SHORT BIO
McCain followed in family footsteps by enrolling in the Naval Academy immediately after high school, leading to his deployment to Vietnam. In October of 1967 his plane was shot down and he was taken prisoner, where he was interrogated daily but did not give up any information. He was finally released in 1973, five and a half years later. After retiring from the Navy in 1981, McCain went to work for his second wife’s father at Anheuser-Busch in Phoenix.
In 1982, McCain decided to run for one of the Arizona House seats and won. Four years later, Barry Goldwater retired from his Senate seat and McCain was elected to replace him. In 2000, he was George W. Bush’s most formidable opponent in the Republican primaries, though his decision to speak out against conservative Christian leaders may have cost him the race. Since that time he has generally supported Bush’s administration, though many say he has been posturing himself as a moderate yet conservative candidate for his run in 2008.
ISSUE SUMMARY
Though McCain’s votes are typically some of the most conservative in the Senate, his reputation is often more of a “maverick” or wild card. His current stances include:
- Supports the war in Iraq, advocates more troops to guarantee victory
- Opposed to all torture
- Opposed to abortion (supports overturning Roe v. Wade)
- Moderately positive voting record on environmental issues
- Personally opposed to same-sex marriage but supports letting states decide
- Supports loose immigration policies, typically involving amnesty
- Worked towards reforming campaign finance policies
- Ranked 83% by the Christian Coalition, indicating a moderate conservative voting record
EXPANDED ISSUES and STANCES
- Supported the war in Iraq
- Spoke out against Bush’s war policies at times, advocating more troops and more funding
- Supports the State of Israel, often publicly
- Opposed to any use of torture for any reason
- Emphasizes reducing our deficit over cutting taxes (taxes help to reduce the deficit)
- Supports campaign finance reform (McCain-Feingold Act)
- Proactive in working to solve global warming problems
- Opposed to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife refuge
- Opposed to government subsidizing ethanol (corn oil) production
- Advocate for turning the EPA into a cabinet department(s)
- Supports more nuclear energy
- Strongly supports being tougher in the “War on Drugs”
- Supports letting states choose whether or not to allow same-sex marriage
- Supported an Arizona ban on same-sex marriage
- Supports same-sex domestic partnerships
- Supports the use of school vouchers to allow kids to choose private schools regardless of cost
- Supports the teaching of intelligent design in public schools
- Opposes abortion and supports overturning Roe v. Wade
- Received an 83% positive rating from the Christian Coalition
- Supports most forms of gun control and regulation
- Often supports loose immigration policies, usually including amnesty — he proposed the most recent immigration bill together with Ted Kennedy
