Swampland, TIME

What McCain, Obama and Clinton Have In Common

With the end of the primaries in sight, the Great Polarization has begun. John McCain talks about Barack Obama’s “most liberal” ranking in the Senate, while Hillary Clinton and Obama describe McCain as the 100-year warrior. “We just have fundamental difference in philosophy,” McCain explained Friday in Indiana. “I'm a conservative Republican, and they're liberal Democrats.”

This is how it will be: Two parties, two different philosophies, and two dramatically different choices. And the differences are striking in many areas. McCain wants to continue the Bush tax cuts, while the Democrats want to end them. McCain wants to continue the war in Iraq, while the Democrats have vowed to begin to end it. McCain wants deal with the healthcare crisis with tax cuts and inflation controls, while the Democrats both favor more government-directed efforts to expand health insurance coverage. I could go on.

But before we all get too far with the red and blue face paint, I wanted to point out one often forgotten fact. On many issues, including some controversial ones, these three senators--McCain, Obama and Clinton--often come down on the same side. Just take a look at what has happened in the current Congress:

All three senators cosponsored S. 223, a bill by Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisc., to require Senate candidates to file campaign finance information electronically. Out of 100 possible senators, there were 40 cosponsors.

All three senators cosponsored S. 242, a bill by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., to allow the importation of cheaper prescription drugs. There were 35 cosponors.

All three senators cosponsored S. 280, a bill by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., to establish a cap and trade program for greenhouse gas. There were 11 cosponsors.

All three senators cosponsored S. 311, a bill by Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., to ban horse meat for human consumption. There were 38 cosponsors.

All three senators cosponsored S. 340, a bill by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to expand agricultural job opportunities for non-citizens, including a program that lets foreign workers and their families become permanent residents. There were 30 cosponsors.

All three senators cosponsored S. 400, a bill by Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., to prohibit health insurance companies from dropping dependent children from health plans if the children take a medically-necessary leave of absence from school. There were 21 cosponsors.

All three senators cosponsored S. 625, a bill by Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., to allow the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products. There were 55 cosponsors.

All three senators cosponsored S. 694, a bill by Clinton, to direct the Department of Transportation to further regulate light trucks to reduce child injury and death. There were 37 cosponsors.

All three senators cosponsored S. 774, a bill by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill, to provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. There were 26 cosponsors.

Note that for all but one of these bills, McCain, Clinton and Obama belonged to a minority of the Senate that chose to cosponsor. Some of these bills died because of opposition from the Republican leadership or the Bush Administration. All of this is worth remembering the next time you see one of the candidates describing the other party's nominee as some sort of ideological extremist.

[My thanks to the TIME research department for its help on this.]

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Reader Comments (51)

Acid J:

How inspiring to see all three of these senators stood up to the powerful Horse Meat For Human Consumption lobby.

Careful about how you bandy about the word "extremist." So often these arguments about the non-extremity of candidate X is put forth in service of preventing rational thought.

For example: When it comes to regulating tobacco, and partnering up with Ted Kennedy, perhaps John McCain is not extreme. But occupying Iraq for 100 years is, in fact, extreme.

ghostlawns:

Hey! An article that actually talks about the candidates' senate records!

Next, how about a full TIME article that discusses all the legislation they proposed? It will show what each candidate's priorities were in the senate.

Off Topic: didn't I read something in TIME magazine about one of your writers smuggling horsemeat into the US?

Elvis Elvisberg Author Profile Page:

Thanks for bringing up everyone's records, Michael.

It's worth noting that the National Journal ranking was total BS, whereas McCain himself talked about 100 years in Iraq.

He said today by way of explanation that "My friends, the war will be over soon. The war for all intents and purposes [will be over], although the insurgency will go on for years and years and years, but it'll be handled by the Iraqis not by us, and then we decide what kind of security arrangement we want to have with the Iraqis."

So, we'll stay there forever, and insurgents will be there for years and years, but Americans won't be targeted. Presumably there's some magic involved somewhere in that chain of events.

Mike M.:

I hope Michael Scherer isn't seriously trying to argue that John McCain is not an extremist. Anyone who wants to keep us in Iraq for 100 years is an extremist, plain and simple.

Cliff:

Thank you for posting something besides candidate fashion news.

HH:

From horserace to horsemeat. Time's writers deliver one dazzling insight after another. Perhaps Mr. Scherer is unacquainted with the congressional practice of casting affirmative votes that salve the conscience after making sure that a bill has no chance of passage.

In other news, a commercial TV station in Alabama blacked out the 60 minutes broadcast segment revealing that Republican political operatives framed the former Democratic governor. Is this not worth the attention of journalists at Time, or would this distract you from horse flesh?

CMike:

Shorter Michael Shrerer:

I cover this stuff for a living but when it comes to issues half the time I can't tell the difference between any of the candidates. The other half of the time there is the endless war vs. national health care thing but when you add it all up, 5 out of 10 ain't a bad batting average. That's why we here at Time think horse race news, gossip, and the kind of character analysis you otherwise can get only from palm readers is so important to cutting edge journalism.

Michael Scherer:

So CMike, I think I got it: If I write about x, after receiving criticism z, which says that I write too much y and not enough x, the only reason I wrote x is to disprove z by reaffirming that I still think y is more important than x.

So according to z,
y=y
x=y
But I should write x.

I'm still relatively new to the corporate media conspiracy, so I just want to make sure I know the rules. Thanks.

HH:

In other news, the Pentagon announced today that the result of the "surge" will be an escalation of the US troop presence in Iraq. Fortunately, the Swampland Blog permits readers to post links to actual news stories, while the Time staffers discuss horseflesh.

kbanginmotown:

Re: S. 242, a bill by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., to allow the importation of cheaper prescription drugs
This was still my favorite WTF moment from the McCain rally I attended last month. Sent. McCain exhorted the crowd: "If Americans want to bring in cheaper prescription drugs from Canada, we should let 'em!" (cheers from the crowd)
Give me a break!
If we think that our poor, disadvantaged, and senior citizens deserve to be able to afford prescription drugs HERE IN THE USA, we should negotiate with the drug companies to make them more affordable, not send them shopping to Canada!
Thanks, Mike. I am now appalled to learn that Sens Obama and Clinton co-sponsored this bill. This post will become a clip-n-save for the fall debates in the general election. Thanks!

cfaller96 Author Profile Page:

This isn't horrible Michael, but I would remind you that most of what you said is pointless. On the really big issues, McCain is waaaaaay different than Clinton and Obama. You pretty much state that at the beginning, but then that means that you yourself just pointed out some stuff that doesn't really matter to people.

If you did this type of research on the issues that are most important to the American people and your readers (hey, did you know they actually do POLLS on that? Neat, huh?), then your post might have been worthwhile. But you didn't, and so it's not.

One last thing: did anyone else notice that Michael Scherer thinks that obstructionism is "leadership"? Here's the passage I'm talking about:

Some of these bills died because of opposition from the Republican leadership or the Bush Administration.

In vast expanse of Michael Sherer's mind:

Permanent Filibuster == Leadership

Again- even if it means killing bills that Clinton, Obama, McCain, and dozens of other Senators co-sponsor, Michael Scherer still considers that to be a form of leadership. Wow, thanks Michael! With that in mind, I'm sure you'll get right on that "McCain loves lobbyists" post that you promised yesterday. I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for it...

Michael Scherer:

So greenhouse gas regulation is not important? Cheaper prescription drugs are not important? National immigration policy is not important? Health insurance for students is not important?
Tobacco regulation is not important?
This stuff doesn't really matter to people?
Voters don't care? I think a lot of people would disagree.

And "leadership" in that sentence refers to American Heritage definition #3, not #2. See here:
http://www.answers.com/leadership&r=67

Beth in VA:

Well, I think this is a very informative post! Thanks, and thanks for stepping here into the light blue fray.

I am going to be sooooooo glad to say goodbye to the Bush43 administration!

stuart_zechman:

CMike:

He's got a point...

...and, uh, cfaller96:

He's also got a point...

Michael Scherer:

Is this bill list truly representative of whether or not these candidates are ideologically farther or closer from each other?

If these candidates were as similar as you are suggesting they might be, wouldn't their Senate votes on real bills be the true indicator? Have these Senators voted aye and nay with each other more often than against?

What I'm interested in is how you devised this metric as a way for us to judge the distances between the points on the ideological spectrum that the candidates have occupied prior to the campaign...

...and thank you very much for responding to commentary.

TomT:

It's worth noting that the National Journal ranking was total BS, whereas McCain himself talked about 100 years in Iraq.

That's a pretty moderate position, though -- these guys usually think in terms of a thousand years, if you know what I mean.

stuart_zechman:

sorry, that's "further from or closer to each other"...

vicious maniac:

Here's a real difference: Obama at least is not an aspiring chief henchman for Israel and the corporations like the other two. At least not overwhelmingly, thunderingly so.

I'm still relatively new to the corporate media conspiracy, so I just want to make sure I know the rules. Thanks.

Look at that bracing sarcasm. Too many gimlets during today's lunch, huh?

vicious maniac:

A much better version of this post (at least regarding Obama Vs. Clinton, which is the only real debate anyway)

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/02/senate-record-comparison-obama.php

Aaron:

Matt Yglesias knows the score:

I would further note that looking at what legislation a Senator has or hasn't cosponsored can get pretty misleading. Cosponsoring a piece of legislation that's not going anywhere is the ultimate in congressional cheap talk. What's more, Senators sometimes sign on to legislation they don't actually favor (see the Republican co-sponsors of Ron Wyden's bill) in order to be able to change things around. And sometimes taking a position in favor of something actually means the reverse

Read through to see the rest. As he sums up, you can interview experts about the details of all bills or just add up the total numbers of all bills. Trying to pick and choose a subset just doesn't wash:

Going for the middle ground seems appealing, but the odds are that it's just going to wind up misleading.

Aaron:

Let's see an example of not doing one's homework, as Matt Yglesias referred to above.

"So greenhouse gas regulation is not important?"

No, not to John McCain.


I've repeated this before, and I'll repeat it again. John McCain is not interested in regulating greenhouse gasses, but he is interested in making lobbyists happy:

Unlike other such bills, McCain's specifically sets aside massive and unnecessary subsidies for the nuclear industry.

If you don't do the research, you might think that John McCain might support a bill that does the exact bare minimum that his bill does. Not so fast:

His big bill -- the McCain-Lieberman Act -- disappeared this Congress when it was, for all intents and purposes, replaced by the Lieberman-Warner America's Climate Security Act. That legislation is in some ways more stringent than its predecessor, and McCain has refused to cosponsor it, noting through a spokesperson that "it doesn't include the nuclear issue by name."

John McCain is against greenhouse gas regulation, except as a place to hide subsidies for his lobbyist friends in the nuclear power industry.

RKA Author Profile Page:

Michael, Intersting post. Of course, since they are all senators, finding a few bills on which they all agree is probably pretty easy given the many bills they have co-sponsored or voted upon.

What is most interesting to me is that all but 1.5 of those bills was introduced by a democrat (I'll designate Lieberman as half of a democrat).

I think this just shows how, on domestic issues, John McCain is at odds with his conservative base because he has come over to the dem side on some issues.

Unfortunately for him, his Bushian foreign policy views will trump the moderation he has shown on some domestic issues. So Obama will still get the independents and the conservatives who care about domestic issues will be less than motivated to pull out all the stops for him.

Bottom line for me is that John McCain enters this general election with a pretty small base of loyal, walk-through-fire type of support precisely because of votes like these and the crossover appeal of his likely dem opponent.

CMike:

Michael Shrerer writes:

National immigration policy is not important?
********************

You are aware, of course, that folks on the opposite end of the ideological spectrum got behind the McCain-Kennedy bill. The Wall Street/Libertarian crowd (minus Ron Paul and working class Libertarians) want the cheap labor here. The human rights/labor rights crowd (minus a lot of Organized Labor) want undocumented workers here and their families to have their status decriminalized.

Just because Sen. McCain and Sen. Kennedy cosponsored a bill does not mean they share the same ideology or are both technocrats without ideology.

HH:

We could all save ourselves a great deal of frustration and confusion if we simply accepted that the legislative machinery of the US Congress is engineered to conceal the influence of lobbyists. Senator McCain is a famous friend of lobbyists. They operate out of his bus and airplane while working on his campaign.

Senator McCain would have us believe that lobbyists do not influence him. This calls into question either the sanity of the people who pay lobbyists vast amounts of money or the honesty of Senator McCain. Since Senator McCain's reputation for integrity now exists independently of observable reality, I don't think he has to worry about this contradiction.

James, Los Angeles:

I'm always late to the game due to my working hours. But, nice analysis, Scherer. I didn't have a real strong opinion on the Banning Horsemeat issue, but it's good to know. I hope you will apply those excellent analytical skills to other issues, ones *I* care about. Ones that this election is actually about. I hope your goal in this post isn't to have us conclude that McCain isn't an extremist; he IS an extremist. I can also look at voting records, thanks to those internet tubes you hear about.

McCain sponsored and voted for the Military Commissions Act. Obama and Clinton voted against. That one act, the MCA, is make-or-break for me. If the candidate voted for that bill, which removed the right of habeus corpus and authorized our petulant frat-boy to decide who could or couldn't be tortured. And McCain just this week voted IN FAVOR of waterboarding. So don't sit up there in your office and try to claim he isn't an extremist. Because he *is* an extremist.

I'm gonna help you out here on your next post, which should be the issues that the cadidates DIFFER on:

Obama
# Support veterans via the Dignity for Wounded Warriors Act. (Aug 2007)
# Voted NO on removing need for FISA warrant for wiretapping abroad. (Aug 2007)
# Voted YES on limiting soldiers' deployment to 12 months. (Jul 2007)
# Voted YES on implementing the 9/11 Commission report. (Mar 2007)
# Voted YES on preserving habeas corpus for Guantanamo detainees. (Sep 2006)
# Voted YES on requiring CIA reports on detainees & interrogation methods. (Sep 2006)
# Voted YES on reauthorizing the PATRIOT Act. (Mar 2006)
# Voted NO on extending the PATRIOT Act's wiretap provision. (Dec 2005)
# Voted YES on restricting business with entities linked to terrorism. (Jul 2005)
# Voted YES on restoring $565M for states' and ports' first responders. (Mar 2005)

Clinton
# Proposed Federal Interoperable Communication & Safety Act. (Oct 2006)
# Voted NO on removing need for FISA warrant for wiretapping abroad. (Aug 2007)
# Voted YES on limiting soldiers' deployment to 12 months. (Jul 2007)
# Voted YES on implementing the 9/11 Commission report. (Mar 2007)
# Voted YES on preserving habeus corpus for Guantanamo detainees. (Sep 2006)
# Voted YES on requiring CIA reports on detainees & interrogation methods. (Sep 2006)
# Voted YES on reauthorizing the PATRIOT Act. (Mar 2006)
# Voted NO on extending the PATRIOT Act's wiretap provision. (Dec 2005)
# Voted YES on restricting business with entities linked to terrorism. (Jul 2005)
# Voted YES on restoring $565M for states' and ports' first responders. (Mar 2005)
# Federalize aviation security. (Nov 2001)
# Rated 100% by SANE, indicating a pro-peace voting record. (Dec 2003)

McCain
# Keep “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy - it works. (Jan 2000)
# Voted NO on limiting soldiers' deployment to 12 months. (Jul 2007)
# Voted NO on preserving habeas corpus for Guantanamo detainees. (Sep 2006)
# Voted NO on requiring CIA reports on detainees & interrogation methods. (Sep 2006)
# Voted YES on reauthorizing the PATRIOT Act. (Mar 2006)
# Voted YES on extending the PATRIOT Act's wiretap provision. (Dec 2005)
# Voted NO on restricting business with entities linked to terrorism. (Jul 2005)
# Voted NO on restoring $565M for states' and ports' first responders. (Mar 2005)


See how that works? I got that from On the Issues.

Here's more: How did the candidates vote on extremist judges? How did they vote on Veteran's issues? How do they stack up on civil rights? How about Iraq? How about foreign policy? Iran? Russia? Israel? China? How do they stack up on domestic issues? Health care? Economic issues? Do they have a plan for the mortgage crisis?

I am betting that Carney and Stengel will not allow you to compare the candidates' positions on the issues I listed above. Stengel is afraid to tangle with the Republicans, and Carney has been stumpin' for McCain on ABC This Week every since he gave up on humpin' for Huckabee.

Surprise me, Mr. Scherer.

James, Los Angeles:

But all that aside, Scherer, I have a great deal of admiration and respect for your willingness to engage us rubes on issues relating to journalism: the practice and the philosophy. I wish there were more of you who would do it. Most of the people you engage on that issue down here in the basement are interested in finding a way to reform the media, and not to annihilate it. I appreciate that you aren't so consumed with defensiveness that you can't address the points that are made. That is a very, very rare attribute, my friend, in your world.

HH:

Mr. Scherer cannot engage in an honest dialog with Time readers on this blog because he works for a dishonest organization. If he attempted to communicate candidly, he would be silenced and punished very quickly.

Time-Warner conceals it motives to maximize its financial results. This is how large corporations operate. There is no transparency into Richard Stengel's editorial agenda here, and it would be folly to expect it. His objectives are deliberately concealed from his readers, because they do not always favor the interests of the readers.

Throughout Time-Warner's management hierarchy, calculated dishonesty is a standard business practice. Advertising profitability and the preservation of favorable treatment by government officials are the top priorities, and those priorities are served by whatever deceit is required. That is why the corruption of the Bush administration has seldom received more than superficial attention by Time-Warner, and why the "war on terror" is steadily supported.

trifecta:

Let me mention again how the National Journal rankings are BS.

Coincidentally, in 2004 John Kerry was the "most liberal" member of the Senate. Funny how that works out.

They cherry picked bills to get there. One of the bills that made Obama the "most liberal", he was on the side of Coburn. Seriously.

Why isn't the rest of the media asking the National Journal why they are being so dishonest? Does anybody really think that Obama (who is liberal) is more liberal than Bernie Sanders, Barbara Boxer, etc? I mean really.

53_2:

How about instead we do this:

Throw the overused toilet-paper words like "liberal" and "conservative" and instead judge them how each issue they stand on is good for America.

I don't think that most people fit very neatly into a "liberal" or "conservative" category. Most people believe in a mixture of the two to varying degrees.

Let's try something different. It CAN be done, you know...

HH:

In other news, an accurate appraisal of "victory" in Iraq from Chris Floyd:

And in plain point of fact, the Bush-Cheney faction – and the elite interests they represent – has already won the war in Iraq...They've won even if Iraq collapses into perpetual anarchy, or becomes an extremist religious state; they've won even if the whole region goes up in flames, and terrorism flares to unprecedented heights – because this will just mean more war-profiteering, more fear-profiteering. And yes, they've won even if they lose their majority [in November 2006] or the presidency in 2008, because war and fear will still fill their coffers, buying them continuing influence and power as they bide their time through another interregnum of a Democratic "centrist" – who will, at best, only nibble at the edges of the militarist state – until they are back in the saddle again. The only way they can lose the Iraq War is if they are actually arrested and imprisoned for their war crimes. And you know and I know that's not going to happen.

So Bush's confident strut, his incessant upbeat pronouncements about the war, his complacent smirks, his callous indifference to the unspeakable horror he has unleashed in Iraq – these are not the hallmarks of self-delusion, or willful ignorance, or a disassociation from reality. He and his accomplices know full well what the reality is – and they like it.

Source: http://www.chris-floyd.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1009&Itemid=135

HH:

Proof of the even-handed editorial posture of Time Magazine:

HALPERIN’S TAKE: Things McCain Can Do to Try to Beat Obama That Clinton Cannot

Things McCain can do when running against Obama that Clinton has been unable to do well or at all:

1. Play the national security card without hesitation.

2. Talk about the Iraq War without apologies or perceived contradiction.

3. Go at Obama unambiguously from the right.

4. Encourage interest groups, bloggers, and right-leaning media to explore Obama’s past.

5. Make an issue of Obama’s acknowledged drug use.

6. Allow some supporters to risk being accused of using the race card when criticizing Obama.

7. Exploit Michelle Obama’s mistakes and address her controversial remarks with unrestricted censure.

8. Play dirty without alienating his party.

9. Dismiss Obama’s brief national tenure from his own lofty platform of decades in the Senate – there will be no ambiguity about who has more experience as conventionally defined.

10. Use his sterling war record to reinforce his image of patriotism and valor – and contrast it with his opponent’s.

11. Emphasize Barack Hussein Obama’s unusual name and exotic background through a Manchurian Candidate prism.

12. Employ third party groups like the NRA to hit Obama on issues that might turn off general election voters. Perhaps an ad such as this will run in Ohio: “So, what do you really know about Barack Obama? Did you know he supports meeting with the head of terrorist states? Do you know he wants to get rid of your right to own a handgun? Do you know he is calling for the repeal of the law preventing gay marriage? Do you know he is for a trillion-dollar tax increase? What do you really know about Barack Obama?”

Source: http://thepage.time.com/halperin%E2%80%99s-take-ways-mccain-can-beat-obama-that-clinton-cannot/

nk44:

Mr Sherer,

At first I thought you were being funny by listing a few obscure votes that they actually voted in common. But, sadly, you were actually trying to imply that the three candidates share some significant common ground.

I suggest you take a look at how much the war in Iraq costs per day and what the combination of that with Bush's tax cuts have to done to the economy and social programs. Consider those two things for the next 100 years. Then, compare that to how much horse meat was consumed in the US last year.

stuart_zechman:

How about instead we do this:

Throw the overused toilet-paper words like "liberal" and "conservative" and instead judge them how each issue they stand on is good for America.

53_2:

But without those labels, how would mainstream publications determine if their reporting and analysis were appropriately "balanced"?

...snark aside, this is the best prescription I've ever heard from you. Thanks. Let's f--king do it.

stringer:

What they all don't have in common? Obama's chief strategist doesn't work for Hillary's (Mark Penn) the way Charlie Black, McCain's chief strategist does.

Also Obama isn't invited to the group parties, or the vodka drinking contest on plane trips to Eastern Europe.

keightykat:

obama!i recently signed up on SeniorWoo . com in hope to meet friends or more on Internet. Is it easy? I am 40+ mature woman. There are some hot pictures under the name Keightykat there.

Ohg Rea Tone Author Profile Page:

Commonality is a misnomer - Keeping track of the issues is a near impossibility for common folk. We follow a logical argument to what we think is a reasonable conclusion, then the other candidate speaks and the news media weighs in. I feel like I am hearing voices in my head.....
http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/02/26/schizophrenic-politics-a-penrose-triangle/

53_2:

"Let's f--king do it."

Stuart:

All we need now is to convince the pundits, politicos, and the press.

Talk about shoveling cats and herding water...

James, Los Angeles:

To the High Sheriffs:

I want to register my shock and dismay at allowing Mark Halperin to explictly advocate the use of racism by the Republicans against Barack Obama in the next phase of the campaign. Are you sure you want to allow that on your website?

James, Los Angeles:


Halperin has an addendum that says "This is analysis, not advice.:

The hell it is.

I am shocked and horrified.

Robert Sullivan:

53_2: "Let's try something different. It CAN be done, you know..."

I'm late to this discussion, but I wanted to thank you for one of the most sensible posts that I've seen here for a while. Unfortunately, a lot of people on all sides seem to be more interested in vendetta than in solving problems, and such labels help them sort out who's right and who's evil.

Catchy name, by the way.

cfaller96 Author Profile Page:

Michael Scherer:
So greenhouse gas regulation is not important? Cheaper prescription drugs are not important? National immigration policy is not important? Health insurance for students is not important?
Tobacco regulation is not important?
This stuff doesn't really matter to people?
Voters don't care? I think a lot of people would disagree.

Go ahead and find the poll that lists these issues at the very TOP of the list, Michael. You can't do it, because those polls don't exist. Iraq is at the top of the list. Universal health care is at the top of the list. The economic downturn is at the top of the list. And McCain is SIGNIFICANTLY different that Clinton and Obama on these issues, which again, makes your post pretty pointless.

If you want to connect these bills to the issues that are actually important (as opposed to what you think is important) to the American people, be my guest (and I suspect you could tie the prescription drug and greenhouse gas bills to the healthcare and Global Warming debates). But you didn't do that, and your argument suffers because of it.

Instead you tried to connect the votes on these bills to some larger, myopic point about how these three "really aren't all that different" or something. But they are different, Michael, if one is to judge them on the issues that are important to the American people. If you want to refute that, then you're going to have to do better than listing a bunch of bills that didn't pass.

(Clarification of the use of word "leadership" accepted. Be careful the next time.)

53_2:

Robert Sullivan:

Thanks for the complements.

You are right indeed! It seems you HAVE to be a "liberal" or "conservative" and I'm not sure David Sherer, Joe, Karen or any of the other pundits here can accurately define either one!

There ARE ways to judge whether something is good for America or not. One might be to ask, say that the "bang" we want is the greatest benefit to the largest population (Constitutional rights respected).

So, given that, how much "bang" does each candidates' health care solution give for the buck?

That's a move away from "what's in it for me"? box that seems to pervade people's judgement nowadays.

HH:

In the long run, what is good for Time-Warner (e.g., concentrated commercial media power and dominance of the government by corporations) is demonstrably bad for America.

Hey, you Swamp critters, how about an investigative piece on the growing influence of Time-Warner over US public opinion? Mr. Stengel would love to pose for a picture on the front page of this story

grooft:

What James said at 8:51 and 9:03

M.S. has a meaningless analysis on what they cosponsor. It isn't the bills they cosponsor that won't be voted upon because of the 'failed to get the needed 60 votes' (MSM shorthand for the always to be unnamed 'Republican filibuster') that matters, it's how they vote on the cloture motion and the votes they show up for (McCain is pretty near dead last in recorded votes in the Senate although still ahead of Tim Johnson D-SD-brain aneurysm).

QUESTION HILLARY Author Profile Page:

One huge difference between McCain and The Global Gutter Twins?

McCain actually has a fairly conservative record, on which to run.

max9:

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goldstonesoft:

M4V Converter free download center- ALL M4V conversion tools which help you feel free to convert M4V to MP3, AVI, WMV, MPEG, FLV, 3GP, WMA. And useful Guide on How to Deal with M4V files.
m4v converter
convert m4v
Ultra Quicktime M4V converter currently is the best M4V converter which can convert Quicktime movie M4V to AVI, MPEG, MP4, MPG, WMV, ASF and Vob. As we know Quicktime movie usually has the video formats of M4V, MOV, QT, MP4, and M4V, With this M4V Converter, you can feel free to Convert them all with fast speed and high output quality.
m4v to avi
m4v to wmv
With the fast and powerful QuickTime video decoder inside, Ultra QuickTime M4V Converter supports almost all MOV, QT, MP4, M4V files, even QuickTime Player has not been installed. Integrated High-speed MPEG-2 encoder which let you convert M4V to DVD-Video files(VIDEO_TS, AUDIO_TS) and VCD/SVCD image(*.bin,*.cue), so you can burn VCD/SVCD/DVD disc easily from QuickTime files by using third-party buring tools. It is a software program for converting video formats at fast speeds and high quality. Very user-friendly interface and Quality Profiles.
m4v to mpeg
m4v to mp4

max9:

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goldstonesoft:

Easy Way to Cut Large Video Files into Small Clips with Video Cutter
Ultra Video Cutter is a powerful video cutting tool. The main function of Ultra Video Cutter is to cut large video files into new video files, and also to join or merge multiple video clips into a large one. The program supports so many video formats including AVI, Divx, XviD, MPEG, WMV, ASF, RM, MOV, 3GP, MP4 formats

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FLV Video Cutter
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