McCain in Orlando touts exp., defends war

Sen. John McCain just wrapped up a speech before newspaper editors in Orlando in which he sounded a hopeful message about the economy, railed against budget earmarks and reaffirmed his support of the war. He also tried to blunt criticism about his environmental record.

"I can look you in the eye and tell you it’s long and it's hard and it's tough and there are a lot of hurdles to overcome, but we are winning in Iraq now ," McCain said before a packed audience at a Disney hotel.

The Arizona Republican said the excessive use of earmarks -- funding for home base projects that are commonly derided as "pork" -- have created a cynical public and undercut attempts to overhaul Medicare and Social Security. "If we don’t go to them with clean hands ... and we've haven't been very careful in the use of every single one of their tax dollars, then they are not going to be willing to join in those much needed reforms."

McCain was asked about opposition to a bill that, among many other things, provided $2-billion for Everglades restoration. "I do not and will not and have been proud not to have voted for omnibus spending bills in which many cases there is no authorization nor is there hearings or scrutiny. I am committed to saving the Everglades. I will do whatever is necessary to do so."

McCain took few overt swipes at Sen. Barack Obama, saying he thinks the farm bill his Democratic challenger voted for recently was a handout to agribusiness. But mostly McCain touted his experience.

Responding to a question about what he would do to prevent the sexism and racism that tinged the Democratic primary, McCain said Obama had "inspired people in American in a very, very impressive way."

He added: "I will do everything I can to keep that kind of ugliness out of this political campaign."

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain R-Ariz. speaks at the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors & Florida Press Association convention in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. [AP Photo]

Comments

Fool...if you keep ugliness out of a campaign, you're going to lose. It looks like Rush and Sean are going to have to carry your sorry butt on their backs.

Did he say we are winning in Iraq?

3:09 That's what got the GOP where they are today. Bunch of hateful, heartless losers.

have you seen this guy's public speaking? he's terrible...people will think he's senile...10 town hall meetings with obama? are you kidding me? Obama will make him look like a fool...

Go John Go!

he speaks well in forums. Better than Obama, who without a speech scrpited, says "Um" about 10 times a minute... and says absolutely nothing of substance... but that is about par for the Democrats.

Not running on any idea, just running against other people's ideas.

[Kenneth]

Defending the war? Did he bet against himself?

3:41, I agree. Saw the interview on Bay News 9. McCain not only sounded lost, but he didn't look very alert either.

- not running on any new ideas, just the McSame.

Oh no… McSame is shaking hands with invisible Mr. Bunny again! I hear tell when he was told he was going to Orlando he said, “Oh goody, I always liked that Tony guy… will Dawn be there too Mommy?”… then he yelled out the window at the mailbox and told it to stop p-ing on his grass. Oye!

[Mike]

McCain does have experience, but he isn't what we need. Are you happy with the state of the nation today? No? Okay, then vote for Obama. McCain will continue Bush's policies.

[Donald Lance]

4:46. Have you ever heard of the economic term "Capital Flight"? Vote for Barry so you can experience it first hand.

[Renee]

He's defending this war? He just lost my vote and I'm a Republican.
My husband has been overseas in Iraq for a while now and he said it is totally pointless. We need to end this war. My husband and I are both Republicans and we will be voting for Obama.

Donny, we've talked about your little problem with your mouth... now, leave the dog alone and get back in the basement.

[Donald Lance]

Go clock out Joker! It's time for you to go back to tent city for the night!
While I have you Joker, riddle me this: What will this country look like under a Socialist regime? Bush is done, don't talk about him. Talk about going forward if you can.

Donny, mumzie just made you a nice bowl of your favorite mac-n-cheese. Now, deflate the doll, log out of your teen chat room, wipe the screen off… and come eat with mumzie. Don’t worry, mumzie will let you do those weird little things you like to do with the dog later… but for now, my widdle Ted Bundy… come to mumzie!

… freaking sick punk

[Donald Lance]

It's thoughts like that that cause you to belittle yourself. Keep posting because you display a dark side of yourself and that is the reason you don't have a girlfriend!

[Rockabilly]

Donald Lance: man, those cicadas are repulsive, aren't they? What kind of conscience or intelligence or lack thereof is displayed anonymously posting those vicious and sick insults?

[Flagophile]

Donald,

Bush is fair game when talking about McCain because McCain has voted with Bush over 90% of the time. But let's forget about the past.

Going forward, McCain has promised to continue Bush's failed strategies on Iraq, global terrorism, rogue states, the economy, and healthcare, to name a few.

Unless you can explain how McCain has SUBSTANTIVE differences with Bush on those issues, linking McCain to Bush is perfectly fair and reasonable.

McCain and the RNC will be this years quiet storm. The dems are oozing over-confidence and that, in and of itself, is a weakness. Aesop called this one guys, and I hate to spoil the ending for you, but the tortoise wins. Slow and steady Johnny you'll be fine.

Even old Fagophile seems cocky. I say the more confident the dems are the better. Remember the New York Giants!

I agree with Flagophile. Relationships like McCain's with Bush are fair game.

And so are the many of Obama:

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/06/05/guilt-by-association-obamas-relationship-baggage/

Even worse for Obama are the relationships within his own Party.

Some great ads, from within his own Party, that are going to sink Obama's ship in the primary.

http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2008/06/once_twice_thre_1.html

Obama thinks the primary made him a stronger candidate. I think not. Look at the videos and you'll see why.

[Marine Mom]

Renee @ 4:49, I'm with you!
McCain doesn't get it AND he opposed the new GI bill.

Obama wasn't in the military but he has a lot of support from veterans. I think he will soon have Colin Powell's endorsement as well.

"McCain doesn't get it..."

Hell... he doesn't even remember where it is!

"Responding to a question about what he would do to prevent the sexism and racism that tinged the Democratic primary, McCain said..."Well shoot, I think everybody ought to own a b-tch and one of them darkies... I do!"

[R]

Here's a nice photo of the little cicadas that emerged to chirp at 8:22 and 8:28:

http://www.cicadamania.com/cicadas/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/img_1789_smaller.jpg

[Donald Lance]

Flogophile. You can scour history all you want, but I don't think you'll ever find a nominee of a party in total disagreement with the CEO they aspire to replace. So my question wasn't is Bush fair game? My question was to talk about the future of this country without mentioniing Bush, since he will be history soon enough. Dems can't blame Bush for the next 4 years if they win, so I want to know what the Dem vision is without bashing Bush. I thought that was a relatively simple question.

[SPEAR OF DESTINY]

Bush McBush McSame!

Sorry Donald, your boy doesn't escape that easy. He's walking the Bush walk, and that makes him fair game. And anyone who can fix the Republican mess in 4 years would be a miracle worker. Especially given the very deliberate effort the entirely corrupt and morally bankrupt Bush adminstration has made to ensure that even if the American people so desire, change will be very very hard to implement. I hope for all of our sakes, including the rest of the world's, that we can turn this country around. Even Donald Lance the shallow minded racist pinhead ideologue deserves a better world than the conservatives have planned for us.

Obama = Jimmy Carter

A mirror image. God help our country

Obamarter! We can't take even four years of policies that are the same as Carters.

Obama = More of the same old politics of economic misery suffered with Carter.

Just Say No!!

Brilliant analysis Mike! You are an idiot.

God D... America!

That's what the socialists want. George Soros--will pimp Obama to every communist and socialist leader in the World.

10:28

Takes one to know one---Commie!!

I agree, say no to Obamarter and his tranny wife, hate America minister and through America under the bus approach to foreign affairs.

I'm sure there's a ton of footage out there from 2000 when Bush used his typical dirty tricks to humiliate McCain. The tap dancing should be lively, and Obama's got lots of money to make it happen. He won't need to stoop to the GOP's level to swiftboat McCain; Bush has already done it for him!

We all know that Barack Obama's not really a racist, a terrorist, a commie, a socialist, or a practitioner of hate. These are all lies made up by the desperate GOP spin machine because they know they have a huge uphill battle to undo the damage of the Bush administration, and to convince voters that McCain is not a third Bush term.

Imagine what it will do to our national self-image if we accept the baseless GOP lies and instead elect another Republican; after all the harm they've already inflicted on our citizens.

Imagine how they will gloat at the power of their evil spin and lies to stop meaningful reform. Imagine how their corporate backers will revel in their ability to buy elections. I think if this comes to pass, it may very well spell the end of true democracy, by and for the people.

Drop your partisan masks for a moment and think about what this could mean for our country, and the world. The end of democracy. This should be a concern that spans all political parties; candidates, try telling the truth again, for the preservation of our precious form of government.

Down with Obama and the Socialists who want to take over the U.S. and turn us into a third world country. Down with Rev. Wright, George Soros and all of Obama's gay trolls.

Obamarter---the end of Democracy. Fight to the death to avoid these socialists and baby killers from taking control of our country. We are all in danger of extinction if we ever disagree with the Messiah or his people. They have already set up plans to shut down radio and TV that disagrees with them and to "quarantine" anyone who dare speak out against the Messiah or his followers. They will make Iraq look like a church picnic!

Obama the Black George Bush!

[Donald Lance]

Spear, history will judge Bush. It may turn out that the "Us v Them" and all the conflagrations that came with it may turn out to be the right path, but we won't know that until the future rolls around. So what is it that the DEMS plan to do for the next 4 years? Try to undo 8 years of Bush? Is that the only answer the Dems have? I don't go backward in time, thoughts, economics or anything, so what are the Dems going to do the next 4 years? Please leave Bush out of the answer if you can?

Agree, Attacking Bush is easy. Even members of his own party do that. However, after two years in control of our government and two Democrat candidates who have spent months on the campaign trail, I still have NO meaningful answers to the question: what will we do to make things better? A lot of rhetoric but no substance of anything that is workable and acceptable to the majority of Americans. For sure, socialism of Europe will not pass the smell test come election time. That's the only solution out there right now.

[Flagophile]

Donald and 8:14,

Both of you must be deaf and blind.

If there is one thing that everyone agrees on it is that there are stark differences between the candidates this election cycle.

First, on foreign policy, Obama has proposed negotiating with our enemies in an effort to find common ground. McCain wants to continue Bush's policies of alienating anyone who disagrees with us. A notion that is rather absurd given that amongst our enemies we have made the most progress with North Korea, the only country that we are negotiating with. Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah continue to snub their noses at us.

On the economy, Obama wants to roll back Bush's tax cuts for people making over $200K and lower taxes for those making less. Whether you agree with him or not, that is a substantive difference from McCain's position which is to continue Bush's failed economic policies.

On healthcare, Obama wants to ensure that every American who WANTS health insurance can afford it. McCain, again, wants to continue Bush's failed healthcare policy by eliminating the employer-funded healthcare platform in favor of tax credits to families so that they can buy their own healthcare; a plan that does nothing to address the fundamental problem of healthcare providers selectively choosing customers who are healthy while turning away those with pre-existing conditions.

Now, you may disagree with Obama's positions but he has certainly articulated his plans and they are vastly different from McCain's.

[Flagophile]

Oh, and again, so long as McCain continues to embrace Bush's policies, associating Bush with McCain is fair game.

Why? Because we have seen the results of those policies and unless McCain can explain why his results will be different it is perfectly reasonable for the American people to view McCain's positions in light of Bush's results.

Think:

Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.

or

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

[SPEAR OF DESTINY]

Donald - I like your answer. Obviously it will take a great team of qualified Democrats to implement a successful strategy for the next four years. It's quite clever of you to demand that one lone blogger provide an answer to your question. However, in general, I think a good place to start would be reversing the failed Bush policies in many areas. It will not be easy; I hope that makes you angry, because George Bush has imperiled our nation's future, and purposefully made it very difficult to retreat from the selfish path he has chosen. It's going to take some brilliance to come up with a solution; I hope President Obama will choose his cabinet wisely, and will receive the support of all Americans of good conscience as he seeks to restore our country to a position of global leadership and respect.

[Donald Lance]

And again, the Dems cannot state what their plan is going forward without mentioning Bush in a sentence. Let me recap what you said:
Obama wants to negotiate with the terrorists who want to kill us. You cannot negotiate with zealots - period!
Roll Back tax cuts so this country goes through Capital Flight? You think it's hard finding a job now - just wait!
Healthcare? The Dems want to bring 14% of this economy under govt control. This will bring the percentage of the economy to approx 58% controlled by the govt. More govt is NEVER the answer, and I don't care what the question is.
Flag, you listed ONLY 3 things and included Bush in all 3. Is there only 3 things that the Dems talk about?
How about currency strength? How about the size and scope of the military? How about free trade and globalization? How about education? How about food prices, and energy? How about secured borders? How about illegal immigration? How about conservation? I could go on, but you get my point! The Dems don't talk about any of this. All they say is no more Bush! No Dem can put forth a platform without mentioning Bush!

there they go again - the head-in-the-sand libidiots haven't kept up with the times - which is not surprising since many still live in the 1960's

the ostrich caucus needs to go find those NYT and WaPo editorials and stories that, although not on the front page, are clearly showing the strategy in iraq is working

deaths, military and civilian, are at all time lows

Maliki, a shiite, sent his Iraqi forces to squash an uprising by Sadr, a shiite and political supporter

major legislation regarding oil revenue and federalism has passed the iraqi parliament

i could go on and on

but do forgive me if i am upsetting your little tantrum inspired comments with some facts - but it is rough out here in the real world outside the safety blanket of moveon.org and dailykos

Donald, just because you'd like to take Bush out of the equation doesn't mean its going to happen. If I were a Republican, I imagine I'd love it if people would just forget the failures of the last 8 years. Please, adopt a realistic position instead of buying in to the GOP echo chamber - "If we say it often enough and loud enough, we'll make it come true." BUSH IS A CRIMINAL. BUSH IS A VALID ISSUE, get it?

[Flagophile]

Donald,

This notion that we cannot negotiate with our enemies is absurd. Republicans are trying to portray this as a policy that has always been when in reality it was started by Bush and it has failed.

We've always engaged our enemies. Nixon met with Mao, Kennedy engaged Kruschev, Reagan engaged the Soviet Union.

I mentioned those three issues because they are the most important to the American people in poll after poll.

If you want to discuss the value of our currency, I'd be glad to do so.

Finally, I've already explained why I mentioned Bush. Unless, you can explain why I should not given my explanation above, I will continue to do so.

Given the complex issues facing our nation, I would be very skeptical of any presidential candidate that could put forth a comprehensive solution to the problems caused by the last 8 years of Republican mis-administration at this early date.

Let's not forget that when a politician labels himself the "Environment President" or the "Education President" he's just saying what he thinks is required to satisfy shallow followers like Donald Lance, who are looking for ways to gloss over the unpleasant truth about their candidate and which they can point to as a rationaliztion for voting for their own selfish gain. What the candidate later proposes in policy is the true measure of the his or her position, and is often quite the opposite of what he says to appease the undecided voters.

[Flagophile]

I'm disgusted by how stupid Republicans are.

Bush has destroyed our country and McCain wants to continue on the same path. Not one of you can explain how McCain will change Bush's policies and then you suggest, without any justification, that we should not mention the havoc that those very same policies have wreaked on our country during the last eight years.

I will not engage in such an unreasonable discussion.

Have a nice weekend.

9:51 - you expect republicans to respond to you with reasoned arguments when you don't even offer any yourself?

an argument generally has a claim followed by supporting facts

your claim: Bush has destroyed our country
your facts: NONE

your claim: McCain wants to continue on the same path
your facts: NONE

your claim: policies have wreaked on our country during the last eight years
your facts: NONE

your claim: I will not engage in such an unreasonable discussion
MY facts: you offer no reasonable discussion yourself

and that's all from just one comment - the rest of your comments offer the same unfounded claims - so don't expect what you aren't even offering yourself

[Donald Lance]

I think I proved my point! It's going forward that concerns me - not the past. Once Bush is gone, who are the Dems going to use as a punching bag? In govt, what has been done will never be undone! That's just the way it is and the way it always has been. The Dems haven't done a thing since 2006 so what makes anybody think it will be different going forward? "Judge me by what I've done" was a Barry-ism, so wow does that reflect on Dem controlled house?