The Many Faces of McCain

There's been a lot of press lately about the ever-shifting commitments of John McCain.

In a September 17 Op-Ed, Gail Collins wrote about the new and improved "populist" McCain that showed up at a campaign rally in Ohio. This McCain, who in a prior incarnation was not only for deregulation, but actually called for a moratorium on all new regulation, was now in favor of clamping down on rampant Wall St. greed. Collins wrote:

"Really, if McCain is going to keep changing into new people, the campaign should send out notices. (Come to a rally for the next president of the United States. Today he’s a vegetarian!)

We’re going to put an end to the abuses on Wall Street — enough is enough!” this new incarnation yelled, complaining angrily about greed and overpaid C.E.O.’s. Slowly, people begin to peel out of the crowd and drift away. Even in these troubled times, there are apparently a number of Republicans who think highly of corporate executives and captains of high finance."

McCain has also been criticized recently because, while once a champion of immigration reform, he has steadily backed away from his earlier positions to appease a conservative base that wants much tighter restrictions on immigration than he advocated. So, how does he use the immigration issue to bolster his position with some voters without alienating others? He runs the ad only in Spanish. The NY Times reviews the ad, and includes a translation in a recent article,



McCain also likes to remind people that part of his "Maverick" persona was crafted as the champion of campaign finance reform. In fact, the McCain-Feingold legislation was one of his proudest pieces of bipartisan legislation, yet when asked several months ago at at town hall meeting which Supreme Court Justices he would not have appointed, he named Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, David Souter and John Paul Stevens. Those four, along with Sandra Day O'Connor formed the majority that upheld his campaign finance legislation. Now, far from working to close loopholes in campaign finance legislation, the NY Times reports that McCain is exploiting them:

"Senator John McCain toiled for years to push a campaign finance overhaul through Congress. After the measure finally passed, Trevor Potter, a lawyer and vigorous advocate for reforming the system, was instrumental in defending the law from challenges and pressing for strict enforcement.

Now, as Mr. McCain makes his final sprint for the White House, Mr. Potter is again helping Mr. McCain, but this time by maneuvering to wring the maximum out of campaign finance laws in ways that some contend are at odds with the spirit of the reforms they championed."

Now since Wall St. has been imploding, McCain has come under attack because he favors increased privatization of both social security and health care. Critics argue that the events of this week demonstrate how dangerous it could be to put the retirement and health care security at the whim of volatile investment markets--yes the potential for return might be greater in some cases, but for those disinclined to follow markets carefully, their life savings could also be much less secure. You can read the full story, or check out the highlights below.



So let's recap:

McCain was for deregulation, but now more regulation is better
He was for immigration reform before he was against it, but don't tell that to the Spanish-speaking voters
He wanted to close campaign finance loopholes until his opponent raised more money, then loopholes were good
He was for privatizing social security but doesn't want you to call it that anymore

As Frank Rich notes today:

"All campaigns, Obama’s included, engage in false attacks. But McCain, Sarah Palin and their surrogates keep repeating the same lies over and over not just to smear their opponents and not just to mask their own record. Their larger aim is to construct a bogus alternative reality so relentless it can overwhelm any haphazard journalistic stabs at puncturing it."

For a man who built a reputation as a "straight talker," more and more people are asking "what's up with John McCain?!?" Perhaps fittingly, a member of McCain's press corps notes:

"There are now not one but two drawn curtains on Mr. McCain’s plane separating his spacious quarters from the press corps. Left idle is the couch that was built in the front of the plane — called “Straight Talk Air” — to reproduce at 30,000 feet the freewheeling chats with reporters that were the stock-in-trade on his bus; the other morning it was covered with newspapers."

McCain may be clamping down on his straight talk, but his recent actions speak volumes.