McCain Myth Buster: John McCain and Right Wing Judges

John McCain says the "future of the U.S. Supreme Court is what's at stake in this election" and that a "Democrat (sic) president will appoint judges who make law with disregard for the will of the people." Yet it is McCain who offers four more years of judicial appointments like President Bush that are out of touch with Americans. The truth is, McCain is an extremist who has never voted against a Bush nominee to a court at any level. In fact, in all his years in Congress he has never voted against the judicial nominee of any Republican president. [johnmccain.com, accessed 5/5/08; Senate Floor Votes, 1986-present]

Looks like John McCain has never met a conservative judge he didn't like. That might have helped him score political points with the right wing of his Party, but it will hurt him this November with the American people, who don't want an extremist ideologue as president. How can we expect McCain to change the direction of the Bush Supreme Court when he's voted for 100 percent of the Bush judges?

McCain Promised To Appoint Conservative Judges. During a Fox News Sunday Interview, Presidential candidate John McCain addressed the issue of judges: "I would appoint justices such as the ones I've strongly supported and gotten through the Senate with the help of many others or help along with others. Only those who strictly interpret the constitution of the United States and do not legislate from the bench…If you have justices that have a clear, conservative, a clear, strict interpretation of the constitution of the United States, then you don't have to worry about what their decisions will be." [Fox News Sunday, 2/3/2008]

McCain Pandered At CPAC: Said He Would Appoint Judges Like Roberts and Alito. McCain, Speaking at the annual CPAC conference, said, "I intend to nominate judges who have proven themselves worthy of our trust that they take as their sole responsibility the enforcement of laws made by the people's elected representatives, judges of the character and quality of Justices Roberts and Alito, judges who can be relied upon to respect the values of the people whose rights, laws and property they are sworn to defend." [McCain CPAC Speech, 2/7/2008]

McCain Touted His Role In The Confirmations Of Bush's Most Controversial, Right-Wing Judicial Nominees. Speaking at the Federalist Society's 2006 Annual Lawyers Convention, McCain said, "I am proud of my role in persuading my fellow Republican senators to respect the limits of our own power and not abolish the filibuster rule… Priscilla Owen, Justice Janice Rogers Brown and Bill Pryor have all been confirmed in this year. Brett Cavanaugh was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The president nominated these individuals. I supported each of their nominations, and we fought successfully to confirm them." [John McCain's Remarks To Federalist Society 2006 Annual Lawyers Convention, 11/16/2006]

After casting himself as a "Maverick" in 2000, the new John McCain is walking in lockstep with President Bush, pandering to the right wing of the Republican Party, and embracing the ideology he once denounced. On the campaign trail McCain has callously abandoned many of his previously held positions, even contradicted himself, in a blatant attempt to remake himself into a candidate Republicans can accept in 2008. So just who is the real John McCain? The Democratic National Committee will present a daily fact aimed at exposing the man behind the myth.