John McCain has compared himself to the late great Barry Goldwater many times, but only started describing himself as a Goldwater conservative after Mr. Goldwater's death in 1998.

Some speculate as to why he did not DARE invoke Goldwater's name an invite comparison while Goldwater drew breath.

Perhaps it is because Goldwater would have told him how full of shit he was to dare think he was any-fucking thing like him. When McCain married into one of Arizona's wealthiest families and ran for an open seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, Goldwater told his staff reporter that McCain was a "carpetbagger". Even so, the good conservative Goldwater, initially supported McCain for senate, but Goldwater was forced to pull McCain up short for using his good name for fundraising.

Before Goldwater passed away he had come to think of Arizona's "workhorse" as a "showhorse" and had to rein in from time to time when McCain used Goldwater's name for political purpose. He had also concluded that McCain was more interested in his own advancement rather than the state he represented.

John McCain is almost a Naval Academy flunkie (fifth from the bottom) whose only claims to fame are getting shot down in war, being tortured, and marrying a millionaire. His maverick nature (flip flops) can best be described as oppurtunistic and anything but Goldwateresque.

The information above was obtained from http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20080502.html

He strongly supported the amnesty bill (along with Bush)...That very liberal stance on immigration was far from opportunistic for him.

That's not a credit to him. The amnesty bill was fucking ridiculous.

The man is not Barry Goldwater was my pretty much my main point, but allow me to make another...

He began to support many of the policies, of the most powerful man in Washington, he orginally opposed as election time drew closer and closer.......

You were saying something about not being oppurtunistic?

McCain continuing the Goldwater legacy? HA! As someone who was born and raised in Arizona and understands the influence Goldwater has had on the psyche of that state, I have a feeling he would have a severe wtf moment upon viewing the Republican party today. I think he would be enraged at the pandering to evangelicals and question some stances on social issues like abortion.

That said, I think what we perceive as McCain's pandering at opportunistic moments is really an uncertainty on how to connect with the conservative base of his party while simultaneously painting himself the maverick. For years, many republicans have disliked his support of certain legislation and policies that went against the party line. I even remember some on the left going so far as to praise that. Now, he's in an awkward position of having to pander to the core conservatives like evangelicals (hence the VP pick, I think) and is having a hard time distancing himself from the most unpopular 8 years in recent American history as a result. Think about it, if he talks about the times when he supported Democrat lead initiatives or pissed off Bush, he might attract moderate swing voters but risks losing support from the conservatives he needs to win. I think he's trying to play it safe by sticking to the core but still wants to be a maverick. Maybe he can't have both.

That ludicrous VP choice of his invoked Goldwater last night in her speech. The immediate reaction of myself and those watching with me:

Oh, HELL NO! You did not just go there, bitch!

Are you voting for Obama? All you do is complain about McCain.

Let's see: After graduating law school Obama's ego led him to write a fucking memoir. Then he registered some people to vote and hung out with Bill Ayers and working the Chicago political circuit. Then he ran for Illinois Senate. A few year later he tried to advance his office by running for Congress. Then a couple years later, he did it again. Then after 2 whole years in the US Senate, he ran for President. He didn't care about the district he represented that he sent Springfield money into Rezko slums. He didn't care about representing Illinois.

That damn McCain.

This thread is about how unlike Goldwater Mccain is.

If you want yet another thread to invoke those amazing Bill Ayers, flagpins, and Rezko, arguments in, feel free to start one. I will tell you why your flimsy rhetoric, is flimsy rhetoric in that thread, not this one.

Am I the only non-liberal who thinks Barry Goldwater sucked too?

"What we oughta do is lob a few nukes into the men's room of the Kremlin"...? Seriously? People consider him to be a conservative hero? He was as neocon as they come.

I don't like Goldwater very much, he was a social liberal. I don't like McCain very much either. I think campaign finance reform was a circus, his flip on the Bush taxcuts doesn't please me much, and the immigration bill was more amnesty, but I agree with him on the war in Iraq and I find it more likely that I will be satisfied with his SCOTUS appointments. I'm going to hold my nose when I vote, but he'll have it. Palin was a nice pick for VP, but she's not the top of the ticket and it's hard to get as excited about a candidate who won't be ready to run for president for another 4 to 8 years.

__________________
-=שמע ישראל יהוה אלהינו יהוה אחד=-