McCain: A new Gang of 14
Posted: Thursday, June 12, 2008 9:06 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
2008, McCain
Much was made yesterday -- including by us -- over Oklahoma Rep. Dan Boren (D) not endorsing Obama. Well, according to The Hill, at least 14 GOP senators and members of Congress haven’t yet backed McCain. “Many of the recalcitrant GOP members declined to detail their reasons for withholding support, but Rep. John Peterson (R-Pa.) expressed major concerns about McCain’s energy policies and Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) cited the Iraq war… Republican members who have not endorsed or publicly backed McCain include Sens. Chuck Hagel (Neb.) and Jeff Sessions (Ala.) and Reps. Jones, Peterson, John Doolittle (Calif.), Randy Forbes (Va.), Wayne Gilchrest (Md.), Virgil Goode (Va.), Tim Murphy (Pa.), Ron Paul (Texas), Ted Poe (Texas), Todd Tiahrt (Kan.), Dave Weldon (Fla.) and Frank Wolf (Va.).”
It's clear Joe Lieberman is no Zell Miller, particularly on the issues. His loyalty to McCain is deep, but just how will Democrats handle watching their 2000 veep nominee, say, giving the keynote at the GOP convention? Or speaking at the GOP convention? What keeps the Senate Dems from booting Lieberman from the caucus is this fact in the Los Angeles Times: "Lieberman said that on most issues, he's been a good ally of Senate Democrats. Democratic leaders tend to agree."
VIDEO: A Race for the White House panel discusses the tactics being used by the presidential candidates now that the general election has kicked off.
McCain
reeled in $2 million at a Boston fundraiser. "I know this is a tough state for us to win in. I'll give you some straight talk; it's a tough state for us to win in,” McCain said of Massachusetts. “But I want to go everywhere.” McCain added: "I want to be president of everybody. There is nothing we need more now than a little bipartisanship and a little working across the aisle."
The
AP looks at the advantages and disadvantages for each candidate in a side-by-side town hall setting. “Look for an empty chair Thursday to symbolize Obama's absence from a McCain town hall in New York's Federal Hall.”
“[T]he presumptive Republican nominee seemed to mangle the controversial quote from Obama, who told a private fund-raiser in San Francisco in April that he was having trouble reaching ‘bitter’ small-town voters who ‘cling to guns or religion,’” the
Boston Globe writes. “McCain said Obama, who later conceded he chose his words poorly, belittled small-town residents who cling to religion or ‘the Constitution.’
More: “It is McCain's second slip of the tongue in two days. Tuesday, repeating his pledge to block pork-barrel spending, he told a small summit, ‘I will use the veto as needed. I will veto every single beer -- er bill -- with earmarks.’”
The DNC launches "John McCain vs. the Fact Checkers" on its McCainpedia.
