10 things you should know about McCain, but don't

10 things you should know about John McCain
(but probably don't):

1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday
in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his
position has "evolved," yet he's continued to oppose key
civil rights laws.

2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish
than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist
Pat Buchanan says McCain "will make Cheney look like
Gandhi."

3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but
McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then
applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.

4. McCain opposes a woman's right to choose. He said, "I do
not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned."

5. The Children's Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst
senator in Congress for children. He voted against the
children's health care bill last year, then defended Bush's
veto of the bill.

6. He's one of the richest people in a Senate filled with
millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife
own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to
the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a
"second job" and skip their vacations.

7. Many of McCain's fellow Republican senators say he's too
reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator
said: "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill
down my spine. He's erratic. He's hotheaded. He loses his
temper and he worries me."

8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but
his campaign manager and top advisers are actually
lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen
says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his
campaign, more than any of the other presidential
candidates.


9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious
right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his "spiritual
guide," Rod Parsley, believes America's founding mission is
to destroy Islam, which he calls a "false religion." McCain
sought the political support of right-wing preacher John
Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God's
punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church
"the Antichrist" and a "false cult."

10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored
a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last
year.

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1. "The Complicated History of John McCain and MLK Day,"
ABC News, April 3, 2008
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/04/the-complicated.html

"McCain Facts," ColorOfChange.org, April 4, 2008
http://colorofchange.org/mccain_facts/

2. "McCain More Hawkish Than Bush on Russia, China, Iraq,"
Bloomberg News, March 12, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aF28rSCtk0ZM&refer=us

"Buchanan: John McCain 'Will Make Cheney Look Like
Gandhi,'" ThinkProgress, February 6, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/06/buchanan-gandhi-mccain/
3. "McCain Sides With Bush On Torture Again, Supports Veto
Of Anti-Waterboarding Bill," ThinkProgress,
February 20, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/20/mccain-torture-veto/

4. "McCain says Roe v. Wade should be overturned,"
MSNBC, February 18, 2007
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17222147/

5. "2007 Children's Defense Fund Action Council®
Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard," February 2008
http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/PageServer?pagename=act_learn_scorecard2007
"McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance
expansion," CNN, October 3, 2007
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/03/mccain.interview/

6. "Beer Executive Could Be Next First Lady," Associated
Press, April 3, 2008
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h-S1sWHm0tchtdMP5LcLywg5ZtMgD8VQ86M80

"McCain Says Bank Bailout Should End `Systemic Risk,'"
Bloomberg News, March 25, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aHMiDVYaXZFM&refer=home

7. "Will McCain's Temper Be a Liability?," Associated Press,
February 16, 2008
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=4301022

"Famed McCain temper is tamed," Boston Globe,
January 27, 2008
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/27/famed_mccain_temper_is_tamed/

8. "Black Claims McCain's Campaign Is Above Lobbyist
Influence: 'I Don't Know What The Criticism Is,'"
ThinkProgress, April 2, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/02/mccain-black-lobbyist/

"McCain's Lobbyist Friends Rally 'Round Their Man,"
ABC News, January 29, 2008
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4210251

9. "McCain's Spiritual Guide: Destroy Islam,"
Mother Jones Magazine, March 12, 2008
http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2008/03/john-mccain-rod-parsley-spiritual-guide.html

"Will McCain Specifically 'Repudiate' Hagee's Anti-Gay
Comments?," ThinkProgress, March 12, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/12/mccain-hagee-anti-gay/

"McCain 'Very Honored' By Support Of Pastor Preaching
'End-Time Confrontation With Iran,'" ThinkProgress,
February 28, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/28/hagee-mccain-endorsement/

10. "John McCain Gets a Zero Rating for His Environmental
Record," Sierra Club, February 28, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/environment/77913/