<p>From your links, IC:</p>
<p><em>Let me be clear, let me be clear. Evangelical leaders are changing America for the better. Chuck Colson, head of Prison Fellowship, is saving men from life -- from a lifetime behind bars by bringing them the good news of redemption. James Dobson, who does not support me, has devoted his life to rebuilding America's families. Others are leading the fight against pornography, cultural decline and for life. I stand with them. I am a pro-life, pro-family fiscal conservative, an advocate of a strong defense, and yet Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and a few Washington leaders of the pro-life movement call me an unacceptable presidential candidate. They distort my pro- life positions and smear the reputations of my supporters. </em></p>
<p><em>Why? Because I don't pander to them, because I don't ascribe to their failed philosophy that money is our message. I believe in the cause of conservative reform. I believe that because we are right we will prevail in the battle of ideas, unspoiled by the taint of a corrupt campaign finance scheme that works against the very conservative reform of government that is the object of our labors. The Republican Party will prevail...</em> </p>
<p>...</p>
<p><em>Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left, or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right.</em> -John McCain 2.28.2000</p>
<p>As much as you might want to paint this kind of thing as a "gotcha", what McCain was talking about was the effect of the Religious Right on his campaign and the money they bring into American politics. Here is what immediately followed the snippet quoted by thinkprogress:</p>
<p class="textBodyBlack"><em>MR. RUSSERT: After September 11<sup>th</sup>, let me show you what...</em></p>
<p class="textBodyBlack"><em>SEN. McCAIN: Go ahead. Yeah.</em></p>
<p class="textBodyBlack"><em>MR. RUSSERT: ...Reverend Falwell had to say. “What we saw on [September 11<sup>th</sup>], as terrible as it is, could be miniscule if, in fact, God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve. ... I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists and the feminists, and the gays and lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle ... I point the finger in their face and say, ‘You helped this happen.’”</em></p>
<p class="textBodyBlack"><em>SEN. McCAIN: You’ll have to...</em></p>
<p class="textBodyBlack"><em>MR. RUSSERT: Are you embracing that? </em></p>
<p class="textBodyBlack"><em>SEN. McCAIN: I am speaking at the, at the graduation of his, his university. I’m not embracing all of the tenets that are expressed at the new college in New York City, nor other liberal universities and institutions that I have spoke at. For example, I don’t agree with the Ivy League colleges barring recruiters—military recruiters from their campuses, but I still speak there.</em></p>
<p class="textBodyBlack"><em>MR. RUSSERT: Are you concerned that people are going to say, “I see. John McCain tried ‘straight talk express,’ ‘maverick,’ it didn’t work in 2000, so now in 2008 he’s going to become a conventional, typical politician, reaching out to people that he called agents of intolerance, voting for tax cuts he opposed, to make himself more appealing to the hard-core Republican base.”</em></p>
<p class="textBodyBlack"><em>SEN. McCAIN: I think most people will judge my record exactly for what it is, where I take positions that I stand, that I stand for and I believe in. Whether it be climate change, whether it be torture, or whether it be a number of other issues with which I am—immigration. I, I don’t think that my position on immigration is exactly pleasing to the far right base. I will continue to take positions that I believe in and I stand for. And I recognize that a lot of my credibility is based on that, and I think most Americans will judge me by my entire record. </em>- John McCain 4.2.2006</p>
<p class="textBodyBlack">It's worth noting he had yet to decide whether he would run for President in 2008 at the time of that interview. Let me quickly point out some other quotes:</p>
<p class="textBodyBlack"><strong>Tax Cuts:</strong></p>
<p class="textBodyBlack"><em>MR. RUSSERT: Let’s talk about it. Bush tax cuts. You did vote against them in May of 2001, May of 2003...</em></p>
<p class="textBodyBlack"><em>SEN. McCAIN: Mm-hmm.</em></p>
<p class="textBodyBlack"><em>MR. RUSSERT: ...and, in fact, you said “We can’t afford tax cuts for the fortunate at the expense of the middle class who need tax relief.”</em></p>
<p class="textBodyBlack"><em>SEN. McCAIN: Well, I also said that the reason—major reason why I was opposed to it was because there was no spending cuts. I was proud to be part—a foot soldier in the Reagan revolution. And we had tax cuts, but we had spending cuts that went right along with it. And without spending cuts, it was clear that the—we would be facing the financial debacle that—fiscal debacle that we are in today. I had a tax cut proposal which had significant tax cuts, but it had spending restrain in it too. And unless we cut spending then, then we are going to end up in a—the serious situation we’re in today. I will cut spending. And I will continue to support making the tax cuts permanent, which I’ve voted already twice.</em></p>
<p class="textBodyBlack"><em>MR. RUSSERT: But you voted the third time for the tax cuts, but there weren’t spending cuts.</em></p>
<p class="textBodyBlack"><em>SEN. McCAIN: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. No, but I thought that we ought to keep the tax cuts permanent because if we had increased taxes, which that would have had the effect of, if I had voted in the other way. So, look, we need to have spending cuts. I know that, everybody knows that, and if we had done what I wanted to do in 2000, we would now be talking about more tax cuts because we would have had spending cuts to go along with it. And it’s just facts.</em></p>
<p class="textBodyBlack"><em>MR. RUSSERT: Do you believe that voting against the Bush tax cuts was a mistake?</em></p>
<p class="textBodyBlack"><em>SEN. McCAIN: Of course not. As I just said, I believe that we needed spending cuts to go along with it, the way we did in the Reagan years. In the Reagan years, we cut spending along with the tax cuts. Unfortunately, later on, we did away with Gramm-Rudman and some of those other requirements for spending cuts, then that—and that caused us problems. But, look, you can’t—Ronald Reagan used to say you can’t expand the size of government without paying for it. And if you’re going to pay for it, obviously, you can’t have tax cuts. So it has to go hand in hand, and that’s, that’s what I will do as president. </em>- John McCain 1.6.2008</p>
<p class="textBodyBlack"><strong>About the comments in your 1st abortion link:</strong></p>
<p class="textBodyBlack"><em>SEN. McCAIN: Well, it was in the context of conversation about having to change the culture of, of America as regards to this issue. That is a conversation that I had in that context. I have stated time after time after time that Roe v. Wade was a bad decision, that I support a woman--the, the rights of the unborn. I have fought for human rights and human dignity throughout my entire political career. To me it is an issue of human rights and human dignity. That conversation was in the context of we have to help young women who are experiencing a crisis pregnancy. We have to help them with compassion, and we hope--have to help those young women with courage. And we also have to do whatever we can to let them know that if they don't want the child, if they'll bring them into life, that we'll do everything we can to help with adoption. Just like there's three--I have three adopted children. It's a wonderful thing. But my position has been consistently in my voting record, pro-life, and I continue to maintain that position and voting record. Is it a tough issue in America? Yes. But I believe the states should be making those decisions. </em>-John McCain 5.13.2007</p>
<p class="textBodyBlack"><strong>About the immigration issue:</strong></p>
<p class="textBodyBlack"><em>SEN. McCAIN: The bill, the bill is dead as it is written. We know that. We know that. And the bill is going to have to be, and I would sign it, securing the borders first and articulating those principles that I did. That's what we got out of this last very divisive and tough debate. And we have to get those borders secured. That's what Americans want first. </em>- John McCain 1.27.2008</p>
<p class="textBodyBlack"><strong>About his support of GWB:</strong></p>
<p class="textBodyBlack"><em>SEN. McCAIN: Quote, “Ran an honorable campaign.” I put those things behind me. I don’t look back in anger. I don’t think the American people expect me to look back in anger. Things are said and done in political campaigns which are pretty, which are pretty tough. And they are—and campaigns are tough in America, and they should be. But my support for him was announced three months after the primary was over in the year 2000.</em> - John McCain 4.2.2006</p>
