McCain, Like Bush, Still Doesn't Get It When it Comes to Keeping America Safe

WASHINGTON - John McCain, who lost the South Carolina primary the last time he ran, is in the Palmetto State for a second straight day highlighting the key problem with his candidacy this cycle: McCain offers fundamentally the same failed policies of the Bush Administration that are keeping our brave American troops bogged down in the middle of an Iraqi civil war, opposing critical measures to keep us safe at home, and failing to adequately pursue Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden.

In a new essay set to run in the next edition of Foreign Affairs, McCain tries to distance himself from the mishandling of the Iraq War while at the same time renewing his "support" for staying the course and continuing the Bush Administration's "efforts" in Iraq. The contradictions don't end there. Despite acknowledging a resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, who harbored Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden, McCain fails to offer the policy change necessary to allow vital resources now being drained in Iraq to be used in Afghanistan. In fact, in 5,306 words John McCain mentions Osama Bin Laden, the man who coordinated the attacks on America on September 11, 2001, a grand total of zero times.

Further undermining McCain's rhetoric on keeping America safe is his record. When he had the chance McCain voted against critical funding for security measures for ports, chemical plants, and for tracking hazardous materials, all critical to keeping the American people safe.

"The American people don't want another four years of failed George W. Bush policies that have kept our brave troops in Iraq and allowed Osama Bin Laden to continue working out of an Al Qaeda video production facility," said DNC spokesman Luis Miranda, "but that's all John McCain is offering."

Below is a new DNC Research Fact Sheet on McCain's campaign promise to offer more of the same:

On Iraq & Terrorism John McCain Still Doesn't Get It

McCain will Allow Iraq to Distract From Bin Laden, Al Qaeda, and Afghanistan. On the trail, McCain has avoided explaining how he would capture Bin Laden, declining "to indicate how he thought he could succeed where other presidents have failed and he evaded a question whether he would willingly invade countries that are allies to the United States, such as Pakistan, to achieve his end." Despite acknowledging that the "Taliban's recent resurgence...threatens to lead Afghanistan to revert to its pre-9/11 role as a sanctuary for terrorists with global reach," McCain offers more of the same Bush rhetoric, insisting that Iraq is the "central front" on the "war on terror" and refusing to change course there, noting that he supports "continuing efforts to win in Iraq." [Iowa Caucuses Gazette Online, 9/12/07; Foreign Affairs, Nov/Dec 2007]

McCain Allies Worried About Loeffler's Role As Saudi Arabia's Lobbyist. The National Journal reported that "some McCain allies privately worry that Loeffler's heightened role in the campaign will also bring more attention to his lobbying practice and his representation in Washington of Saudi Arabia, America's less-than-reliable autocratic ally. The Saudi government paid the Loeffler Group a whopping $7.9 million from December 1, 2005, though November 2006 -- the largest fee collected from a foreign government by any lobbying firm in 2006 -- for help in Washington, including working Republicans on Capitol Hill." [National Journal, 4/7/07]

• Loeffler Lobbied For Saudi Arabia To Join WTO While Kingdom Continued Israel Boycott. Tom Loeffler was hired to help Saudi Arabia "gain admission to the World Trade Organization, although the kingdom continues to officially boycott Israel, a WTO member nation." According to the New York Sun, The Loeffler Group was retained in December 2002, and was paid "$840,000 a year to lobby the White House and Congress on 'trade issues,' including matters relating to the World Trade Organization, according to documents filed by the firm with the Department of Justice." [New York Sun, 1/10/03; O'Dwyer's PR Services Report, Pg. 40 Vol. 20 No. 9, September 2006]

Record vs Rhetoric:
Votes Against Security Measures, No Plan to Fund Buildup

McCain Wants Massive Military Buildup, But Has No Plan To Obtain the Resources. According to John McCain's essay in Foreign Affairs, his administration would "increase the size of the US Army and the Marine Corps…to 900,000 troops," as well as drastically increasing the amount spent on national defense, "which currently consumes less than four cents of every dollar that our economy generates -- far less than what we spent during the Cold War." However, McCain's plan is mostly "wishful thinking," as he gives no plan as to where the resources for building up the military will come from; "the country is already in deficit, a deficit McCain's tax policies will deepen." [Foreign Affairs, November/December 2007; TheAtlantic.com, Matthew Yglesias, 10/15/07]

But in 2005, McCain Voted Against Appropriating $70 Million To Identify And Track Shipments Of Hazardous Materials. In 2005, McCain voted against waiving Budget Act to consider Schumer amendment which would appropriate $70 million to identify and track shipments of hazardous materials using global positioning system technology for the Transportation Security Administration. [HR 2360, Vote 181, 7/14/05, Failed 36-62, D:35-8, R:0-54, I:1-0]

2003: McCain voted To Kill An Effort to Increase Port Security By $100 Million and Coast Guard Security Funding By $42 Million. McCain voted for the Cochran, R-Miss., motion to table (kill) the Byrd, D-W.Va., amendment that would increase funding for port and maritime security grants in the bill by $100 million and funding for Coast Guard operations and security by $42 million, and that would designate $50 million for assessing chemical plant security. [Vote 300, HR 2555, 7/24/2003, Passed 51-45 D 1-43 R 50-1 I 0-1]

2003: Voted Against $1 Billion in Funding for Port Security. McCain voted against appropriating a total of $1 billion for port security, including $840 million for the Customs Service, the Transportation Security Administration and grants to states and localities; $150 million for the Coast Guard; and $10 million for a federal law enforcement training center. [S 762, Vote 115, 4/2/03, Passed 52-47, D 1-46; R 51-0; I 0-1]

On Iraq, McCain Backed the President Every Step of the Way,
Wore the Same Rose Colored Glasses

2003: McCain Said Bush Led With "Clarity" And Did Not Exaggerate the Case for War. In 2003 McCain praised Bush's leadership on the Iraq war saying, "I think the president has led with great clarity and I think he's done a great job leading the country, don't you all?" And asked if he thought the president exaggerated the case for war, McCain said, "I don't think so." [MSNBC, Hardball, 4/23/03; Fox News, 7/31/03]

2003: McCain Said The End Is "Very Much In Sight." Senator McCain was asked "At what point will America be able to say the war was won?" McCain said there were oil fields to secure and "die-hards" to take care of but "it's clear that the end is very much in sight, and today I think Americans should be very proud of their leadership". [ABC News, Good Morning America, 4/9/03]

2005: McCain Said That Another Year Will Prove "Stay the Course" Is Working. "McCain believes that the U.S., and the cause of Iraqi independence, are moving forward in Iraq, a little bit at a time. 'I think the situation on the ground is going to improve,' he says. 'Overall, I think a year from now, we will have made a fair amount of progress if we stay the course.'" [The Hill, 12/8/05]

2006: McCain's Top Political Advisor Says McCain's Support for the War is "Stay the Course, No Matter What." John McCain's top advisor explained McCain's support for the war and the impact it would have on McCain's future aspirations saying, "It is stay-the-course, no matter what. And if it dooms McCain, so be it." [Bloomberg News, 4/20/06]

2006: McCain Said That Iraq Was "On The Right Track" As The Country Moved Closer To Civil War. Speaking on the "Imus In The Morning" radio show on March 1, 2006, McCain played down the increasing civil violence in Iraq. When Imus remarked that Iraq "already looks like a civil war," McCain responded, saying, "I keep trying to look at the bright side of this because we have to because the consequences of failure are catastrophic. But the gathering of the seven most respected religious leaders the day before yesterday, calling for calm and calling for some kind of reconciliation, I think, was important. I think, at least we're on the right track here." [MSNBC, Imus in the Morning, 3/1/06]

2007: McCain Called For Long-Term Troop Presence In Iraq. "Most Americans should accept a long-term United States military presence in Iraq as long as the number of U.S. casualties can drop to almost nothing, Senator John McCain said. 'We have had troops in South Korea for 60 years and nobody minds,' McCain said." [Des Moines Register, 6/2/07]

2007: McCain Claims Political Success, Pleads for More Time for Surge. McCain told MSNBC that "the security situation is such on the ground that we can have the Iraqi military take over more of those responsibilities. There is great local political progress being made." McCain argued for more time for the surge despite lack of progress on key benchmarks telling CBS that, "this new strategy's only had a few months." [MSNBC, 9/11/07; CBS Early Show, 9/11/07]

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