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After being forced to respond to three separate incidents in recent weeks of conservatives alluding to Barack Obama's middle name, John McCain's campaign manager today sent a memo to top supporters urging them to stick to the campaign's preferred message -- and to avoid taking gratuitous shots at their Democratic rivals. "We expect that all supporters, surrogates and staff will hold themselves to similarly high standards when they are representing the campaign. To help guide you, please find talking points below."

Sen. John McCain is surging in the polls and could win two early primary states. Two recent presidential polls from the American Research Group produced some astonishing results. McCain is leading in New Hampshire and in second place in Iowa — ahead of Mitt Romney — even though McCain has essentially written off the Iowa caucuses, while Romney has sunk millions into the state. Now polls don’t tell the story very accurately. (In fact, there might be some good reasons why those ARG polls can’t be trusted.) But a Rasmussen poll the day before ARG’s poll on December 19 had...

Is there a case for John McCain? Disclaimer: I haven not affiliated myself with any campaign or even made up my mind as of yet. I do live in New Hampshire. Heading into last night’s debate I was experiencing the same problem many of us are facing this cycle, I am not thrilled with any of our candidates. Like most, I find some pieces from each candidate I like and hate. Prior to watching the debate if I had to vote I was between Mitt and Fred. Last night’s ridiculously run debate did help, but not solve my problem. Fred...

While campaigning in predominately Baptist South Carolina, presidential candidate Senator John McCain (R-Az.), revealed that he is Baptist and has been for years. This new revelation will come as a shock for most in Jesusland, according to David Jeffers, author of Understanding Evangelicals: A Guide to Jesusland. "Evangelicals, and in this case those of the Baptist faith, are not going to be easily swayed by McCain's pandering," Jeffers said. Jeffers explains that "Many of the Baptist faith are going to have a hard time accepting McCain's claim that he is a Baptist while saying he 'did not find it (baptism)...

Even as John McCain's presidential campaign struggled to streamline after disappointing fundraising in the first quarter, it continued to add payroll, rent and other expenses to what became a bloated operation that couldn't support itself. During the past three months, McCain added $229,900 in rent payments, about 20 aides and $434,100 in salaries, according to a finance report filed with the Federal Election Commission just before Sunday's midnight deadline.

Sen. John McCain said Friday that only "contracting a fatal disease" will cause him to drop out of the presidential race before the primaries begin, as he vowed to take his campaign directly to the voters of New Hampshire and other early-voting states as a means of compensating for his financial difficulties. Watch video here McCain, R-Ariz., told reporters after a speech in Concord, N.H., that he will concentrate more on town-hall meetings and bus-tour campaigning to connect with voters. He vowed to fix the fund-raising woes that have left him with just $2 million in his campaign account, but...

Senator John McCain of Arizona said today he is "guardedly optimistic" that the Senate's controversial immigration reform plan will pass Congress, but said he has been stunned by the personal attacks on him from conservatives angry about the bill. "I'm still hopeful we can get it done," McCain said in a wide-ranging interview with reporters and editors at the The Boston Globe. McCain, who acknowledges that his outspoken support for immigration reform is complicating his presidential campaign, relayed a story about attending a recent fund-raiser where protesters were standing outside holding signs that declared: "McCain -- traitor." "I'm a pretty...

Arizona Senator John McCain (R) began the Election 2008 season as the presumed frontrunner for the GOP nomination. Now, he is struggling to stay ahead of Mitt Romney for third place in the hearts and minds of Republican Primary voters. The trends aren’t encouraging for the war hero who challenged then-Governor Bush for the nomination eight years ago. Polling completed last night (June 14) shows that just 48% of American voters have a favorable opinion of McCain. That’s down from a peak of 59% in December and 55% just two months ago. Forty-five percent (45%) have an unfavorable opinion. The...

John McCain’s presidential campaign has bought the Web site name www.mittvsfact.com and will launch the site to illustrate White House hopeful Mitt Romney’s alleged flip-flops. As NewsMax reported, the McCain campaign on Wednesday sent out an e-mail release, with a "Mitt vs. Fact” letterhead, that attacked Romney on the abortion issue. It linked to a video showing then-Massachusetts Gov. Romney vowing to uphold the state’s abortion-rights laws. Romney has now called for the repeal of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationally. A McCain aide confirmed to The Politico on Friday that his campaign had purchased...

George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign fund-raisers and contributors are being bombarded with appeals for money by Sen. John McCain’s heavy-spending, money-short 2008 campaign. McCain is concentrating heavily on the rich target of lawyers and lobbyists in Washington, D.C. They have been invited to multiple McCain fund-raising events held in the nation’s capital, currently a $1,000-a-ticket reception June 26 at the Capitol Hill Club with a potential “event co-chair” asked to raise $50,000. A large percentage of the Bush fund-raising team remains uncommitted, a signal that the Republican establishment is not satisfied with the present field seeking the party’s nomination. McCain’s...

The eruption of Senator John McCain at fellow Republican Sen. John Cornyn (TX) is an incident that reverberates on several levels. It renews lingering doubts about whether Senator McCain possesses the proper temperament to be president. It also raises serious questions about the substance of the "grand bargain" immigration bill that Senators Kennedy, Specter, McCain and others are attempting to rush through the Senate. (The written bill language was finally distributed to Senate offices early Saturday morning, 326 pages, still marked as a draft.) -snip- minor problem arose. Bush administration negotiators and a bipartisan Senate group had been meeting several...

Major Garrett just mentioned this on Fox News. Evidently Cornyn was angry at McCain for leaving him out of the loop. McCain responded with a profanity-laced retort.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain (news, bio, voting record) said Thursday he believes President Bush's low approval ratings are hurting the GOP yet won't affect the party's 2008 nominee.

In 1960 Barry Goldwater, the patron saint of modern conservatism, gave some famous advice to conservative Republicans who were angry with their shabby treatment at the hands of the Nixonites. Get over it, Goldwater told them. “Let’s grow up, conservatives,” Goldwater proclaimed. The embryonic conservative insurgency within the GOP couldn’t let hard feelings get in the way of the hard work that needed to be done, AUH20 counseled. Today’s conservatives might be well-advised to take similar advice with regard to the successor to Goldwater’s seat, Arizona senator John McCain. In the eyes of his conservative detractors — among whom I’ve...

Nice scoop by MyDD.com, who have John Kerry on tape saying that political handlers for John McCain approached him regarding the possibility of the senator from Arizona joining the Democratic presidential ticket. This news comes on the heels of reports that John McCain apparently approached Sen. Tom Daschle in 2001 about caucusing with Senate Democrats, wresting control of the chamber away from the GOP (Jim Jeffords beat him to the punch). The senator's presidential campaign is already reeling from disappointing fundraising numbers for the first quarter. His biggest strength is that he has a huge number of small dollar donors,...

During the first quarter of 2007, John McCain 2008 campaign received nearly 60,000 contributions from all 50 states, averaging $200 per contribution. The McCain campaign will report over $12.5 million in contributions for the first quarter. Campaign Manager Terry Nelson said, “Although we are pleased with the organization we’ve built and polls show us strongly positioned in key primary states, we had hoped to do better in first quarter fundraising. We are already in the process of taking the necessary steps to ensure fundraising success moving forward.” Nelson added, “Fundraising in the first quarter is no more important than fundraising...

American Research Group poll. March 2-5, 2007. N=600 likely Republican primary and caucus voters nationwide. MoE ± 4. Preference for Republican Presidential Nominee: Rudy Giuliani 34% John McCain 30% Newt Gingrich 12% Mitt Romney 7% Sam Brownback 1% Jim Gilmore 1% Chuck Hagel 1% Mike Huckabee 1% George Pataki 1% Ron Paul 1% Tom Tancredo 1% Tommy Thompson 1% Duncan Hunter -- Unsure 9% TitansAFC 1% (and rising)

p>North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr will endorse Sen. John McCain tomorrow in Charlotte, bringing to nine the number of endorsements the Arizonan has racked up from his colleagues.   With Burr's support, McCain has now more than doubled the number of fellow senators endorsing his bid from 2000.     More impressive are the sort of senators Team McCain is rolling out.   Trent Lott, John Warner and Richard Burr have all had their differences with the maverick over the years; Lott on campaign finance reform, among other things, and Warner and Burr on tobacco.  Indeed, McCain's efforts to raise the tax on cigarettes and bring...

I have had the distinct pleasure of serving with Senator John McCain for the last 12 years in the U.S. Senate. Yet just as important to me as our shared years of service is our common respect for the conservative principles that have guided us in representing our state. That is why the characterization of John McCain as something other than a common-sense conservative is disturbing to me. Senator McCain’s detractors overlook his actual voting record of supporting conservative values. During my time in the Senate with John McCain, we have cast the same vote nearly nine times out of...

WASHINGTON - The exhibit hall at the Omni Shoreham Hotel was bustling Friday as the conventioneers bought conservative books, buttons and decks of playing cards with the 52 Most Dangerous Liberals. Hillary Clinton is the ace of spades.But the buyers, who were attending the Conservative Political Action Conference, were a little glum. They're still sore that Republicans took a beating in the November election and many of them aren't inspired by the Republican candidates for president."There are no true conservatives in the race," groused Gregg Jackson, who was peddling autographed copies of his book Conservative Comebacks to Liberal Lies.Jackson ticked...

1. Sen. John McCain was the surprise winner of last night's Spartanburg, SC straw poll, eclipsing ex-NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani for the lead today. Some McCain opponents grumbled that McCain suddenly "found" 50 votes, but we don't think Spartanburg GOP chair Rick Beltram -- not a particularly huge McCain fan -- would have certified the results if he'd been suspicious about fraud. The results: McCain 164 Rudy 162 Hunter 158 Brownback 85 Romney 80 Huckabee 21 2. As we reported below, McCain picked up the support of noted GOP strategist Charlie Black. It's a major Beltway get.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum has drawn at least one conclusion about the Republican presidential primary field: Anybody but John McCain. The Pennsylvania Republican, who signed a contract Thursday as a Fox News contributor, said he has spoken with every GOP candidate – except the senator from Arizona – but it’s still too early for him to endorse. “The only one I wouldn’t support is McCain,” Santorum said during an interview in his office at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, where he is a senior fellow. “I don’t agree with him on hardly any issues,’’ Santorum said. “I...

On the day that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton officially entered the 2008 presidential sweepstakes, a new Washington Post-ABC News survey shows her with a wide lead over her potential Democratic rivals. Clinton took 41 percent in a hypothetical primary field against 12 other Democrats, far ahead of Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) at 17 percent, former Sen. John Edwards (N.C) at 11 percent and former Vice President Al Gore at 10 percent. The party's 2004 nominee -- Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) -- received 8 percent support. No other candidate crested three percent. Those numbers are virtually unchanged from a Post-ABC survey...

Dobson says he couldn't support senator 'under any circumstances' A prominent Christian leader whose radio and magazine outreaches are solidly in support of biblically-based marriages – and keep in touch with millions of constituents daily – says he cannot consider Arizona Sen. John McCain a viable candidate for president. "Speaking as a private individual, I would not vote for John McCain under any circumstances," said James Dobson, founder of the Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family as well as the Focus Action cultural action organization set up specifically to provide a platform for informing and rallying constituents. Dobson, who always...

To: The Republican Party I am a Christian conservative or social conservative. I am Pro-Life. I vote. Rudy Giuliani is pro-gay, pro-gun control, and pro-abortion. For these reasons and others, I state very firmly that I will not vote for Rudy Giuliani for President of the United States under any circumstances. Senator John McCain has waffled on human cloning, has supported experimentation on human embryos, and has attacked prominent Christian clergy because of the, "evil influence that they exercise." John McCain has said of Pro-Life voters, on a public broadcast radio show, that they are, "otherwise intelligent people who say...

Thursday, Dec. 14, 2006 11:15 a.m. EST McCain Beats Hillary in New Poll Sen. John McCain would easily defeat Sen. Hillary Clinton in a head-to-head race for the White House in 2008, a new poll reveals. In the Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg survey, half of those polled said they would vote for Arizona Republican McCain, while only 36 percent said they would choose New York Democrat Clinton. The rest said they weren’t sure, or would vote for someone else. The poll also found that Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney would give Clinton a tough fight – 42 percent of respondents picked Clinton...

GOP Bloggers is in the middle of their 12/06 '08 straw poll. The top choices of righty blog readers as if 10 AM 12/11 are: Gingrich 29% Giuliani 23% Romney 20% Brownback 6% Tancredo 6% Pataki 6% McCain 5% GOP Bloggers also asks which candidates are "Acceptable/Unacceptable." The top three acceptable candidates are: Romney +48% Gingrich +47% Giuliani +33% The three most unacceptable candidates are: Hagel -59% Pataki -56% McCain -35%

JUST received a polling phone call to 'gauge' my opinion and get support for John McCain. "I'm sure you are aware that the Senator has announced his exploratory committee..." MY RESPONSE - How did you get any indication that I support McCain? SHE - You donated to the RNC... ME - I do not, will not EVER EVER support McCain. SHE - Well you HAVE indicated support for him... ME - No I have not, he is a RINO and is the CAUSE of much of the trouble we have in this country today...His LOUSY Campaign Finance Reform is a...

It's still very early, but the race for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008 is starting to shape up. Here's a quick-and-dirty breakdown of 20 names most-often mentioned, ranging from top-tier and second-tier candidates to has-beens and just-might-be's. Top-Tier Candidates 1) Due to his high name recognition and the fawning press that he gets from the mainstream media for trashing other Republicans, Sen. John McCain is currently one of the two frontrunners for the Republican nomination. On the upside, McCain is a Vietnam vet, a true blue fiscal conservative, and he has a lifetime American Conservative Union rating of 83%,...

Former GOP Senator Al D’Amato said Republicans will "race to the center” in 2008 to make up for losses in the 2006 elections, and Sen. John McCain will be the man to lead them there. D’Amato, appearing Thursday on Fox News Channel, said the Republican Party was hurt in the elections by the "morass” in Iraq and the ineffectiveness of a GOP-controlled Congress to pass meaningful legislation. He also said President Bush was damaged by the appearance that he didn’t do enough to help Hurricane Katrina victims, with the image of Bush "flying over” New Orleans in a helicopter viewed...

Rudy Giuliani remains the most popular prospective presidential candidate for Republican Party supporters in the United States, according to a poll by Opinion Research Corporation released by CNN. 33 per cent of respondents would support the former New York City mayor in a 2008 primary, up four points since October. Arizona senator John McCain is second with 30 per cent, followed by former House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich and Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney with nine per cent each. Support is lower for Tennessee senator Bill Frist, former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson, Kansas senator Sam Brownback, California congressman Duncan Hunter,...

"The Republicans lost because they were too conservative." "No, not conservative enough." "They lost because they disappointed the religious right." "No, because they are too tied to the religious right." Many of us feel the loss was due to what I call "McCain-Soros." Ever since the passage of McCain-Feingold, money has poured into organizations such as MoveOn.org, which in turn demonizes Republicans, painting a portrait of them as the incarnation of evil. The ads have had as their goal one thing: leaving a sour taste in the mouth of the electorate over anything Republican, conservative or religious. It has worked....

Sen. John McCain, a front-runner among GOP presidential contenders for 2008, said Sunday the U.S. must send an overwhelming number of troops to stabilize Iraq or face the possibility of more attacks in the region and on American soil. "I believe the consequences of failure are catastrophic. It will spread to the region. You will see Iran more emboldened. Eventually, you could see Iran pose a greater threat to the state of Israel," said McCain, R-Ariz. "We left Vietnam. It was over. We just had to heal the wounds of war," said McCain, who spent 5 1/2 years as a...

Senator John McCain envisions a different direction for the Republican Party after last week's devastating defeats in congressional elections — and in laying it out, the Republican is sending an implicit message that he should be the next leader. "We departed rather tragically from our conservative principles," McCain lamented recently, offering his take on why the Republicans fell from power in Congress. He urged a return to what he called the foundation of the Republican Party — restrained spending, smaller government, lower taxes, a strong national defense and family values.... McCain is positioning himself as the Republicans' standard-bearer while President...

Since Tuesday almost all of us have been saddened and angered because we lost Congress to the 'Rats. Why? How did our united, magnificent victory in 2004 end up achieving so little and lead us to defeat in 2006? There are many reasons, but tonight I focus on ONE. IMHO the term "RINO" is overused. While looking at an ACU rating list I noticed only one Republican Senator with a score below 50 and below any 'Rat Senator - Chafee. I felt he was the only Senate RINO. But there is another -- far, far worse. He had a lifetime...

OKay, I despise McCain as much as anybody but he is going to become the de facto leader of the Senate with this tight a majority. He'll just flip to the other side whenever he doesn't get his way so I say let's make him steer from the front of the bus instead of the back of the bus. Let's make McCain the new Majority Leader. Perhaps the appeal to his ego will be sufficient enough to get him to do it. If not, we're all screwed. By making McCain the spokesperson for the party in the Senate, he is...

The war of words, tough even for this hard-fought campaign season, came after Kerry told a group of California students on Monday that those unable to navigate the country's education system "get stuck in Iraq."

SPRINGFIELD, ILL. People who pretend to have earned some of the nation's most prestigious military medals, including the Purple Heart, the Medal of Honor and others, could pay a fine of up to $200 under a bill being considered today by the state Senate. "For one in our society to falsely represent themselves as having received that very, very important recognition, I think is a serious offense not only in law but to our morality," said Rep. Dan Burke, D-Chicago, the bill's sponsor. It makes exceptions for actors, historical re-enactors and costumes at Halloween. The measure, which originally applied only...

The Downing Street memo has a new fan — Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. — who recently said that the memo was a "stunning, unbelievably simple and understandable statement of the truth and a profoundly important document." The problem for Kerry, however, is that there is another document that contradicts his view, a document that the defeated Democratic presidential candidate ought to remember. No, I am not talking about the other official British documents disclosed since Kerry made that statement, although they do show just how silly it was for people to interpret the first memo — which contained meeting minutes...

KERRY UNFIT FOR COMMAND IN VIETNAM = PROVEN Analysis of John Kerry's Fitness Reports . Context John Kerry's campaign representatives quote a few words from one of his best Navy fitness reports to support their misleading claim that Kerry's military evaluations were those of a top-flight officer. They carefully ignore the existence of several other reports that range from mediocre to substandard, thereby presenting an inaccurate picture of Kerry's service record. There are also gaps in the documentations made public to date by the Kerry campaign, where no fitness reports are provided at all. Here we present an analysis of...