Why do people continue to pretend to be surprised that John McCain is no maverick, but rather is a Bush toadie when it serves him, and a thorn in Bush's side when it serves him with the press. Drudge has the latest adventures of Chris Matthews' second-favorite would-be Republican presidential candidate:
Facing a loss at a 2008 straw poll event this weekend, Senator John McCain of Arizona told his supporters to write in President Bush [?] as a sign of support, leaving many sputtering.
"For the next three years, with our country at war, he's our president and the only one who needs our support," McCain told nearly 2,000 party activists from 26 states gathered in Memphis.
McCain, realizing the national political media had descended on the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, moved to discredited the straw poll by asking delegates to vote for Bush, insiders claim.
Instead of stopping the momentum of Majority Leader Bill Frist - widely anticipated to win the straw poll - the move seemed to exposed the McCain camp's insincerity about their position with the base.
One activist said, "McCain voted against all the Bush tax cuts... maybe he should have voted for the president then, instead of waiting for a political stunt to try and distract."
I'm sure you'll hear more on this on the Sunday shows...
Here's the formal writeup on McCain's latest Dubya suck-up from USA Today...
McCain said "the president deserved better" than he got on the Dubai ports deal that died this week amid bipartisan protests from Congress. He praised Bush on matters from Iraq to Social Security to seeking U.N. sanctions against Iran. As expected, McCain also asked delegates to "stand with the president" by voting for him in a straw poll Saturday. ...
... Offstage, there was chatter about whether Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's Mormon faith would hurt him in a national race (not a problem when people understand it, said the chairman of the Michigan GOP) and, more immediately, what McCain was trying to accomplish with his straw-poll gambit. Forfeit winning, to preserve his maverick image? Give himself a good excuse for losing? Demonstrate loyalty to Bush?
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dim done
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done = "No"
%>
Tell a friend
<%
Else
if request.form("done") = "Yes" then
'sets variables
dim email, sendmail
email = request.form("email")
Set sendmail = Server.CreateObject("CDONTS.NewMail")
'put the webmaster address here
sendmail.From = "webmaster@aspbasics.com"
'The mail is sent to the address entered in the previous page.
sendmail.To = email
'Enter the subject of your mail here
sendmail.Subject = "Check out this website"
'send a specific page or send a site url
dim url
'url = Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
url = "http://www.aspbasics.net"
'This is the content of the message.
sendmail.Body = "Site recommendation from a friend!" & _
vbCrlf & vbCrlf & "A friend has sent you this email and thought you would should check out this site." & _
vbCrlf & url & vbCrlf
'this sets mail priority.... 0=low 1=normal 2=high
sendmail.Importance = 1
sendmail.Send 'Send the email!
response.redirect Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
'Response.write ("Sent to ") & email
End if
End if
%>
"[T]he practice of arbitrary imprisonments, have been, in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny.' Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 84, August, 1788
