Agorism
12-22-2010, 05:47 PM
McCain Still Angry At 2008 Presidential Loss, Friends & Advisers
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/230795/thumbs/s-JOHN-MCCAIN-large300.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2_auu25pI0
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-12-22/john-mccains-dont-ask-dont-tell-dream-votes-and-his-lasting-anger/
When Sen. John McCain took the floor before the groundbreaking vote to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell, he furiously told the Senate, "Today is a very sad day," and announced, "There will be high-fives over all the liberal bastions of America," from "the elite schools that bar military recruiters from campus" to "the salons of Georgetown."
John McCain, the fighter pilot, war hero, and the man who would be king (twice), has been left fighting an opponent that has already left the ring. On the same day as the DADT repeal, he voted against the Dream Act, legislation he initially sponsored. On Tuesday, he voted against ending debate on the anti-proliferation START treaty and is still trying to wedge in an amendment he co-sponsored Monday that addresses his and other Republicans' concerns.
Conversations with friends, advisers, and analysts reveal McCain as a man still angry at his 2008 presidential loss, fueling his desire to remain in the spotlight and an important part of the debate, even on issues where he is out of step with the majority of Americans. (Recent polls say close to 80 percent of Americans support the repeal of DADT.) The old McCain may have negotiated or voted no, but taken a back seat. Now, nearly four months after he beat back a primary challenge with tougher stances on issues like immigration, is the new McCain here to stay?
Last year, when McCain thought he may have had a primary fight in J.D. Hayworth, observers blamed his newly conservative positions on the need to win the primary and expected the maverick McCain to come back once that battle was successfully waged. One close friend, who requested anonymity to speak openly, said McCain's triumphant win was supposed to heal some of the wounds from his loss to Obama. "Certainly everyone's hope is that it would be cathartic. Take your anger out on this punching bag and then come back, but he hasn't," the friend said, referring to Hayworth. "It's based on having lost in 2008 and then conducting himself in a way that he doesn't like. He's not someone who likes to close himself off from the media, issue positions that I don't believe he believes in order to get reelected in the Senate, and I think he's angry about that, on top of anger from 2008."
David Berman, a political science professor at Arizona State University and a longtime McCain observer, said the senator cannot let go on issues like DADT and START because of lingering resentment about Obama's win. "He has been on a tear to make Obama look less than favorable, to put it mildly, and I think he is a little bit bitter about the election," he said. "I think he is a very proud man, he was very upset he didn't do better, and resents this young man with very little experience beat him in the last election...He doesn't think of Obama as someone qualified to be commander in chief."
McCain's triumphant primary win was supposed to heal some of the wounds from 2008. "Certainly everyone's hope is that it would be cathartic. Take your anger out on this punching bag and then come back, but he hasn't."
McCain has said he is upset at what he sees as legislation being rushed through the lame-duck session, but he has expressed openness to a DADT repeal in the past. In 2006 he said he would change his position if the "leadership of the military" came to him in favor of repeal. That happened when Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a Bush appointee, lent his support to the repeal, as did Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But McCain was not swayed, citing problems he saw in the recent Pentagon report on DADT concluding that a repeal is supported by nearly two-thirds of active-duty service men and women). The senator said "thousands" of men and women serving have told him a repeal would be harmful.
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/230795/thumbs/s-JOHN-MCCAIN-large300.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2_auu25pI0
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-12-22/john-mccains-dont-ask-dont-tell-dream-votes-and-his-lasting-anger/
When Sen. John McCain took the floor before the groundbreaking vote to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell, he furiously told the Senate, "Today is a very sad day," and announced, "There will be high-fives over all the liberal bastions of America," from "the elite schools that bar military recruiters from campus" to "the salons of Georgetown."
John McCain, the fighter pilot, war hero, and the man who would be king (twice), has been left fighting an opponent that has already left the ring. On the same day as the DADT repeal, he voted against the Dream Act, legislation he initially sponsored. On Tuesday, he voted against ending debate on the anti-proliferation START treaty and is still trying to wedge in an amendment he co-sponsored Monday that addresses his and other Republicans' concerns.
Conversations with friends, advisers, and analysts reveal McCain as a man still angry at his 2008 presidential loss, fueling his desire to remain in the spotlight and an important part of the debate, even on issues where he is out of step with the majority of Americans. (Recent polls say close to 80 percent of Americans support the repeal of DADT.) The old McCain may have negotiated or voted no, but taken a back seat. Now, nearly four months after he beat back a primary challenge with tougher stances on issues like immigration, is the new McCain here to stay?
Last year, when McCain thought he may have had a primary fight in J.D. Hayworth, observers blamed his newly conservative positions on the need to win the primary and expected the maverick McCain to come back once that battle was successfully waged. One close friend, who requested anonymity to speak openly, said McCain's triumphant win was supposed to heal some of the wounds from his loss to Obama. "Certainly everyone's hope is that it would be cathartic. Take your anger out on this punching bag and then come back, but he hasn't," the friend said, referring to Hayworth. "It's based on having lost in 2008 and then conducting himself in a way that he doesn't like. He's not someone who likes to close himself off from the media, issue positions that I don't believe he believes in order to get reelected in the Senate, and I think he's angry about that, on top of anger from 2008."
David Berman, a political science professor at Arizona State University and a longtime McCain observer, said the senator cannot let go on issues like DADT and START because of lingering resentment about Obama's win. "He has been on a tear to make Obama look less than favorable, to put it mildly, and I think he is a little bit bitter about the election," he said. "I think he is a very proud man, he was very upset he didn't do better, and resents this young man with very little experience beat him in the last election...He doesn't think of Obama as someone qualified to be commander in chief."
McCain's triumphant primary win was supposed to heal some of the wounds from 2008. "Certainly everyone's hope is that it would be cathartic. Take your anger out on this punching bag and then come back, but he hasn't."
McCain has said he is upset at what he sees as legislation being rushed through the lame-duck session, but he has expressed openness to a DADT repeal in the past. In 2006 he said he would change his position if the "leadership of the military" came to him in favor of repeal. That happened when Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a Bush appointee, lent his support to the repeal, as did Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But McCain was not swayed, citing problems he saw in the recent Pentagon report on DADT concluding that a repeal is supported by nearly two-thirds of active-duty service men and women). The senator said "thousands" of men and women serving have told him a repeal would be harmful.