Mind if I take a few cheap shots?

"Mr. McCain has long sought to present himself as a singular sort of American politician — straight-talking, iconoclastic and hard to quantify."

And he's going to continue too. He's a self absorbed wannabe as****e that will never get the Republican party base to vote for him because he has alienated so many of them with his voting record already.

I don't care how he wants to present himself, actions speak louder than words and the McCain/Feingold bill along with other bills and votes stuck him in "I'd rather vote for a pig than that SOB." catagory.

Final answer is: If he's the nominee I'll vote for downticket candidates I like but not him.

You realize being a former POW is going to cover a lot of sins.

John McCain, in his youth, suffered at the hands of the North Vietnamese, and I feel for him in that context. With that said- He has evolved into a typical Kennedy sort of self-serving political pig! I am a 65 year old ex-democrat, (JFK convinced me to go to the GOP), veteran who hasn't missed a single presidential election, (and few others), since I was first old enough to vote. I enjoy that continuity! If John McCain is the 2008 candidate, I will not enter the voting booth in that election. His siding with Teddy "the Swimmer" Kennedy is proof positive on his stance. And where in hell do they pay $50.oo an hour to pick lettuce in the "picker patch"?
nuf sed

"You realize being a former POW is going to cover a lot of sins."

Certainly, but it has limits. That part of his past can engender respect but such respect may or may not translate to votes. Some will say that it may speak well for the man, but does not relate to his fitness for the office.

Others will see it as very much related to his fitness, and not in a positive way; the last election cycle saw plenty of questions regarding the effect of McCains experience on his stability. And that is separate from the "Mamchurian Candidate" sentiments the were and probably still are out there.

"Mr. McCain has long sought to present himself as . . . iconoclastic and hard to quantify."

This is a big part, maybe the biggest part of McCain's problem. There can be a fine line between "Iconoclastic and hard to quantify" and "loose cannon." Being dangerously unpredictable may appeal to some hard core supporters, but it doesn't paint one as being presidential material.

And of course having been career army, I think all navy officers are unredeemable pompus a$$holes anyway . . . ;-)

I do believe the Manchurian Candidate people are few and far between. Getting your foot in the door is half the battle, and I think his ex-POW status will play very well here. Folks will be inclined to smile on him and hear him out because of it. What he does once he has their attention is something else.

I don't think people have much knowledge of something like McCain-Feingold.

I think he lacks warmth, and that will definitely hurt him. Also, when peeved, he resembles a boiled tomato. Not good.

I have noticed the boiled tomato effect...he sings
very poorly, also.

I think as a candidate, he lacks the forceful
charisma one usually associates with leadership.
I believe he is a calculator..but people won't
place their faith in that.
Remember the old 'don't know what you got till it's gone' thingy....wait till Bush is out of office.

If John McCain would show us that pair I read about in 'Faith of My Fathers' and start talkin some smack..THEN maybe he could fire some people up..get himself a corncob pipe like his Grandpappy, etc.

"Hi, I'm John McCain and I was a POW" will work about as well as John Kerry's "...reporting for duty" schtick. In both cases it is something to hide behind. Leaders don't hide and McCain has a personality and voting record that requires too much cover.

Despite the MSM cover he has enjoyed for so long, McCain's exploding head will give cartoonists plenty of fodder, probably cause potential impersonators to injure themselves, and will certainly frighten voters.

Because he has been a media darling, he has not suffered the excruciating and prolonged assaults on his character, family, etc., that is reserved for other Republicans. I'm sure his wife will be dragged through the mud if he heads the ticket but I've often wondered what else has been overlooked in McCain's past and present because of his willingness to be played by the MSM.

But in the end the media, his biggest promoter over the years, will abandon him in favor of their true favorite, Hillary or any other Democrat. McCain has been a useful tool for the DNC and their MSM flag bearers - they've tried to cultivate him as another Perot but he has not been the spoiler they wanted because he has been content to sit it out in the Senate. Once he's no longer needed to threaten Bush, they will turn on him and rip him to shreds if he makes the final cut in the primaries.

Bottom line: I am a conservative and I would vote for Hillary and let the liberals defend her for four years against a united conservative opposition before I would help put McCain in a position to do more damage to this country.

McCain joined with Kennedy on the illegal amnesty bill. Keep that line going and stick a fork in him. You can throw in some other goodies if you want to.

Actually, the biggest problems the Reps are looking at are not only bungling border security but what happens with NAIS hits. They seem to have managed to schedule the full blown implementation until after the 2008 elections, but forcing everyone to chip their animals (a.k.a.-the marking of the beasts). Sound weird, I'll give you the sources:

NAIS Draft Plan
NAIS Standards
NAIS Tech Supplement

You can read the rebuttal with references to the above here: Organic Consumers

It looks like it doesn't take HTML, here are the raw links:

http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/about/pdf/NAIS_Draft_Strategic_Plan_42505.pdf
http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/about/pdf/NAIS_Draft_Program_Standards_42505.pdf
http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/about/pdf/NAIS_Technical_Supplement_072605.pdf

http://www.organicconsumers.org/ofgu/ID060202.cfm

I will not vote for John McCain. I'm a Reagan/Gingrich style conservative, and I'd love to see Newt lead a third party revolution. Call it the Conservative Constitutional Party. Govern accordingly. What a concept.

What the...?

Batting in the number eight slot and playing way out in left field, Kamatu. Animal ID? NAIS? I don't think these are big issues coast to coast though it might resonate with the tinfoil lobby.

Is this about a radio tracking device for McCain? Like one of those things they slap on some polar bear after they've shot him in the behind with a dart gun? He's already so easy to find - either from his bright bulging head or the crowd of clamoring reporters that he leads around. So, no, I don't think we'll need to put a tracker on him, despite the fact that it is hard to figure why he stands where he does sometimes.

Now one of those big plastic funnel collars they put on a pet to prevent it from undoing surgical work might come in handy with that big boiled tomato-head, but man, I just don't see the animal ID plank making it into a party platform.

I think a lot of us are Reagan conservatives, Mike. The problem is there aren't a lot of Ronald Reagans out there. There were a lot of horror-struck people when we discovered that President Bush can spend, spend, spend, like there ain't no end.
McCain comes across as crotchety and brittle. His facial expressions say he's dealing with fools. I can't imagine him taking the criticism he would receive as President with any good grace. We might become all-too familiar with the boiled tomato effect.
In all fairness, his service and that of John Kerry in no way compare. Kerry was a self-serving, back-stabbing prick, which is why the Swiftboaters are still after his ass. I doubt McCain would even mention his ex-POW status. I do think he's too classy for that. BTW, that "Reporting for duty" opening was a gift from God. He tried to trade on what he had once spat on and it backfired on him big time.

Ah, Perot. He had so much potential. What a freakish circus that turned out to be. My heart still aches when I think of how ill-used Jim Stockdale was. It was like when Lucy came out with another comedy show when she was like 80, and everyone was begging her from their livingroom, "Please, Lucy, please don't do physical comedy. You'll break your hip and die." It was just sad.

McCain has too much Jimmah Carter-esque characteristics about him to *really* hold down the
west wing. Somehow he was able to find a decent
NVA guard in the bunch, while he sat in the Hilton.
I believe he thinks the same thing about dealing with the Dems in DC...only problem is, although I am certain that there are decent Dems out there, who wants to watch John McCain take inventory ?? Watching Jimmah Carter 'get used' to being President was kinda painful. nah, we need somebody who will hit the ground running..now who could that be ?

btw, you wanna see hell's fury..right here in the U.S ? let the left elect someone..forget Hillary I say, that ain't happening..anyone that thinks so
is truly out of touch.

csason,

Hillary's husband never received a plurality - he was elected and reelected thanks to the votes that Ross Perot pulled from Bush and Dole. Clinton might have won the last one without Perot's help but McCain is the spoiler of today, in many a Dem's mind. The DNC would love to see him pulling an Independent ticket. Hillary will unite conservatives - something no Republican seems capable of doing right now at any level of government.

I'll be voting for the Republican in 11/08. If it's McCain, then so be it. That's the only true thing I know. I can only hope that other Republicans and conservatives will not stay home or, perhaps worse, vote for a third party.

Yes, you've got to go in there and do your civic duty no matter what.

As I've said before, for his service to this country as a Marine, he has the respect and admiration he earned.

For what he's done as a politician, he has my contempt and anger.

Noone who has shown themselves as willing to trash the Constitution as he has, has any business in the Oval Office.

McCain was a USN aviator. His father was an admiral - the family is rich in military history but this particular son leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to politics. True leadership and politics are often at odds and McCain is not exempt.