1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has "evolved," yet he's continued to oppose key civil rights laws.1
2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain "will make Cheney look like Gandhi."2
3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.34. McCain opposes a woman's right to choose. He said, "I do not support
Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned."4
5. The Children's Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in
Congress for children. He voted against the children's health care bill last
year, then defended Bush's veto of the bill.5
6. He's one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires.
The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes! Yet
McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing
foreclosure to get a "second job" and skip their vacations.6
7. Many of McCain's fellow Republican senators say he's too reckless to be
commander in chief. One Republican senator said: "The thought of his being
president sends a cold chill down my spine. He's erratic. He's hotheaded. He
loses his temper and he worries me."7
8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates.8
9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent
years. The pastor McCain calls his "spiritual guide," Rod Parsley, believes
America's founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a "false
religion." McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John
Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for gay rights
and called the Catholic Church "the Antichrist" and a "false cult."9
10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.10
For all the coverage this week of Senator John McCain's background, there are some important things you won't learn about him from the TV networks. His carefully crafted positive image relies on people not knowing this stuff—and you might be surprised by some of it.
Please check out the list below, and then forward it to your friends, family, and coworkers. We can't rely on the media to tell folks about the real John McCain—but if we all pass this along, we can reach as many people as CNN Headline News does on a good night.
Click here to tell us how many people you can pass it on to—and to see our progress nationally:
Thank you for all you do.