next 5 years? Do some fucking research. But that might be hard for you, since you are dumb. Just because he SAYS he wants to go to Mars, doesn't mean he is going to pay for it. The fucking retard wants to go to Mars, but thinks the best way to get there is to spend less on space exploration. Dumbass probably watched an episode of Enterprise and thought it was a reality show.

Just like he SAID he was going to invest in alternative energy (instead of basically writing GM a check for a billion dollars and making them verbally promise they would use it to research alternative energy).

4) creating change in the middle east, by hook or by crook. implementing a democratic government in a region littered with psuedo dictatorships, and spreading the importance of human rights.

Why did you say this twice? It wasn't factual up there and it still isn't. Speaking of pseudo dictatoships, I seem to remember a little homo erotic action with Prince Abdullah al-oil in the rose garden. This isn't even to mention dumping cash and favors into Musharaf's little dictatorship in Pakistan. Even after the head of their nuke development openly admitted to selling missile and warhead technology, and probably raw materials to North Korea. Your two largest arab allies in the middle east are two of the largest and most oppresive dictatorships in the region. They would also blast your entire country of the face of the earth in one fiery nuclear explosion if they thought they could get away with it.

5) demanding that congress address the admitted issue of social security, and putting all options on the table. adopting ideas from democrats.

I don't really think a few staged (I wonder if he even knows they are staged?) "town hall meetings" filled with pre-selected neocon lapdogs would fall anywhere near the realm of putting all the options on the table. I'm sort of curious how his social security plan benefits anyone other than the massive Bush administration selected corporations that will suddenly receive hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money. Do you even know what his plan is or do you just know the talking points?

i could keep going....

Please do. Although making you look stupid isn't much of a challenge, it was a fun two minutes.

[Fash]

Thousands of mostly innocent people rotting in a POW camp outside the USA so they aren't protected, most of whom were sold to the army as "terrorists" by local warlords, held against their will without anything resembling due process, a trial, legal representation or even a charge beyond a blanket "enemy combatant" accusation.

Gitmo has nothing to do with the Patriot Act... Since it seems you're completely un-informed, the Patriot Act allows investigators quicker and easier access to searches and wiretaps of people IN THE US.

0 attacks on the homeland. I seem to remember a pretty big one. no attacks on the homeland under Clinton and Carter though.

0 attacks since 9/11 & the patriot act. 200 convictions of terrorists in this country who may have been in the stages of an attack.

I won't even go into the fucking Patriot Act. 743 pages of pork barrel handouts to major corporations and defense contractors. The largest spending bill in the history of the country, and ABC news can still smuggle fissile material into the country.

You Are Clueless.....

My definition of freedom and democracy doesn't involve the pentagon approving the political parties and people that are allowed to run beforehand. Nor does it exclude international election watchdog officials to observe the results.

I smell bullshit... wheres the news and outrage?

Then why do you support the Bush administration cutting 1.2 billion dollars from NASA's budget over the next 5 years? Do some fucking research. But that might be hard for you, since you are dumb. Just because he SAYS he wants to go to Mars, doesn't mean he is going to pay for it. The fucking retard wants to go to Mars, but thinks the best way to get there is to spend less on space exploration. Dumbass probably watched an episode of Enterprise and thought it was a reality show.

Last I heard, NASA is getting a shitload of new funding.
http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/ ... xml&coll=1

I don't really think a few staged (I wonder if he even knows they are staged?) "town hall meetings" filled with pre-selected neocon lapdogs would fall anywhere near the realm of putting all the options on the table. I'm sort of curious how his social security plan benefits anyone other than the massive Bush administration selected corporations that will suddenly receive hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money. Do you even know what his plan is or do you just know the talking points?

Are you serious?... few staged town hall meetings?... he's been talking about this for a very long time. not to mention the president does not write laws. He has told the congress to come up with options, and work on a solution to the problem... plain and simple.

i could keep going....

Please do. Although making you look stupid isn't much of a challenge, it was a fun two minutes.

looks a lot different from my chair, princess.

[kyoukan]

looks a lot different from my chair, princess.

That is because your chair is the stool in the corner of the classroom with the pointy hat made out of paper on it.

"You are clueless" and "I smell bullshit" aren't proper counter arguements.

And 400 arrests with 200 convictions isn't really a success rate I'd be proud of in the country's most expensive-to-run department (much less law enforcement and intelligence department). And... wait a fucking second, what 200 convictions? Did you pull that one out off the asshole between your ass cheeks or the asshole underneath your nose?

No more international space station. Hubble, the source of the most signifcant dicoveries about the universe in the last two decades, is crashing into the earth's atmosphere, and Bush wants to build a "newkewler powered rockit ship" that every engineer outside the ones from the contractor that wants eleventry trillion dollars to build one says is unfeasable, because he really thinks that it will be done in 3 years and he will be the president that went to mars. I hope they send him to fucking mars. Maybe he can have an intellectual discussion with the water molecules and tell them about his big big plans for social security.

[Midnyte_Ragebringer]

looks a lot different from my chair, princess.

That is because your chair is the stool in the corner of the classroom with the pointy hat made out of paper on it.

"You are clueless" and "I smell bullshit" aren't proper counter arguements.

And 400 arrests with 200 convictions isn't really a success rate I'd be proud of in the country's most expensive-to-run department (much less law enforcement and intelligence department). And... wait a fucking second, what 200 convictions? Did you pull that one out off the asshole between your ass cheeks or the asshole underneath your nose?

No more international space station. Hubble, the source of the most signifcant dicoveries about the universe in the last two decades, is crashing into the earth's atmosphere, and Bush wants to build a "newkewler powered rockit ship" that every engineer outside the ones from the contractor that wants eleventry trillion dollars to build one says is unfeasable, because he really thinks that it will be done in 3 years and he will be the president that went to mars. I hope they send him to fucking mars. Maybe he can have an intellectual discussion with the water molecules and tell them about his big big plans for social security.

blah blah negative babble

You can find the faults in anything. Absolutely anything. So the more you bring up, it means nothing.

[Cartalas]

Bitter Party of One Bitter Party of one

[Drasta]

Bush Stinks

[Metanis]

0 attacks on the homeland. I seem to remember a pretty big one. no attacks on the homeland under Clinton and Carter though.

I think the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 would count here. I also would remind folks of the bombing of the USS Cole, an act of war, which Clinton handled poorly.

To answer Kelshara's jab directly, President Bush is doing an effective job at many things. There are areas which he could certainly do better. But then you'd have to ask "better than whom"? I would like to see him shut off the Mexican border. I'd like to see him cut $1Trillion out of Welfare programs. I'd like to see him articulate the culture of life more strongly.

In the end however, you gotta love how the godless, socialist Left hates him. That's good enough for me because it implies an effectiveness which is heartening for my conservative Christian soul.

[Zaelath]

Hey, it's no wonder Clinton wants the 22nd amendment repealed (http://www.veeshanvault.org/forums/view ... hp?t=13710) with the way things are going at the moment, Hillary would love to run against Bush and give him a humiliating drubbing.

And Fash; seriously dude, you really have to stop taking everything people say at face value. Or do you have your hydrogen car on pre-order? *gigglesnort*

[Midnyte_Ragebringer]

And Fash; seriously dude, you really have to stop taking everything people say at face value. Or do you have your hydrogen car on pre-order? *gigglesnort*

Yes Fash. You really need to have an opinion that differs from the negative bitter fucks on this board. The fact that you do must mean you are dumb and take things at face value. When you share an opinion with the negative bitter fucks on this board, that means you are enlightened and intellectually sound.

[Zaelath]

In the end however, you gotta love how the godless, socialist Left hates him. That's good enough for me because it implies an effectiveness which is heartening for my conservative Christian soul.

Yeah, you're just the type of "Christian" that turns my stomach; your xenophobic family have always attended a Christian church, so you think you're a Christian. The same type of Christians that think killing to protect your greedy monopolisation of the worlds resources is justified.

Pious, self-righteous, deluded wastes of space that have more in common with Pontious than JC.

[Metanis]

Pious, self-righteous, deluded wastes of space that have more in common with Pontious than JC.

This is pretty much true of most people. The marvelous reality is that Christ still died to save my unworthy soul. Your's too.

[Zaelath]

And Fash; seriously dude, you really have to stop taking everything people say at face value. Or do you have your hydrogen car on pre-order? *gigglesnort*

Yes Fash. You really need to have an opinion that differs from the negative bitter fucks on this board. The fact that you do must mean you are dumb and take things at face value. When you share an opinion with the negative bitter fucks on this board, that means you are enlightened and intellectually sound.

There's a difference between being negative and being contrary. There's a difference between being misinformed/misled and being a feckless moron that trots out the same tired ass rhetoric in every post that could just as easily be applied to his own arguments and revels in his own ignorance.

Railing against Bush's administration is not "negative" in and of itself.

That would be the kind of thing you love to do; pissing on an opinion for no reason other than it's contrary to your own, with no argument to support your reasoning. (regurgitating Whitehouse press releases and propaganda not withstanding).

[Midnyte_Ragebringer]

Uh-huh.

Yes. Please restate everything I said and turn it around on me. Priceless. haha

[Zaelath]

Uh-huh.

Yes. Please restate everything I said and turn it around on me. Priceless. haha

Difference is, people who are contrary to you can state clearly, and coherently, why they feel you're wrong. You just rant on about how everyone is negative haters, without ever constructing an argument that would be accepted outside a preschool playground.

Or, to put it in your terms; I KNOW YOU ARE, BUT WHAT AM I?

[Kilmoll the Sexy]

Hey, it's no wonder Clinton wants the 22nd amendment repealed (http://www.veeshanvault.org/forums/view ... hp?t=13710) with the way things are going at the moment, Hillary would love to run against Bush and give him a humiliating drubbing.

And Fash; seriously dude, you really have to stop taking everything people say at face value. Or do you have your hydrogen car on pre-order? *gigglesnort*

The Republicans could run David Duke against Hillary and win.

[Nick]

Yep, Kyouk wrapped up this thread pretty nicely.

[Animale]

Okies Mid... here's a non-negative "babble" critique/plan for the whitehouse, in particular one on our energy policies for the future.

Make alternative energy research a focus of the administration. Along those lines, increase the federal monies for solar power/energy creation research by 10-20 fold through NSF initiatives. Pay for it by canceling the bloated and failing "missile shield." Also, create a national center for alternative energy research that has... get this... SCIENTISTS there (i.e. no political cronies running the place). Also, put scientists back on all the scientific advisory panels to the President and fire all the yes men/women currently on them. The President needs to hear all sides, not just those that they agree with (particularly when the side you are ignoring is based on solid research).

Doing these things would make the President truly one for the future. Quite frankly we're doomed if we don't start spending the moolah NOW to start solving the energy/global warming problem.

Animale

[Midnyte_Ragebringer]

Okies Mid... here's a non-negative "babble" critique/plan for the whitehouse, in particular one on our energy policies for the future.

Make alternative energy research a focus of the administration. Along those lines, increase the federal monies for solar power/energy creation research by 10-20 fold through NSF initiatives. Pay for it by canceling the bloated and failing "missile shield." Also, create a national center for alternative energy research that has... get this... SCIENTISTS there (i.e. no political cronies running the place). Also, put scientists back on all the scientific advisory panels to the President and fire all the yes men/women currently on them. The President needs to hear all sides, not just those that they agree with (particularly when the side you are ignoring is based on solid research).

Doing these things would make the President truly one for the future. Quite frankly we're doomed if we don't start spending the moolah NOW to start solving the energy/global warming problem.

Animale

Sounds neat!

Run for President, or work in a campaign for someone who will do those things you find important. If you or your guy loses though, support the man or woman in office and try again in 4 years. Your negativity and vile only make it harder for the current president to do his/her job. I found that to be the case during the Clinton presidency. I think if the extreme right wingers would have laid of him and the media would have reported actual news, he would have had the time to do a much better job.

I have shown my support for all sides of the political spectrum and my ability to be level headed and reasonable......show yours.

plskthxdrvthru

[kyoukan]

haha I love it how you act like such a fucking craptard in 98% of your posts and then suddenly get all sanctimonious about people's opinions.

[Kelshara]

To answer Kelshara's jab directly, President Bush is doing an effective job at many things.

Great answer. No wonder you love Bush so much, you share an equally low level of intelligence and a non-existent ability to answer questions.

[Aruman]

What is really odd is that people in countries in the EU are criticizing the wrong person.

They should be taking a close look at that hokey organization of EU officials and the people that influence them.

Oh, and there is an oxymoron for you... European Union.

[Zaelath]

I have shown my support for all sides of the political spectrum and my ability to be level headed and reasonable......show yours.

You have shown your apathy and love of the status quo, perhaps one day you might graduate to being a citizen. Until then, please stop seeing your flaws as laudible, or at least stop talking about it so you don't seem a complete fucktard.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." --Edmund Burke

[Canelek]

I figured either way, the years 2004-2008 would be a wash until we could get someone useful in office(maybe wishful thinking there). If that jackass would just leave Iraq to its own devices and get our soldiers THE FUCK OUT, then he may be able to salvage some sort of respect.

Same with our soldiers in Afghanistan, but at least they are not in as much danger at the present.

As far as NASA and space exploration, I dig it but it is just not the same as all of the fanfare that space exploration used to receive.

All in all, it is a damn shame that McCain was forced out of the 2000 election. Then again, with all of the mutts that we have had the displeasure of voting on in the last several years, an old box of Lucky Charms seems appealing.

[Midnyte_Ragebringer]

I have shown my support for all sides of the political spectrum and my ability to be level headed and reasonable......show yours.

You have shown your apathy and love of the status quo, perhaps one day you might graduate to being a citizen. Until then, please stop seeing your flaws as laudible, or at least stop talking about it so you don't seem a complete fucktard.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." --Edmund Burke

"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." - My Mother.

..l..

[Winnow]

All in all, it is a damn shame that McCain was forced out of the 2000 election. Then again, with all of the mutts that we have had the displeasure of voting on in the last several years, an old box of Lucky Charms seems appealing.

The front page of the Arizona Republic's Sunday Paper was about McCain running in 2008.

It's a pretty long article so I'll only quote all of it:

2008: Will it be McCain?

Signs point to yes, but the senator won't commit . . . yet

Billy House and Jon Kamman
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 12, 2005 12:00 AM

Sen. John McCain is not officially running for president.

Not yet.

He's just making all the moves in that direction and doing nothing to dissuade anyone from considering him a candidate.

With the 2008 presidential election more than three years away, the Arizona Republican is making it clear in nationally prominent ways that a second run for the White House is more than on his mind; it's a distinct possibility that is now in its formative stages.

McCain consistently has said on network television and in profiles by such dissimilar national magazines as the New Yorker and Men's Journal that he'll make no firm decision until after the November 2006 midterm elections.

"It is still 2005. President Bush was only inaugurated for his second term less than five months ago. Most Americans think it's crazy to begin the next presidential election this early. So do I," McCain told The Arizona Republic. "Since I have not decided to run, I don't think I need to speculate about my prospects."

But unmistakable evidence builds that McCain and his supporters are laying the early groundwork of a campaign for him to succeed Bush.

Consider:


• The four-term senator has been busy traveling to other states since last November's election, including events in New Jersey, Florida and Michigan, at the request of local parties or candidates. In the case of Michigan, he has gone there twice since March. He also is set to appear in Illinois on Friday and has made other public appearances in New Hampshire, New Mexico, Colorado, Maine and Oklahoma.


• McCain or his operatives have reached out in recent months to political consultants based in at least two other key states, Texas and South Carolina, letting them know he is exploring another run for the White House.


• Beyond the magazine profiles and a recent TV movie about his years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, McCain has a new book coming out in October. He also is maintaining a feverish pace as a top guest on network and cable TV news programs, ranging from appearances on CNN to the Fox News Channel.


• McCain has staked out lead roles in a slew of recent headline-grabbing congressional activities. Those range from ridding professional sports of steroid use, to probes of a lobbyist's steering of tribal political contributions to lawmakers, to immigration reform, to his brokering of an eleventh-hour compromise on judicial filibusters in the Senate.

Taking all this together, presidential candidate-watchers such as David Mark, editor of Campaigns & Elections Magazine, says, "It sure looks like he is running.

"He's making the rounds. Sending out the feelers. He's doing all the things you'd expect of a presidential candidate at this stage."

Even McCain's 93-year-old mother, Roberta, told the New Yorker, "I think he's running for president."


Hedging bets
But Rick Davis, McCain's 2000 national campaign manager, said McCain has time and he is going to make the most of it.

Davis suggested that McCain would not be under the same pressure to launch an official all-out push for the White House as early as some others.

"The reality is that he is probably, next to the president, the most sought-after Republican surrogate in the country, and he'll continue to serve in that capacity and travel when he can," Davis said.

As McCain himself sees it, he is ready and able to lead the country in the post-9/11 era of a global fight against terrorism, a persistent war in Iraq, burgeoning budget deficits and intense political partisanship that threatens to overwhelm progress toward solving the nation's problems.

But McCain told The Republic, "As I've often made clear, I have not made a decision about seeking my party's presidential nomination in 2008. Neither have I given the question the serious and detailed consideration it requires."

He added, "People have been kind enough to encourage me to consider another run. And I'm flattered by their offers of support. But, as they will confirm, I've not made any decision, privately or publicly."

Several people close to McCain, including campaign team members from the bitter 2000 contest with Bush, said in interviews that they hope or anticipate that the senator will run again and even acknowledged that they already are thinking of potential GOP primary election strategies for 2008.

"My feeling is he is leaning in that direction. My hope is he will do it. And my hope is this time, this is the charm," said Richard Quinn, South Carolina media consultant for McCain's 2000 presidential campaign.

Quinn said he already has been visited this year by Lanny Wiles, McCain's campaign advance man in 2000, as well as had telephone conversations with John Weaver, who was McCain's political director in 2000.

But Quinn and others also say they believe the senator has not made a final decision about whether to run. They insist he has not given them instructions to start organizing a campaign team.

"I think he believes there's nothing he needs to do or wants to do for the next two years other than be a good senator," Davis said. "In his mind, sometimes that means shaking things up in Washington . . . and let the chips fall and see where they are at the end of 2006."

Still, at the very least, McCain already seems to be actively measuring his chances in 2008.


Support lining up
Last Tuesday, the Dallas Morning News reported that Mark McKinnon, an Austin-based political consultant who oversaw advertising for Bush in 2000 and 2004, has committed himself to helping McCain in 2008 if he runs. This came after the two recently met over lunch in the Senate dining room.

And last Monday, McCain traveled to Macomb County, Mich., outside Detroit, to appear at two Republican events. The state handed him one of his bigger GOP primary victories in 2000.



McCain is expected to make another trip to Michigan in September when thousands of grass-roots state Republicans gather for their biennial leadership conference at Mackinac Island. Traditionally, a number of GOP presidential hopefuls attend that event.


'I like his chances'
Chuck Yob, GOP national committeeman from Michigan, who backed Bush over McCain in 2000, said in an interview that he hopes McCain runs again in 2008 and that "this time, I like his chances a lot."

On Friday, McCain is scheduled to travel to Evanston, Ill., to deliver a commencement speech at Northwestern University. He also will appear at an event in behalf of Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., and the local party.

McCain already has given commencement speeches this spring in Castine, Maine, and Norman, Okla. And on Nov. 18, he went to New Hampshire, the state that holds the nation's first presidential primary every four years, to be the featured speaker at the New Hampshire Bar Association dinner in Manchester.

McCain also has traveled to New Mexico, Colorado and Florida with Bush to promote Social Security reform.

McCain explained to The Republic that much of this travel has been to help strengthen state and local party organizations and to help promote Republican candidates "as I have done in hundreds of similar events throughout my political career."


Signs are there
But it is not only McCain's travel that suggests he may be jockeying for position heading into 2008.

Arizona's senior senator also has been on a big publicity roll.

McCain was a key player in forging a bipartisan agreement on judicial filibusters, one that happened to undermine the authority of one of his potential 2008 GOP presidential rivals, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.

There was the premiere last month of a made-for-TV movie based on McCain's Navy pilot ordeal as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

McCain also has been grabbing headlines with his sponsorship of steroid legislation and a bipartisan proposal for immigration reform that has put him at the forefront of one of the expected big issues in the 2008 race.

And a book tour is coming.

In October, McCain's and co-author Mark Salter's new book, Character Is Destiny, is scheduled for release by Random House. The book, their fourth together, is aimed at children and young adults and focuses on how to build good character.

The underlying assumption by McCain backers heading into 2008 is that the senator is the most well-known and popular of the potential Republican Party presidential candidates.

"And that's not a bad way to start," Davis noted.

Early national polling done in April by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., indicates that McCain would enter the 2008 primary season as the Republican who runs the strongest against potential Democratic general election foes such as Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York, John Kerry of Massachusetts, and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina.


Fences still to mend
But although McCain's political independence and bipartisan slant on such issues as campaign finance, judicial filibusters and global warming continue to help him achieve high marks in polling that includes independents and Democrats, his popularity ratings slip when only Republicans are asked about him.

For example, the Marist poll revealed that just one out of five (20 percent) GOP members preferred McCain among a field of lesser-known potential GOP candidates, putting him second behind former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (27 percent), who is much more moderate than McCain on some social issues.

Mark, the Campaigns & Elections Magazine editor, and some party members, including South Carolina GOP Chairman Katon Dawson, say this is a reflection of how McCain continues to "grate" on the nerves of many of the party's more conservative members.

McCain may be anti-abortion, pro-family, fiscally conservative and strong on defense.

He may argue that he has since mended some fences with conservatives through his adamant support of the Iraq war, or by his pitch for Bush with a speech at the Republican National Convention in New York. But Dawson said Republicans in South Carolina aren't convinced.

McCain's teaming with Democrats last month in a compromise over Bush's judicial nominees helped to rekindle their mistrust, Dawson said.

Then, there has been McCain's constant criticism of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, his refusal to quickly put an end to speculation about possibly being Kerry's running mate last year, and his push for new campaign-finance rules that "have put the handcuffs on state parties," Dawson said.

"To fire up the old Straight Talk Express down here now will take a lot of work," Dawson said, referring to McCain's 2000 campaign bus. "Quite frankly, I don't know how he recharges it."

But Quinn, McCain's 2000 South Carolina media consultant, says his recent polling in South Carolina indicates that the senator now has approval ratings as high as 68 percent among Republicans in the state.

And New York-based pollster John Zogby, who says he has talked "informally" to McCain contacts, says that McCain now does "reasonably well" among conservatives across the country.


Other issues
McCain's age and his health could become campaign issues.

He'll turn 72 in August 2008. Only Ronald Reagan at age 73 was an older president at his inauguration - at the start of his second term. A long scar on the left side of McCain's face is a reminder of his battles with melanoma, a potentially fatal form of skin cancer.

"I won't run for president if my health and age would prevent me from doing the job to the satisfaction of the American people," McCain told The Republic.


'Walk on broken glass'
Marshall Wittmann, a former communications director for McCain and an adviser to McCain's 2000 presidential run who is now with the Democratic Leadership Council, said that if McCain does decide to run for the White House again, Wittmann won't hesitate to join his team.

"I'd walk over a field of broken glass for Senator McCain," Wittmann said. "One thing that transcends party loyalty is my admiration for John McCain."

[Zaelath]

"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." - My Mother.

That was Thumper's mother. I guess your mom was a retard that could only recite shit off TV too.

[Kaldaur]

Bambi ftw

[Midnyte_Ragebringer]

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." --Edmund Burke

I've been thinking about this quote. The thing about perception is you can adapt just about any quote to what you want. America and friends trying to clean up the middle east is the good men doing something so that evil doesn't triumph. The many thing the Bush administration is doing is their attempt to triumph over evil. It just matter if you are a vile negative fuck, which way you see things.

[Zaelath]

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." --Edmund Burke

I've been thinking about this quote. The thing about perception is you can adapt just about any quote to what you want. America and friends trying to clean up the middle east is the good men doing something so that evil doesn't triumph. The many thing the Bush administration is doing is their attempt to triumph over evil. It just matter if you are a vile negative fuck, which way you see things.

That you ever believed that, was naive if understandable. People, especially "stern father" men, want to believe they can "fix" things by a little of the old ultra-violence. People, in general, want to believe their government is acting in their best interests.

That you still believe you're there to help anyone but yourselves, and that you're "cleaning up the middle east"? Give me a break.

[*~*stragi*~*]

The front page of the Arizona Republic's Sunday Paper was about McCain running in 2008.

It's a pretty long article so I'll only quote all of it:

I would have voted for McCain in a heartbeat if he hadn't rolled over like a pussy after bush's pathetic mudslinging trounced him in the primaries.

[Nick]

Oh, and there is an oxymoron for you... European Union.

Here's another one, United States Of America. (If the last election is anything to go by)

[cid]

Oh, and there is an oxymoron for you... European Union.

Here's another one, United States Of America. (If the last election is anything to go by)

Nothing wrong with the last election.

[miir]

United

*cough*

[Seebs]

Most second term presidents tend to piss more people off. Look at who Clinton pardoned on his way out the door.

Anything they do on the second term is just more talking points for their 70K per speaking engagement when they are out of office.


Rice/Powell in 2008!