McCain has ‘evolved’ on Cuba policy, too
One of the points I’ve tried to emphasize with my ever-growing list of John McCain’s flip-flops is that this isn’t just about catching McCain with a bunch of “gotchas.” The point, rather, is to highlight McCain’s malleable principles. As Josh Marshall put it a while back, “McCain is absolutely gung-ho and certain that he’s right about whatever his position and ‘principles’ are at the given moment. But they change repeatedly.”
Yesterday, for example, McCain visited South Florida to go after Barack Obama for his willingness to break with a decades-old, ineffective policy towards Cuba. The problem, of course, is that McCain used to support breaking with the policy, too, before his latest transformation into conservative Republican nominee.
John McCain told Cuban-Americans Tuesday that he would maintain the decades-old U.S. trade embargo on Cuba if he is elected president, and he attacked Barack Obama for his willingness to meet with Cuba’s leader.
Sen. McCain’s stance on Cuba appears to have evolved since the 2000 presidential primaries, when he faced Mr. Bush, then the Texas governor. At the time, Mr. Bush played to the Cuban-American exile community and Mr. McCain acted the moderate, recalling his role in normalizing relations between the U.S. and Vietnam and saying the U.S. could lay out a similar road map with the regime.
Tuesday, Sen. McCain denied having changed policies, saying he never supported engagement with Cuba unless it held free elections first. “My position on Cuba has been exactly the same,” he said.
It takes quite a bit of creative spinning to make that assessment accurate. The Miami Herald reported in 1999 that McCain was the only Republican candidate who believed “there could be room for negotiation on the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba.” In 2000, McCain told CNN, “I’m not in favor of sticking my finger in the eye of Fidel Castro. In fact, I would favor a road map towards normalization of relations such as we presented to the Vietnamese and led to a normalization of relations between our two countries.”
Going back further, to 1994, McCain opposed cutting off remittances because it punished people “whose misfortune it is to live in tyranny.”
The old McCain clearly isn’t on the same page as the new McCain.
For its part, the Obama campaign returned the volley:
“There’s nothing more naive than continuing a policy that has failed for decades, but that’s all John McCain offered today as he continued to campaign for a third term of George Bush’s foreign policy. In his attempt to distort my record while fully embracing George Bush’s, Senator McCain conveniently left out the fact that eight years ago — back when he was running as a straight talker — he himself called for negotiating an end to the embargo.
The American people have a clear choice between a Bush-McCain Cuba policy that has done absolutely nothing to advance the liberty of the Cuban people, or a new direction that pursues Cuban freedom through direct and principled diplomacy, and unlimited family travel and remittances for Cuban Americans.”
Is it me, or does this keep happening? Indeed, it just happened last week — McCain went after Obama over Hamas, and then we learn that McCain was open to discussions with Hamas. Now McCain goes after Obama over Cuba, only to discover that McCain used to be open to normalizing relations with Castro’s regime.
The problem, of course, isn’t that McCain was wrong — it’s that he was right and then gave up his position for political expediency. It’s a pattern we’ve seen over and over again.
How the McCain campaign came up with the idea of running the senator as a principled candidate who never sways with the wind is beyond me. These guys are leading with their chin.
It might be more excusable to have a President who is old, stupid, and corrupt rather than one who is just stupid and corrupt. It must be that the be both stupid and corrupt because then they can make big people money while small people are maimed and killed.
“Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them… well, I have others.” - Groucho Marx
Just the other day I saw a short film of McCain saying several things that were opposites of each other - but all of those film clips were of very recent statements. If you go back a few years, the embarrassment could be endless.
Now I can’t find a link to it!
I trust that the Obama campaign and Democrats everywhere are accumulating a “highlights” reel of McCain’s flexible “principles.”
It’s very simple. McCain needs to win Florida to have any shot at the presidency, so he’s conveniently shifted his position on this to pander to the Cuban refugee population in that state.
The problem is the American people have absolutely no idea what this guy stands for and has no way of predicting what he’ll do if he gets into office.
all aboard the LYING TALK EXPRESS ……….. we are on our way to another barbeque at the ‘rustic cabin’ …………..
Nope - mclame isn’t the same. He is hunched over, much more frail, and senile. I can see why the neocons/repugs want him to replace our AWOL alcoholic/cocaine addict “war president,” but he really is not up to the job.
We don’t even have to go back a few years, months, weeks, days, or even hours to see mcclame contract himself.
Here he contradicts himself in 47 seconds!
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/02/04/mccain-flip
“OkieFromMuskogee said:
Just the other day I saw a short film of McCain saying several things that were opposites of each other - but all of those film clips were of very recent statements. If you go back a few years, the embarrassment could be endless.
Now I can’t find a link to it!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7f4JLQfsNOE
You’re welcome.
Wouldn’t a time travel machine be great right now, so we could have the old McCain arguing with the new McSame? Geez, that would be a pretty good fight and we’d probably get some fun name-calling out of it. “F**k you, you trollop-loving a**hole!”
The general election campaign will feature three people- Obama, McCain2008, and McCain2000. McCain2000 will be Obama’s most effective ally. I wonder if Obama can can an endorsement from him.
can get an endorsement. sorry
T Hurlbutt, 9 &10
and the two can dance a little can-can on the grave-of-hopes of McC’08…
This is a message for those who ignore the Cuban reality:
What do you know about the Cuban Revolution? We are not a perfect society, but we try to achieve greater possible social justice. Why do you confuse a few mercenaries with the immense majority of people that supports our Revolution? The U.S. government protects anti-Cuban terrorists in Miami, one of them is Luis Posada Carriles and maintains five Cuban terrorist prisoners.
Why do North American governments want to impose on us your system of government?
The blockade (embargo according to you) is genocidal and coward measure. Let me tell you some truths about Cuba:
In Cuba, candidates for deputies to the National Assembly (Congress) are not nominated by any party, nor do they have to spend a penny on electoral campaign, because here we don’t have it. The people nominate the candidates based on them personal merits, so here anyone can become president, but must have the genuinely popular support from the bases. In elections to elect deputies to the National Assembly vote voluntarily over 95 percent of our population. In Cuba the presidency we don’t see it as a prize or as a privilege, but is a service to the people. So the people are who decides how long a president can be reelected unless health reasons don’t permit, as unfortunately has happened to our beloved Fidel Castro.
In Cuba, health and education are free (gratis) for everybody. Even in the most difficult period of our Revolution (decade of 90 of the last century) was prioritized to support these social benefits to the people.
Our doctors help to save lives in many countries of the Third World and also we have sports collaborators in several countries, without any cost for the beneficiaries. In our country are freely forming doctors came from underdeveloped countries, and also North Americans who cannot study this expensive career in USA. The first North American graduated of medicine in Cuba came from New Orleans.
In Cuba were eliminated vicious games, pornography and other scourges of society “democratic” that you want to impose to my country. Are we devils because of it? We don’t have professional sport, the athletes are not a commodity that is bought and sold, and they compete for the love to their people to their natural team. The Cuban society focuses on the human being, not on the money.
Have you seen the popular concentrations that flood our country in support to our government and against the imperial policies of the White House?
You accuse us that we attacked private property, it doesn’t, we prefer the social property, which avoids the irrational competition among human beings that it’s on what the capitalism is based. We demand that you respect our own way of assuming our society. The respect is the base of the peace and brotherhood among the peoples.
Our great friend Nelson Mandela has recognized that without the military help that offered Cuba to Angola in the last century it had not been eliminated the apartheid, which USA supported as now supports the genocidal Israel.
The change that Obama proposes must be deep and not a small turn in how the things are done in Washington, a small turn would not guarantee the definitive change.
Yesterday i made a mistake when I wrote that the U.S. government keeps 5 Cubans imprisoned terrorists, they are ANTI-TERRORISTS.