John McCain is a maverick no more

The Republican presidential candidate has shifted his position on a number of issues.

By ROBERT WEINER and JOHN LARMETT

Last update: August 3, 2008 - 3:54 PM

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee, John McCain, is set to be nominated a month from now in Minneapolis-St. Paul. He is following in the footsteps of the man who defeated him for the nomination in 2000 -- George W. Bush. While claiming he is different, McCain has morphed with the Bush legacy in order to squeeze into those footsteps. The McCain of 2008 is not the "maverick" or "independent" brand of 2000.

Keith Olbermann of MSNBC cited 31 major instances of McCain changing his positions to now conform to conservative Republican thought--from immigration to allowing CIA torture to the Bush tax breaks for the rich. The list also included gay marriage (for it, now against it), allowing rape and incest exceptions when banning abortion (now, he wants no exceptions), warrantless wiretaps (wanted president to have warrant, no longer), and holding detainees without evidence (against, now for).

The only place McCain has indeed been consistent is in pressing the Iraq war. McCain believes that Barack Obama, Congress and the majority of the American people are wrong when it comes to Iraq. Yet even Sen. McCain gave a very different answer in 2004 when asked what we should do if a sovereign Iraqi government asks us to leave:

"Well, if that scenario evolves then I think it's obvious that we would have to leave because -- if it was an elected government of Iraq ... I don't see how we could stay when our whole emphasis and policy has been based on turning the Iraqi government over to the Iraqi people."

In early April this year, McCain went walking in the heart of Baghdad, and then commented: "There are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods today." But backing up that stroll through the market were 10 armored Humvees, soldiers with automatic rifles, and two Apache attack helicopters circling overhead.

To fight the real war on terror against the real Al-Qaida, we must recognize that it is very much on the rebound, stronger than it was before 9/11, but in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and 60 other countries. Osama bin Laden is still on the loose. McCain finally has come to advocate moving troops from Iraq to Afghanistan, but he doesn't get it. He makes no mention of the unclear mission for the war in Iraq, nor the insufficient war in Afghanistan and Pakistan that has allowed the Taliban and Al-Qaida to expand.

Instead of awakening to new solutions for the great problems of 2008, McCain has reverted to traditional platforms of the incumbent president on Iraq and other issues. As the war drags on, and millions lose their homes, retirement income and sense of national security, we will have occasion to remember the legacy of George W. Bush. The McCain flight from former straight talker to conservative ideologue will firm up the legacy of Bush's failures.

Robert Weiner is a former spokesman for the Clinton White House and the U.S. House Government Operations Committee. John Larmett, senior analyst at Robert Weiner Associates, is a former congressional staffer.

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