McCain's bad week

McCain has not had a good week at all. d-day at Hullabaloo describes some of it.

He can't keep his message straight. The multiple contradictions are so bad that even the media is noting them. Visiting New Orleans he spoke about rebuilding the same 9th Ward he earlier proposed to simply tear down and abandon, then claimed three days later that he had never suggested any such thing.

It doesn't help that he proposes solutions to the problems in New Orleans that, as a born-again tax cutter, he can clearly never pay for. Of course, the tax cuts and the government solutions he proposes are aimed at different voter blocks. The contradictions are required if he is going to keep the Republican coalition together through November 4th.

Then his financial desperation became obvious when he arranged a special cut rate for a hall used for a fundraiser ($250 for a hall that normally rents for $1200 a night) and arranged to use prisoners to set up and tear down the furniture.

McCain's rather extensive favors which helped to further enrich Donald R. Diamond, a wealthy, 80-year-old real estate developer were reported by the New York Times. Apparently McCain's experience with Arizona developer Charles Keating did not teach him the dangers of using his Senate office to do favors that further enrich the already wealthy. But Diamond is a long-time contributor to McCain's campaigns, and clearly his efforts are badly needed this year to support the McCain campaign for President. Diamond has already raised $250,000 for this year's campaign according to the New York Times. (Pretty good payback for the quick $19,000,000 plus profit McCain arranged for him to get.)

Then Gail Collins at the New York Times points out that McCain would have joined his fellow Republican Senators killing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act which was intended to restore workers’ ability to go to court in cases of pay discrimination. Why? McCain explained that the bill “opens us up for lawsuits, for all kinds of problems and difficulties.” Yeah, right. A Republican like McCain certainly wouldn't want to open up employers who were violating the equal pay law to lawsuits over violations of the law.

McCain is too ignorant, too conservative, too much like Bush, and way too old to be elevated from the Senate to the Presidency.