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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 28, 2000
McCain Slams "Agents of Intolerance"
Calls For "A Party as Big as Our Country"
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA - U.S. Senator John McCain today called on Americans to turn their backs on the politics of division and slander practiced by extremists on both sides of the political aisle. He called for building a bigger Republican Party by attracting new people to the cause of conservative reform and placing national interest ahead of special interests.
"We are the party of Ronald Reagan, not Pat Robertson," McCain told a crowd of over 3,500 in Virginia Beach this morning. "We are the party of Theodore Roosevelt, not the party of special interests. We are the party of Abraham Lincoln, not Bob Jones. Join us. Join us."
In his speech, McCain said that "the political tactics of division and slander are not our values. They are corrupting influences on religion and politics and those who practice them in the name of religion or in the name of the Republican Party or in the name of America shame our faith, our party and our country. Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance whether they be Al Sharpton or Louis Farrakhan on the left, or Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson on the right."
McCain continued : "The union bosses who have subordinated the interests of working families to their own ambitions, to their desire to preserve their own political power at all costs are mirror images of Pat Robertson. Just as we embrace working people, we embrace the fine members of the religious conservative community. But that does not mean that we will pander to their self-appointed leaders."
McCain's made his remarks at Cox High School in Virginia Beach, VA this morning before students and local residents.
A text of McCain's speech follows.
REMARKS OF SENATOR JOHN McCAIN
February 28, 2000
Virginia Beach, VA
Thank you. I want to start this morning by making a few remarks about our Republican Party, the party that has been my political home since I entered public life. I am proud of that affiliation for I have always been proud of the beliefs of our great party: our belief in personal freedom and personal responsibility; our belief in a strong national defense and vigorous and capable world leadership; our belief in small, but effective government and in fiscal conservatism.
Most important, I believe in our party because underlying all our party's conservative principles is our respect for the nation's greatness and our appreciation for the ennobling political and social values from which our greatness is derived.
Thus, I have always felt quite comfortable describing myself as a proud conservative, a proud Reagan conservative, and as a member of Congress I have compiled the record of a proud conservative.
I have fought many battles for small government and low taxes; for personal freedom and responsibility; for a strong defense of our national interests and values.
I have fought against wasteful spending whether its patrons were Democrats or Republicans. Moreover, I have proudly defended the sanctity of life and the values that make families strong and our country great. I have fought these battles in good times and bad for our party, and I will fight them for as long as I have the strength to fight.
Throughout my presidential campaign I have remained true to our conservative principles. It is conservative to pay down the national debt; to save Social Security and Medicare. It is conservative to insist on local control of our children's education. It is conservative to expose the pork barrel spending practices of both political parties. It is conservative to seek to improve the lives of our servicemen and women, and the means with which we ask them to defend us. And it is conservative to demand that America keep its promises to our veterans.
I run for President, my friends, because I believe deeply in the greatness of America's destiny.
We are the world's lantern of freedom and opportunity . . . the bright beacon of hope that our fathers fought to bequeath us and our children were born to inherit. But I know that unless we restore the people's sovereignty over government and their pride in public service; unless we reform our public institutions to meet the demands of a new day and unless we renew our sense of national purpose, we will squander our destiny.
Toward that end, I have called for the reform of campaign finance practices that have sacrificed our principles to the demands of big money special interests. I have spoken against forces that have turned politics into a battle of bucks instead of a battle of ideas. And for that, my friends, I have been accused of disloyalty to my party.
I am also proud to help build a bigger Republican Party, a party that can claim a governing majority for a generation or more, by attracting new people to our cause with an appeal to the patriotism that unites us and the promise of a government that we can be proud of again. And for that, I have been accused of consorting with the wrong sort of people.
Well, my friends, I have always acted in what I believe to be the best interests of my country. And I always believed that what is good for America is good for the Republican Party.
I don't believe it's loyal to suggest that the Republican Party cannot stand on its own feet and fight for public opinion without six and seven figure contributions from people with interests before government but not necessarily ideas to sustain our country's greatness. I don't believe it's loyal to suggest that the Republican establishment is more important to save than a Republican majority. I believe it is the height of foolishness to build a wall around our Party in fear that we are so narrowly defined that new faces and fresh ideas in accord with our basic principles will jeopardize our values.
America is more than the sum of its divided parts and so our Party should be.
America is more powerful than its established power centers and so our Party should be. America is greater than the accumulation of wealth and so our Party should be.
This is my message to my party and my country. It is an honest Republican message that threatens none of our Party's principles or the social values of any constituency in our party. On the contrary, it is an inclusive, but principled message that trusts in the people to guide our nation in this new century.
I am a conservative, my friends, a proud conservative, who has faith in the people I serve. But those who purport to be defenders of our party, but who in reality have lost confidence in the Republican message are attacking me, they are people who have turned good causes into businesses.
Let me be clear, evangelical leaders are changing America for the better. Chuck Colson, head of Prison Fellowship, is saving men from a lifetime behind bars by bringing them the good news of redemption. James Dobson, who does not support me, has devoted his life to rebuilding America's families. Others are leading the fight against pornography, cultural decline and for life. I stand with them.
I am a pro-life, pro-family, fiscal conservative, and advocate of a strong defense. And yet, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and a few Washington leaders of the pro-life movement call me an unacceptable presidential candidate. They distort my pro-life positions and smear the reputations of my supporters. Why?
Because I don't pander to them, because I don't ascribe to their failed philosophy that money is our message. I believe in the cause of conservative reform. I believe that because we are right we will prevail in the battle of ideas, unspoiled by the taint of a corrupt campaign finance scheme that works against the very conservative reform of government that is the object of our labors. The Republican Party will prevail because of our principles—because that's what it's about, my friends—principles, not special interest money or empire or ego.
The union bosses who have subordinated the interests of working families to their own ambitions, to their desire to preserve their own political power at all costs are mirror images of Pat Robertson. Just as we embrace working people, we embrace the fine members of the religious conservative community. But that does not mean that we will pander to their self-appointed leaders.
Some prefer to build walls and exclude newcomers from our support. Apparently, appeals to patriotism can only be heard by card-carrying Republicans, and only certain Republicans at that, not the kind of Republicans who might dissent from the soft money ethics of a tired party establishment.
Apparently, Republican reformers, Independent reformers or Democratic reformers, any group that might, like the Reagan Democrats of twenty years ago, be attracted to our cause of conservative reform and national greatness, are too great a threat to the Washington status quo.
That surprises me, since the essence of evangelism is to seek converts. My campaign is bringing new people into the Republican Party every day. I don't apologize for this. No, I wear it as a badge of honor. I will not padlock the Republican Party, and surrender the future of our nation to Speaker Gephardt and President Al Gore.
My friends, we are building a new Republican majority, a majority to serve the values that have long defined our party and made our country great. Social conservatives should flock to our banner.
Why should you fear a candidate who believes we should honor our obligations to the old and the young? Why should you fear a candidate who believes we should first cut taxes for those who need it most? Why should you fear a candidate who wants to reform the practices of politics and government so they fairly reflect your aspirations for your family and country? Why should you fear a candidate who would sign without hesitation a partial birth abortion ban or who would work tirelessly with anyone to improve adoption and foster care choices for those who might be considering the taking of unborn life. Why should you fear a candidate who shares your values?
My friends, I am a Reagan Republican who will defeat Al Gore. Unfortunately, Governor Bush is a Pat Robertson Republican who will lose to Al Gore.
I recognize and celebrate that our country is founded upon Judeo-Christian values. And I have pledged my life to defend America and all her values, the values that have made us the noblest experiment in history.
But political intolerance by any political party is neither a Judeo-Christian nor an American value. The political tactics of division and slander are not our values.
They are corrupting influences on religion and politics and those who practice them in the name of religion or in the name of the Republican Party or in the name of America shame our faith, our party and our country.
Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left, or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right.
Many years ago a scared American prisoner of war in Vietnam was tied in torture ropes by his tormentors and left alone in an empty room to suffer through the night. Later in the evening a guard he had never spoken to entered the room and silently loosened the ropes to relieve his suffering. Just before morning, that same guard came back and re-tightened the ropes before his less humanitarian comrades returned. He never said a word to the grateful prisoner, but some months later, on a Christmas morning, as the prisoner stood alone in the prison courtyard, the same good Samaritan walked up to him and stood next to him for a few moments. Then with his sandal, the guard drew a cross in the dirt. Both prisoner and guard both stood wordlessly there for a minute or two, venerating the cross, until the guard rubbed it out and walked away.
That is my faith; the faith that unites and never divides; the faith that bridges unbridgeable gaps in humanity. That is my religious faith, and it is the faith I want my party to serve, and the faith I hold in my country. It is the faith that we are all equal and endowed by our Creator with inalieable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is the faith I would die to defend.
Don't let anyone fool you about me, my friends, or about this crusade we have begun.
If you want to repair the people's confidence in the government that represents us - join us.
If you want to restore the people's pride in America - join us.
If you want to believe in a national purpose that is greater than our individual interests - join us.
We are the party of Ronald Reagan not Pat Robertson. We are the party of Theodore Roosevelt not the party of special interests. We are the party of Abraham Lincoln not Bob Jones. Join us.
Join us.
Join us and welcome anyone of good faith to our ranks. We should be - we must be - we will be-- a party as big as the country we serve.
Thank you and God Bless.
If this has alrady been posted, I'm sorry, I didn't see it.
McCain has just sealed his fate IMHO. This will probably energize the Christian Right to get out and vote for Bush like never before. Perhaps McCain is thinking about bolting for some 3rd party?
Buzz
Buzz's Internet Magazine
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That'll be tough after calling the GOP "his home." But I wouldn't put anything past this megalomaniac.
I am so sick and tired of McCain using his POW status to try and get elected. Senator Inhofe says it all when he says McCain cannot carry the conservative banner as the GOP candidate and being a POW doesn't qualify him to be President. Now McCain has attacked every Christian conservative in the Republican Party. If Trent Lott had any backbone he would strip McCain of his Chairmanship of the Commerce Committee for this attack on the religious Republicans and his lies and deceit. In fact, I am just plain sick and tired of McCain period!!! If I had a choice between watching Slick on TV and McCain -- I would pick Slick -- at least he is laughable! McCain disgusts me beyond belief.
IMHO...mcCAIN has no authority to "toss" anybody out of the Republican party. Not Robinson, Bob Jones students, Falwell...not anybody! I personally do not care for Robinson,myself, but hey, it is a "free" country if he wants to say he is a Republican, well, hey he CAN do it. SO what?
Hey, mcCAIN...are your albanain drug-running buddies OK to be Republicans...but not Christians with whom you disagree? hmmmmmmm?
McCAIN...you are such a poot!!
I think it is interesting to note that McCain only refers to "religion" and/or "faith" and NEVER refers to his belief in either God or Jesus Christ.
This is a "new ager" in our mist, parading as a conservative who is unwilling to use the terminology of Christianity.
About the POW thing... a lot of people refer to that sort of experience to call McCain "Courageous" - I'd like to point out that courage has nothing to do with it.
What courage is: Doing the right thing, helping others, regardless of the risk/effect to yourself. Central to this definition of courage is CHOICE - that you could choose not to act self-sacrificially.
What courage is NOT: having lousy, bad things happen to you.
If a tornado destroys your house, if you get mugged, if you get shot down and become a POW, none of these things make you a hero or demonstrate "courage." Such people might be courageous, but the things that happen to them don't prove it.
Choosing to fight in Vietnam demonstrates courage, but such courage is found equally in ALL the vets who accepted the call to fight in Vietnam, not just those who died or suffered in captivity as a result. And there are plenty of motivations besides courage that would induce a man to become an elite combat aircraft pilot, with the glory that goes with such a posting.
Very well stated!
Like you, McCain's constant "I'm a hero" references grew thin with me long ago. His arrogant replies to Alan Keyes during the S.C. debates regarding abortion were all I could stomach. Lots of us have seen too much killing, but that doesn't qualify us for the Presidency. And I'll pick my own heroes, thank you. (Few of which have spent too many years in Washington, District of Columbia)
McCain's depiction of himself as a hero on his website and in his autobiography are right out of another poly-tish-shun's campaign manual. "How Great I Art".
Wish I had the copy of the Clinton-to-McCain-to-Clinton morph that was making the e-mail rounds. Not hard to make the connection..........
But political intolerance by any political party is neither a Judeo-Christian nor an American value.
More McCain (D-AZ) "Double Talk". He saying, "If you disagree with anything I'm saying, you can't be a Republican or a Christian."
The political tactics of division and slander are not our values.
Unless we're running as a Democrat in MI and we need to surpress a segment of the Christian vote for Gov. Bush.
Confusion is [Mc]CAIN's trademark. No wonder...
Babylon = "confusion [by mixing]"
Next thing you know, he'll be bankrolling the antichrist.
With these bigoted and hateful anti-Christian remarks, we can kiss a final goodbye to Sen. John "The Bigot" McCain's campaign! I guess he's now shifted to trying to pander to the liberal secular-humanist atheist vote in the Republican Primary. Too bad his campaign handlers failed to tell him that there weren't any. Now, conservatives can shift the battle to trying to expel him from the Republican Party and subsequently from the United States Senate! The Republican Party has now room in it for religious bigots like John McCain!
McCain 2000 R.I.P.
Without the religious right there will be NO Republican president. I am tired of being invited to the dance, and then sitting on the sidelines watching the one who brung me dance all night with all the others.
I will not work for McCain, and I will not vote for McCain.
Support Alan Keyes. At least he wants to dance with you.
95% of my heart agree with your analysis about Christians getting energized and voting in droves for W.
However, 5% of my heart fears the results in 98, when the entire party was waiting for the base to turnout and blow away Democraps and set the stage for flushing of the turd in WH. However, as you know, 98 was the year when the turnout was lowest in 64 years.
Maybe AIPAC and their candidate McLame believes that is going to be the case, and Christians are numerically insignificant, and can be ignored. I hope not.
The only explanation that I could think in wake of 98 is that even though it could be argued that right would turn-up and party had every right to expect that, but were they supposed to be energized? Just before the election there was no guarantee that Klinton would be impeached, or even if there was going to be an impeachment trial. As a matter of fact, except for a lousy bill calling for impeachment-proceedings, there was nothing. For about whole year Pubs were silent, and played dead, making right anxious and discouraged. Pubs were counting upon right to show up anyway, and right didn't because they figured what's the use.
If I am wrong, then it is truly tragic, because that means AIPAC has it right. We will see...
Right On Man!
Perhaps McCain is thinking about bolting for some 3rd party?
Not a third party, but rather the Democrats. My darkest fear for the fall is that Gore will choose McCain as a running mate, and that this whole primary campaign by McCain is a setup for that.
Gore/McCain 2000: Just in case the country isn't yet screwed up enough.
That is my faith; the faith that unites and never divides; the faith that bridges unbridgeable gaps in humanity. That is my religious faith, and it is the faith I want my party to serve, and the faith I hold in my country. It is the faith that we are all equal and endowed by our Creator with inalieable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is the faith I would die to defend.
I guess uniting and bridging gaps in humanity is what motivated McCain to refer to the Vietnamese as "Gooks".
Bye Bye Bold
?
I think that we should all email/write/fax the Republican Senate Caucus with a copy to Senator Inhofe that we want John McCain removed from the Chairmanship of the Commerce Committee and receive a verbal rebuke. What he has said in the last few days has brought dishonor on the United States Senate and the Republican members of the Senate of which he is a member. The reason I said Senator Inhofe is that he will stand up to anyone regardless of who they are. That is a rare commodity these days.
I think it is interesting to note that McCain only refers to "religion" and/or "faith" and NEVER refers to his belief in either God or Jesus Christ.
Well said. He wouldn't want to offend his pagan followers. Or his pagan non-followers for that matter.
Next thing you know, he'll be bankrolling the antichrist.
Why would he contribute to Bill Clinton?
LLOL= (long, laugh out loud) {:)
Gore will choose McCain as a running mate,
I feel faint............
This is a look into John McCains anger at the way his life has been run. His anger is not at the preachers but at his own unhappiness with himself. He is scolding others to make himself look better. No president candidate should rip into an entire segment of voting America and insult them. When he scatters the voters in several directions he must kmow he will never be able to be president.
Bill XXXlinton is merely an antichrist wannabe.
How do we know what McCain is willing to die for. As a POW he chose to collaborate rather than die. Did all POWs do what McCain did? Some did, but some chose to die. Was the POW in the courtyard McCain? He told the story in third person and not in first person. Was this a ploy to cause people to believe that it was himself when in fact it wasn't. Is he parsing his words in Clinton fashion. If the POW in the courtyard wasn't him, then he didn't lie, but he very cleverly made it appear to be him when in fact it wasn't.
Just a bookmark to send this one to my mom, my dad is a deacon and very powerful in his local community, LOL!
A speechless bump to the top.
I think that we should all email/write/fax the Republican Senate Caucus with a copy to Senator Inhofe that we want John McCain removed from the Chairmanship of the Commerce Committee and receive a verbal rebuke.
That is an excellent idea! Evicting McCain from his Chairmanship would be sufficient punishment. He would lose millions in special interest money which he supposedly hates. However, if he was removed, he would probably just switch parties to his natural party--the Democratic Socialist Party. They would probably reward him. I agree Senator Inhofe is one of our best Senators. He was great at opposing Clinton's liberal pro-abortion judicial nominees.
Many years ago a scared American prisoner of war in Vietnam was tied in torture ropes by his tormentors and left alone in an empty room to suffer through the night. Later in the evening a guard he had never spoken to entered the room and silently loosened the ropes to relieve his suffering. Just before morning, that same guard came back and re-tightened the ropes before his less humanitarian comrades returned. He never said a word to the grateful prisoner, but some months later, on a Christmas morning, as the prisoner stood alone in the prison courtyard, the same good Samaritan walked up to him and stood next to him for a few moments. Then with his sandal, the guard drew a cross in the dirt. Both prisoner and guard both stood wordlessly there for a minute or two, venerating the cross, until the guard rubbed it out and walked away.
Doesn't this story feel like a remake of Clinton making a cross with rocks on the beach at Normandy? It may not be fair, but I have real trouble believing that a VC captor was a Christian. It feels as bogus as all the coincidence of the 14 year old boy routine. How many 14 year olds even know who McCain is, let alone to have thought of him as his hero? Then to add amazing coincidence, the supposed call just happens to connect to that unusually astute child whose mother just happens to show up at the town hall and be called upon. Yea, right ! This dangerous man, McCain does Clinton better than Clinton.
BTTT
You're on a roll, ain't ya? This the THIRD thread from a year and a half ago that you've decided to resurrect on FR!
Good blast from the past.
Bump
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