John McCain's "Wink Wink, Nudge Nudge" Foreign Policy
On the same day John McCain began his taxpayer-funded campaign swing through Europe and the Middle East, a new report revealed John McCain's double talk on foreign policy. According to reports, despite portraying himself as "an unyielding hawk" to win over skeptical conservative leaders, McCain "has privately assured prominent supporters in the traditional foreign policy camp that 'his more exuberant statements don't necessarily reflect his real views.'" [Los Angeles Times, 3/16/08]
McCain's politically motivated double-talk may explain why he has consistently echoed the Bush Administration's false, misleading and overly optimistic rhetoric on Iraq. McCain was wrong to echo the Bush Administration's misleading case for war in 2001, wrong to predict an "overwhelming victory in a very short period of time" in 2002, wrong to say we "will be welcomed as liberators" in 2003, wrong to say the end is "very much in sight" in 2003, wrong to let Donald Rumsfeld keep his job in 2004 and 2006, and wrong to say he could safely walk down a Baghdad street in 2007. Now, he is wrong to suggest that our troops should stay in Iraq for 100 years. [MSNBC, Hardball, 3/24/0; CNN Late Edition, 9/29/02; ABC News, Good Morning America, 4/9/03; See Video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=h-a5T0HsJpw; Wall Street Journal, 12/15/08]
"John McCain's unprincipled pandering on our nation's security is no different than his politically motivated double talk on immigration reform, the Bush tax cuts, and campaign finance reform," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Damien LaVera. "Five years after helping lead us into a flawed war, John McCain's do-anything-to-win campaign can't hide the fact that a vote for McCain is a vote for a third Bush term."
McCain's Tough Statements "Don't Necessarily Reflect His Real Views." "The conflicting signals have caught the attention of foreign policy experts. 'Who is the real John McCain?' asked Dmitri Simes, president of the Nixon Center, a Washington think tank and stronghold of the realist thinkers. Simes said McCain, one of the Nixon Center's advisors, has privately assured prominent supporters in the traditional foreign policy camp that 'his more exuberant statements don't necessarily reflect his real views.'" [Los Angeles Times, 3/16/08]
McCain's Foreign Policy Tough Talk Aimed At Assuaging Conservatives. "Some of the realists in McCain's camp believe that some of his public pronouncements during the long primary season have followed from his need to build Republican support at a time when many conservatives have been distressed by his views on immigration and campaign finance, to name only two issues." [Los Angeles Times, 3/16/08]
McCain Promising Jobs to Neocons AND Realists. "One sign of the internal contradictions in his views is growing friction between rival camps of McCain supporters -- between neoconservatives and those with more traditional views, widely called 'realists.' Both sides believe they have assurances from McCain that he would largely follow their path, and that like-minded allies would have key roles in the new administration." [Los Angeles Times, 3/16/08]
"Taken as a whole," McCain Foreign Policy Views "Quirky and A La Carte, Rather Than Developed from a Single Philosophy." "In forming his views on national security, McCain has always relied on a large circle of outside advisors and a handful of trusted aides, say former staffers and others who know him. But he has typically worked out his own conclusions. And taken as a whole, they seem quirky and a la carte, rather than developed from a single philosophy." [Los Angeles Times, 3/16/08]
