McCain Cast As Warrior For Better Or Worse

CBSNews.com Reports: Risk And Reward In GOP Nominee's Embrace Of Military Background

(CBS)  This story was written by CBSNews.com political reporter Brian Montopoli.

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It seems that even John McCain - who, over the course of more than 20 years in the Senate and two presidential runs, has become a familiar name - isn't yet beyond an introduction.

McCain's campaign has spent the past week engaged in a "biography tour," which wraps up tomorrow in Prescott, Arizona, designed to reintroduce the presumptive GOP nominee to voters.

The tour, which has gotten less media attention than the campaign had hoped thanks to the continued uncertainty in the Democratic race, has offered a new and fascinating portrait of the young McCain. The candidate has cast himself as a mediocre, rebellious student who gradually developed the values and strength he needed to survive five years in a North Vietnamese prison and become the man he is today.

As he has filled in some of the details of his early years, however, McCain has continued to position himself as a candidate tied, to an overarching extent, to the military and military service - even as he’s tried to broaden that theme out to embrace all kinds of service. The tour, dubbed "Service To America," included stops at the U.S. Naval Academy and the Mississippi town where McCain trained fighter pilots; all week, he has stressed his Naval Academy exploits and his time as a soldier and prisoner of war, as well as his family's long history of service.

This is not unfamiliar ground for the McCain campaign: Particularly in its advertising, the campaign has repeatedly tied the candidate to military heroism. McCain's first general election ad, "624787" - a reference to his military number - shows a young McCain laying in a hospital bed after having been captured and tortured in Vietnam. A web-only ad called "A Man In The Arena" includs images of Winston Churchill and Theodore Roosevelt; Another web ad, "Journey To Freedom," covers similar ground.

The decision to stress McCain's military ties is perhaps not surprising from a candidate whose campaign resurgence was linked to his continued support of the Iraq war, and whose heroic personal history offers an appealing narrative. But it does not come without risks. Democrats have looked to portray McCain as a warmonger unwilling to pull out of an extended and unpopular conflict - note their (perhaps unfair) criticism of his comments concerning staying in Iraq for 100 years. And with the economy in an apparent downturn and Americans citing economic issues as their chief concern, McCain needs to convince Americans that he is capable of handling economic issues, not just military ones, according to Democratic strategist Bob Shrum.

"McCain now has to satisfy people that he doesn't think the answer to every problem is confrontation and war," Shrum said. "And that he's not going to stubbornly stay in Iraq no matter what. And he can't let people think it's all national security and none of it is about the economy. He needs to give people a sense that he knows a lot about it and he cares a lot about it."

Still, Republican consultant John Feehery calls McCain's biography tour a "good play."

"He's coming off as a fierce patriot, someone who really loves this country, and that makes a nice contrast to the Democrats," Feehery said. "I think it will play well with older voters, blue-collar Reagan Democrat types. It won't play well with war protesters, but that's ok."

Nonetheless, Feehery said, McCain's focus on the past has its disadvantages - it could remind people that McCain, for all his heroic exploits, is no longer a young man. (McCain will be 72 on inauguration day, which would make him the oldest first-term president in history.) And he acknowledges that McCain could be vulnerable if he is seen as insufficiently focused on the economy, a topic that McCain acknowledged in 2005 that he knows "a lot less about" than military and foreign policy issues.

"He's got to work effectively after the biography tour to shore up that vulnerability," Feehery said. "He's got a record as something of an economic populist, but he's surrounded himself with advisors like Phil Gramm who are Milton Friedman-type economists. He's got to make a decision which way he wants to go on that."

In 2004, another Vietnam-era war hero, John Kerry, ran for president on the Democratic ticket. Despite his war heroism, Kerry spent much of the campaign defending his military service.

"When he stood up at the Democratic convention and said, 'I'm John Kerry reporting for duty and here are all my buds,' he walked into an ambush," said Chris LaCivita, a national republican consultant who worked with the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth, an advocacy group that ran ads questioning Kerry's military record.

"Kerry decided to make his military legacy an anti-military legacy," said LaCivita. "He was defaming and attacking members of the military that served in Vietnam when he got back from war. His service record was always this cloud, this mishmash of memories."

LaCivita argues that McCain doesn't have that problem.

"In the case of John McCain, the reason why [stressing his military history is] a no-brainer, and a good solid foundation in which for him to build on, is because his record of service, his family's legacy of service, is completely and utterly beyond reproach. You can't touch it."

Shrum, who was Kerry’s campaign manager, agrees.

"I don't think anybody is going to attack John McCain on military issues," he said. "I don't think there's the remotest chance of that happening."

McCain's vulnerability, he said, comes from the potential perception not that he is insufficiently committed to the military but that he is too committed to military intervention.

"The 'bomb Iran' thing was not smart. And the '100 years' is a statement he's just going to have to live with," Shrum said, comparing it to Kerry's comment that he "actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it,” which exposed the candidate to charges of flip-flopping.

Republican strategist Todd Harris, a former McCain spokesman who is friendly with the campaign, said McCain is right to talk up his military ties.

"McCain is already so defined by his military service that to do anything but embrace that critical part of his biography would seem disingenuous to voters," he said.

"Sen. McCain is rightfully proud of the military tradition in his family," added Harris. "The campaign thinks that his national service is something that has helped prepare him to lead our country during the difficult times. And I expect to hear a lot more about it in the future."

[leftyintexas]

We don''t need nor want any more ''warriors'' in the White House. We need statesmen not people like Doofus and Butthead.

[tapsettle]

Hi CattleKate. Yes we get Fox News but I dont think many take it seriously. It''s funny to watch them squabble sometimes. Probably should be called something else as it clearly isnt a news channel in the normal sense. Personally I get my news from many sources including Reuters website, but folks here mostly look at the national TV channels, if they can be bothered to watch the news at all. No it''s not an insult to be called a ''Kiwi'' as that is what a NZ citizen is. I get called a ''Pom'' because I wasnt born here, and I dont mind so long as the word is not preceded by an expletive :-). I am interested in who wins your election because it inevitably impacts the broader world. I hope it is someone who will repair the western image in the world as I want my children to one day be able to travel as young explorers, and not as western targets.

[element51]

I''ve been sitting here reading these posts till my butt is sore and honestly I haven''t picked up even one new idea. But I have been able to laugh at a lot of the comments. You guys are actually funny sometimes. I do enjoy the comments when mudrose is involved. This guy is so calm but has the ability to make others furious. We all have our ideas about who should go to the White House and obviously most are passionate about what they think. But the bottom line is that whoever gets there is going to have their hands full since they will inherit a bloody mess. Since we''re all in the same boat whatever happens will touch us all so we better hope that there are some changes made that are the right ones. Whoever wins will have my support until they no longer deserve it but I really hope for the best. But you have to remember the old joke, "How do you know when a politician is lying?" Answer: His lips are moving. They all do it and we know they all do it so why make such a big issue of a little BS. BS is what greases the wheels of government. Smells bad but it works. You all have a good day and try to laugh a little.

[whitepicks2]

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.

[whitepicks2]

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%u2014yes, zero%u2014from the League of Conservation Voters last year.

[cattlekate]

Posted by TapSettle at 07:46 AM : Apr 06, 2008

Just curious - do you have Fox News there?

It is a 24/7 political machine for the Repubs here in the USA. And it is powerful.

In Canada, when I was there several years ago, it was not let in as it was too partisian.

But you are close to Murdoch''s Aussie roots, so I am curious if NZ has it.

Is your main news source BBC? We cannot get it on our cable here.

(PS - Is it an insult to be called a Kiwi there?)

[tapsettle]

I''m in New Zealand where we tend to call it as it is. McCain is the man who laughingly sang ''bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iram'' to the beach boys barbara-ann tune, right? He also consistently voted to expand the Iraq war, and send more troops, and support all pro-war legislation and presidential vetos, right? So why the fuss when someone calls him a warmonger??? If you are not allowed to tell the truth anymore, how can you possibly be surprised when it is so frequently absent from your politics?

[wfbdem]

Vote gop + You hate America,
Real patriots vote against destroying the American Reputation in the war.


Why does the right hate the USA? Why do they consider the Bill of Rights, the foundation of our government "That liberal document" (actual quote from Rush)? If you vote GOP this year, you hate America.

[ksh1022]

Which is why we should not select Obama. The war hero ex-prisoner of war vet senator against the no experience anti-America church supporting, whose wife has never been proud before junior senator who is all talk. That makes sense doesn''t it? I''m beginning to think I''m too smart to be a Democrat. I''ve watched Mondale, Dukakis, Kerry and probably Obama. The best thing we had was Clinton. And yet we will probably let the young voters who don''t even know who Dukakis and Mondale are and the media which is Republican owned select Obama. So I guess it will be President McCain. When it should be the hard working, smart, experienced, tough, capable Hillary.

[vmcneal2]

McCain''s application to the National War College was rejected, but daddy pulled some strings and got him in.

[vmcneal2]

McCain graduated 894 out of 899 from the US Naval Academy. While at the Naval Academy McCain''s nick name was McNasty (earned for his personality)

Obama graduated Magna *** Laude from Harvard Law School. Obama was well liked by his classmates at Harvard and was President of the Harvard Law Review.

[homespunlady]

So, all "glorious" SPUN history aside let''s get to the MEAT of the election.

Unemployment, Poverty, lack of Health-care, the number of "discouraged workers" that ARE NOT part of the unemployment picture, and more DEPRESSION INDICATORS are all soaring off the charts.

WHAT are ALL the candidates proposing and what are their Political/Social ACTION Histories in that regard?
THAT is the REAL test of Leadership in my book.

Having served over 20 years in the Military I''m well aware that it''s made up of a VERY DIVERSE cross-section of America and reflects it.

McCain is a PERFECT example as the Bio PROVES.

As a member of a DYNASTIC MILITARY ELITE; his way was PAVED by INFLUENCE through an elite military Ivy-league equivalent school despite SUB PAR PERFORMANCE that would have had ANY non-elite TOSSED OUT.

Sounds like W''s way being paved through Harvard through the INFLUENCE of HIS POLITICAL/BANKING/OIL DYNASTIC FAMILY''S INFLUENCE despite HIS SUB-PAR performance ALSO.

So, what has McCain proposed to alter for the benefit of this nation all the encroaching DEPRESSION INDICATORS?

MORE WAR - the elite has always considered war a "profitable venture" since they are "above the fray".

LET THEM EAT CAKE - another elite concept attributed to Marie Antoinette but also shown by the NERO fiddling while Rome burned story.
McCain puts it in the terms that he doesn''t believe in "bailing out" the POOR but he''s go along with "bail out EXCEPTIONS for the ELITE.

[vmcneal2]

"I''m proud and honored to have his endorsement"

John McCain''s reaction to Rev. John "bigot" Hagee''s endorsement.

[taotxzen]

How the White House twisted American law
Published: April 4, 2008

You can often tell if someone understands how wrong their actions are by the lengths to which they go to rationalize them. It took 81 pages of twisted legal reasoning to justify President George W. Bush''s decision to ignore federal law and international treaties and authorize the abuse and torture of prisoners.

Eighty-one spine-crawling pages in a memo that might have been unearthed from the dusty archives of some authoritarian regime and has no place in the annals of the United States. It is must reading for anyone who still doubts whether the abuse of prisoners were rogue acts rather than calculated policy.

(cont)

[taotxzen]

(cont)

The March 14, 2003, memo was written by John C. Yoo, then a Pentagon lawyer. He earlier helped draft a memo that redefined torture to justify repugnant, clearly illegal acts against Al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners.

The purpose of the March 14 memo was equally insidious: to make sure that the policy makers who authorized those acts, or the subordinates who carried out the orders, were not convicted of any crime. The list of laws that Yoo''s memo sought to circumvent is long: federal laws against assault, maiming, interstate stalking, war crimes and torture; international laws against torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; and the Geneva Conventions.

Yoo, who inexplicably teaches law at the University of California, Berkeley, never directly argues that it is legal to chain prisoners to the ceiling for days, sexually abuse them or subject them to waterboarding - all things done by American jailers.

(cont)

[taotxzen]

(cont)

His primary argument, in which he reaches back to 19th-century legal opinions justifying the execution of Indians who rejected the reservation, is that the laws didn''t apply to Bush because he is commander in chief. He cited an earlier opinion from Bush administration lawyers that Al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners were not covered by the Geneva Conventions - a decision that put every captured American soldier at grave risk.

Then, should someone reject his legal reasoning and decide to file charges, Yoo offered a blueprint for escaping accountability.

American and international laws against torture prohibit making a prisoner fear "imminent death." For most people, waterboarding - making a prisoner feel as if he is about to drown - would fit. But Yoo argues that the statutes apply only if the interrogators actually intended to kill the prisoner. Since waterboarding simulates drowning, there is no "threat of imminent death."

After the memo''s general contents were first reported, the Pentagon said in 2004 that it was "no longer operative." Reading the full text, released this week, makes it startlingly clear how deeply the Bush administration corrupted the law to give cover to existing and plainly illegal policies.

International Herald Tribune

[rick_harsch]

Well, we''ve been in Germany and Japan for 60 years and it''s been a good thing. I suspect we''ll be in those two countries for another 40 and it will still be a good thing. So McCains pledge to stay with Iraq for as long as it takes to make them successful even if that''s 100 years, is a good thing with solid history behind it. Now, did McCain sit in Haggee''s church for 20 years? Personally I know that the Catholic Church is a prostitute and a cult, so getting Haggee''s endorsement is good to me. Dumping his ailing wife for an upgraded model just shows he knows a good deal when offered one. As any Democrat would agree, Monica was a better deal then Hillary, so what''s the big deal?

[kissamaarse]

Let''s talk McCain, since the corporate media will not:

-His famously irrational temper
-His I didn''t support MLK Jr. Day before I did
-His 100 years in Iraq vow
-His bomb-bomb-bomb Iran snippet
-His active cancer
-His old age
-His affair with rich Cindy, now his wife
-His dumping of his wife when she was disfigured in an auto accident, and going off with affair Cindy
-His going with Cindy to Arizona, and Cindy using her money to turn John into a politician instead of a bureaucrat
-His super-supporter, evangelist Hagee, labeling the Catholic church as the a prostitute who does not charge (USA Today chooses to censor Hagee''s actual term)

What about John should we talk about first? I am curious.

[shingles1]

For someone who''s devoted to "transparency" it''s odd that McCain has never ONCE made his tax returns public.

Yet the press has clamored for Clinton to release her tax returns - and when she finally does, they then lump 8 years worth into a grand sum that they blare prominently in the headline. $109 million!

Well, $109 million over eight years is $13 million per year, which is a lot, but doesn''t have the same shock value as $109 million.

When McCain finally does release his tax returns, it will be interesting to see if he releases JUST his returns for 2007 or his returns for this same eight year time period. In turn, I''m curious to see how the press covers it - whether they go with the bigger (8 years'' worth) or smaller yearly number - particularly since by all estimates the McCains are one of the wealthiest couples in Congress.

1. Mmmm, beer money.
2. I can''t believe I''m defending the Clintons.

[rowdytexan2]

Posted by Jonesforch at 11:36 PM : Apr 04, 2008

You really that hard pressed to find something to be jealous about?