As McCain adviser Rick Davis cynically announced this week, "This election is not about issues," but instead "about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates." In that case, Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney did John McCain no favors in providing the bookends for his biography this week at the Republican Convention. […]

Coming on the heels of his pandering pick of Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican Party platform is another case study in the opportunism of John McCain. On abortion, same-sex marriage, stem cell research and immigration, the GOP bucked McCain's stated positions each and every time. As it turns out, McCain's acquiescence doesn't merely reflect his […]

The struggles of Sarah Palin's family with the pregnancy of her teenage daughter are their business. But the disaster of the abstinence-only sex education programs she and John McCain fervently support is all of ours. After all, abstinence programs aren't merely a complete - and well documented - failure. As it turns out, teenage pregnancy […]

Once upon a time, the children of American politicians were off limits to the press and the public alike. But while an indignant McCain campaign announced today that the 17-year old daughter of Republican vice presidential Sarah Palin is pregnant, a revelation made in response to the "mud-slinging" of liberal blogs, it is worth remembering […]

Across the right-wing blogosphere and conservative commentariat, the water carriers of the Republican Party can hardly contain their glee that Hurricane Gustav has washed out an appearance by the wildly unpopular President Bush at their Minnesota conclave. Over at the Weekly Standard, "gets Bush out of St. Paul" tops their list of benefits that the […]

One sure measure of McCain VP pick Sarah Palin's extremism is her lawsuit to stop the Bush administration, no friend of the environment, from adding polar bears to the list of endangered species. Now, the Alaska governor has company, as a group of five oil and business organizations have joined in her legal battle against […]

On Sunday, Cindy McCain announced she was "offended" by Barack Obama's critique of her husband as an out-of-touch politician of privilege who "doesn't know" about the economic challenges Americans face. If so, Hurricane Gustav may provide her just the opportunity to refute the point. With the GOP hoping to capitalize on the potential tragedy by […]

With his unexpected selection today of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, John McCain stayed true to form. Not as the mythical maverick, but as the craven opportunist willing to do anything to capture the presidency. Desperate to pander to whatever disgruntled Hillary Clinton voters may remain, McCain turned to a 44 year […]

During the Democratic Convention, the desperately seeking second Mitt Romney has been John McCain's faithful attack dog. On Tuesday, Romney announced that John McCain had "earned" his too-many-to-remember houses with his "hard work," while playing the false Rezko card against Barack Obama. On Wednesday, Romney upped the ante, suggesting that McCain's multiple mansions were reasonable […]

As I've noted previously, what passes for John McCain's health care plan is virtually identical to the stillborn scheme from George W. Bush. Now, the McCain campaign has joined President Bush and indicted former House Majority Leader Tom Delay in offering a novel solution - denial - to the problem of America's 46 million uninsured. […]