List of Flip Flops from the Straight Talker

[Dardedar]

DAR
This is quite an extensive list by any measure. The links wouldn't cut and past over so... I fixed the first five but the rest won't work. If you want to investigate further, go here to see the same list with working links.



***
List of McCain Flip/Flops ... wow .. this aint a short list!!

* McCain supported the drilling moratorium; now he’s against it.
LINK

* McCain strongly opposes a windfall-tax on oil company profits. Three weeks earlier, he was perfectly comfortable with the idea.
LINK

* McCain thought Bush’s warrantless-wiretap program circumvented the law; now he believes the opposite.
LINK

* McCain defended “privatizing” Social Security. Now he says he’s against privatization (though he actually still supports it.)
LINK

* McCain wanted to change the Republican Party platform to protect abortion rights in cases of rape and incest. Now he doesn’t.
LINK

* McCain thought the estate tax was perfectly fair. Now he believes the opposite.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15825.htm...

* He opposed indefinite detention of terrorist suspects. When the Supreme Court reached the same conclusion,he called it “one of the worst decisions in the history of this country.”
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15864.htm...

* McCain said he would “not impose a litmus test on any nominee.” He used to promise the opposite.
http://www.americablog.com/2008/06/now-mccain-is-flip-f...

* McCain believes the telecoms should be forced to explain their role in the administration’s warrantless surveillance program as a condition for retroactive immunity. He used to believe the opposite.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

* McCain supported storing spent nuclear fuel at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Now he believes the opposite.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/may/28/mccains-abo... /

* McCain supported moving “towards normalization of relations” with Cuba. Now he believes the opposite.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15617.htm...

* McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with Hamas. Now he believes the opposite.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15557.htm...

* McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with Syria. Now he believes the opposite.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15564.htm...

* He argued the NRA should not have a role in the Republican Party’s policy making. Now he believes the opposite.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15573.htm...

* McCain supported his own lobbying-reform legislation from 1997. Now he doesn’t.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/20/mccains-97-lob...

* He wanted political support from radical televangelists like John Hagee and Rod Parsley. Now he doesn’t.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15633.htm...

* McCain supported the Lieberman/Warner legislation to combat global warming. Now he doesn’t.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15699.htm...

*McCain pledged in February 2008 that he would not, under any circumstances, raise taxes. Specifically, McCain was asked if he is a“‘read my lips’ candidate, no new taxes, no matter what?” referring to George H.W. Bush’s 1988 pledge. “No new taxes,” McCain responded.Two weeks later, McCain said, “I’m not making a ‘read my lips’ statement, in that I will not raise taxes.”
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/14761.htm...

* McCain is both for and against a “rogue state rollback” as a focus of his foreign policy vision.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/04/mccain-...

* McCain says he considered and did not consider joining John Kerry’s Democratic ticket in 2004.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/14818.htm...

*In 1998, he championed raising cigarette taxes to fund programs to cut underage smoking, insisting that it would prevent illnesses and provide resources for public health programs. Now, McCain opposes a $0.61-per-pack tax increase, won’t commit to supporting a regulation bill he’s co-sponsoring, and has hired Philip Morris’ former lobbyist as his senior campaign adviser.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15033.htm...

* McCain has changed his economic worldview on multiple occasions.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15337.htm...

* McCain has changed his mind about a long-term U.S. military presence in Iraq on multiple occasions.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15370.htm...

* McCain is both for and against attacking Barack Obama over his former pastor at his former church.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15358.htm...

* McCain believes Americans are both better and worse off than they were before Bush took office.
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/19/mccain-economy-bloo... /

* McCain is both for and against earmarks for Arizona.
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/06/mccain-earmark /

* McCain believes his endorsement from radical televangelist John Hagee was both a good and bad idea.
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/21/hagee-flip-flop /

*McCain’s first mortgage plan was premised on the notion that homeowners facing foreclosure shouldn’t be “rewarded” for acting“irresponsibly.”His second mortgage plan took largely the opposite position.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15176.htm...

* McCain vowed, if elected, to balance the federal budget by the end of his first term. Soon after, he decided he would no longer even try to reach that goal.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/us/politics/16mccain....

* In February 2008, McCain reversed course on prohibiting waterboarding.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/10/emtimeem-has-m...

* McCain used to champion the Law of the Sea convention, even volunteering to testify on the treaty’s behalf before a Senate committee. Now he opposes it.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/oct/31/mccain-... /

* McCain was a co-sponsor of the DREAM Act, which would grant legal status to illegal immigrants’ kids who graduate from high school. Now he’s against it.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/oct/31/mccain-... /

* On immigration policy in general, McCain announced in February 2008 that he would vote against his own legislation.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/14447.htm...

*In 2006, McCain sponsored legislation to require grassroots lobbying coalitions to reveal their financial donors. In 2007, after receiving“feedback” on the proposal, McCain told far-right activist groups that he opposes his own measure.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/9658.html

* McCain said before the war in Iraq, “We will win this conflict. We will win it easily.” Four years later, McCain said he knew all along that the war in Iraq war was “probably going to be long and hard and tough.”
http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral...

*McCain said he was the “greatest critic” of Rumsfeld’s failed Iraq policy. In December 2003, McCain praised the same strategy as“a mission accomplished.” In March 2004, he said, “I’m confident we’re on the right course.”In December 2005, he said, “Overall, I think a year from now, we will have made a fair amount of progress if we stay the course.”
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/08/18/mccain-greatest-cri... /

* McCain went from saying he would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade http://mediamatters.org/items/200610310003 to saying the exact opposite.http://thinkprogress.org/2006/11/19/mccain-abortion /

* McCain went from saying gay marriage should be allowed, to saying gay marriage shouldn’t be allowed.
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/02/mcc...

* McCain criticized TV preacher Jerry Falwell as “an agent of intolerance” in 2002, but then decided to cozy up to the man who said Americans “deserved” the 9/11 attacks.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/6988.html

* McCain used to oppose Bush’s tax cuts for the very wealthy, but he reversed course in February.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/6731.html

* On a related note, he said 2005 that he opposed the tax cuts because they were “too tilted to the wealthy.” By 2007, he denied ever having said this, and insisted he opposed the cuts because of increased government spending.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/03/us/politics/03mccain....

*In 2000, McCain accused Texas businessmen Sam and Charles Wyly of being corrupt, spending “dirty money” to help finance Bush’s presidential campaign. McCain not only filed a complaint against the Wylys for allegedly violating campaign finance law, he also lashed out at them publicly. In April, McCain reached out to the Wylys for support.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=1880630&page=1

* McCain supported a major campaign-finance reform measure that bore his name. In June 2007, he abandoned his own legislation.
http://www.nysun.com/national/campaign-finance-effort-r... /

* McCain opposed a holiday to honor Martin Luther King, Jr., before he supported it.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20070115/pl_usnw/dnc__mcca...

* McCain was against presidential candidates campaigning at Bob Jones University before he was for it.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/8313.html

* McCain was anti-ethanol. Now he’s pro-ethanol.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15637887 /

* McCain was both for and against state promotion of the Confederate flag.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200610310003

* McCain decided in2000 that he didn’t want anything to do with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, believing he “would taint the image of the‘Straight Talk Express.’” Kissinger is now the Honorary Co-Chair for his presidential campaign in New York.
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/12/19/mccain-kissinger /

* McCain used to think that Grover Norquist was a crook and acorrupt shill for dictators. Then McCain got serious about running for president and began to reconcile with Norquist.
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/12/19/mccain-kissinger /

* McCain took a firm line in opposition to torture, and then caved to White House demands.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/20...

* McCain gave up on his signature policy issue, campaign-finance reform, and won’t back the same provision he sponsored just a couple of years ago.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/8066.html

* And now he’s both for and against overturning Roe v. Wade.
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/11/19/mccain-abortion/

Source

[Betsy]

thanks Darrel - I now have a link I can send people who need to see this list. I wish I could copy and paste the whole thing onto my facebook page! You wouldn't believe how many otherwise intelligent people at school (they're in law school, so I'm assuming they're intelligent) support McCain.

They say that McCain is "more in line with their values".

[Dardedar]

[Dardedar]

DAR
Keith Olbermann puts together a nice list of McCain flip flops. Transcript:

***
Countdown: All Aboard The Double Talk Express!

This weekend, Senator John McCain said, quote, “This election is about trust and trusting people’s word. And unfortunately, apparently on several items Senator Obama’s word cannot be trusted.”

In our third story tonight, judging candidates based on their consistency.

You see where I’m going with this.

The signing of the GI Bill, not the only time Senator McCain was against something, before he was for it — or vice versa — or both.

You may want to get pencil and paper and write all these down.

On political reform, McCain last January opposed a grassroots-lobbying bill he once supported. In 2006 the New York Sun reported that his presidential ambitions led McCain to reverse his support of a campaign-finance bill… called McCain-Feingold.

Last October, he said he would vote against the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act… that he co-sponsored. Then he said he would vote against an immigration bill that he introduced.

In 2006, he said on Hardball, quote, “I think that gay marriage should be allowed.” Then, after the commercial break, he added, “I do not believe that gay marriages should be legal.”

On abortion… 1999, publicly supporting Roe v. Wade… privately opposing it, in a letter to the National Right to Life Committee. The 2000 debates… he would change the GOP platform to permit exceptions for rape, incest, the life of the mother. May, 2008… no, he won’t, ABCNews.com reports.

Storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain? Flip.

Military action against rogue states? Flip.

Negotiating with Kim Jong Il… not acceptable, until President Bush did it.

With Fidel Castro, acceptable in 2000… not 2008.

With terrorists? Appropriate when Colin Powell went to Syria… and in 2006, when McCain said “sooner or later” we’ll talk to Hamas. Not appropriate now.

Unilateral action against suspected terrorists in Pakistan? “Confused leadership” when Obama suggested it… not when Bush did it.

Warrantless wiretaps? Six months ago, presidents had to obey the law. Not any more.

Torture detainees? No way… except for the CIA.

Hold them indefinitely? Wrong in 2003. Right in 2008.

The Iraq War? “The right course,” 2004. “Stay the course,” 2005. Today, McCain’s always been a Rumsfeld critic.

Tax cuts for the rich? In 2001 he could not “in good conscience” support them. Now he can.

The estate tax? 2006: “I agree with President Roosevelt”–who created it. 2008: “most unfair.”

This month, not for privatizing Social Security, never has been. 2004, doesn’t see how benefits will last without it.

In February, promised a balanced budget in four years. By April… make it eight years.

In May, “glad to look…at the windfall profits tax.” By June, “that was Jimmy Carter’s big idea.”
2000, no new off-shore drilling. Last month, “would take years to develop.” This month, “very helpful in the short term.”

The Bush fund-raisers McCain called “coyotes,” breaking the law in 2000… by 2006 were co-chairing McCain fundraisers.

Buddy Jerry Falwell… an “agent of intolerance” in 2000.

The Reverend Hagee… In, then out, in this year alone.

In 1983, opposed Martin Luther King Day. Today, not so much.

1986, opposed South African divestment. This month praised it.

And in 2000, defended South Carolina’s Confederate Flag… “a symbol of heritage.” Two years later, McCain calling it, quote, “an act of political cowardice” not to say the flag should come down. Quote: “Everybody said, ‘Oh, look out, you can’t win in South Carolina if you say that.’”

McCain’s campaign says his positions evolve.

Ironically, in 2005, McCain said alternatives to evolution should be taught in school… Evolving the opposite position he took in 2000.

Transcript video and links backing it all up here.

[Dardedar]

"He likes to call his campaign the
'straight talk express.' Well, down here
we call it the 'forked tongue express.'"
-- Bob Haney, the GOP state committee
chairman in Arizona's 11th District

[Betsy]

He has the nerve to call Obama a flip-flopper on his position on Iraq, so Obama calls a second press conference to clarify that he's not changing his position, so McCain then does what? Calls Obama a flip flopper again:

"I don't switch my position depending on what audience or what time it is in the electoral calendar. ... I believe that [voters] will more and more see where Sen. Obama has switched his positions on fundamental issues. The one thing they want is trust and confidence in their leadership, and I think I will win in that area."

[Dardedar]

DAR
Another nice long list of McCain flip-flops. It's one thing to being open to changing your mind and learning from a mistake, but this guy is really something.

A list of sixty one examples:

***
Jukebox John changes his tune every few minutes

For John McCain to accuse anyone of excessively changing policy positions is a bit like George W. Bush attacking someone’s grammar. Or Dick Cheney whining about a political figure being overly secretive.

But if this is the game the McCain campaign wants to play, so be it. Let’s play. As the self-designated keeper of the Official List of McCain Flip-Flops, I’m pleased to report, thanks to reader contributions, we now have a whopping 61 policy reversals from the Republican nominee. If McCain wants to argue that flip-flops are an example of a political leader who can’t be trusted to keep his word or honor his commitments, McCain might as well drop out of the race now.

LINK

[L.Wood]

THANK YOU DAR! Will be very useful for rebutting. But the other side, being Low Information Voters, will not notice and who needs facts anywaz!
Still good work and will be vevly, vevly useful.

[Dardedar]

Three minute video of McCain's flip flops.

[Barbara Fitzpatrick]

I wish we could get away from RW memes and talking points - the very term "flip-flop" hurts us, even when used against McCain, because thanks to the Rs, that term is associated in the American mind with Dems. And every time we give some variation of McCain's "straght talk express" - no matter how we vary it - it still leads the average American back to the "straight talk" - still playing into their meme. Playing defense instead of offense. Now "Jukebox John" changing his tune every 3 minutes is great. It's a new meme, not associated with Dems, and conveys the same message. THAT's the one we need to get out there, and quit letting the Rs set the language.

[Dardedar]

DAR
Olbermann gives a tremendous list McCain's flip flops. He covers a couple dozen in 3.5 minutes.

Keith Olbermann counts down McCain's Greatest Flips:

D.

[Dardedar]

DAR
McCain on ABC's "The View" today:

"What specific area have I, quote, 'changed?' Nobody can name it," McCain said. Link

DAR
Do words mean nothing to these people? This thread already has dozens if not a hundred examples. Some are nit picky, many are substantive. Here's ten more for the pile:

McCain Sets a New Record: 10 Flip-Flops in Two Weeks

[Betsy]

words mean nothing, truth means nothing, it's all smoke and mirrors and how can they manipulate the stupid people. Republicans are a bunch of rich smart people who have fooled a bunch of poor dumb people into electing them over and over. They were smart to figure out that if people are dumb enough to believe in religion, then they're dumb enough to believe anything, and as DAR pointed out in another thread, there are more dumb people in the world than smart people. ARGH. You can put the plain clear black and white truth right in front of these people and then say "what flip flops?" and they'll believe you.

[Dardedar]

DAR
This waffle issue is something that actually matters. McCain has no backbone. As this thread shows, he won't stand for anything. With a few exceptions, his record shows he will say anything, do anything, in an attempt to get elected. All the things republicans say they don't like about wishy washy waffling candidates, can be found in abundance in McCain's record. In his acceptance/nomination speech he went on about how he will "fight" for this and for that. No he won't. He's spineless. His record clearly shows he will shift and change with the political wind. Republicans say they don't like this attribute but they have it in spades with McCain.

D.