John McCain Articles 12/12/07

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/1212wed1-12.html

Arizona Republic: Listen To McCain

Editorial

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http://www.goupstate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20071212&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=712120353&SectionCat=NEWS01&Template=printart

Spartanburg Herald Journal (SC): Sticking To His Guns

McCain believes he's still GOP's best hope

By Jason Spencer

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http://www.greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071212/NEWS01/712120376/1011&template=printart

Greenville News (SC): McCain Sets Veterans' Health Care As Priority

Candidate reiterates waterboarding opposition

By Dan Hoover

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http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2007/12/11/politics/fromtheroad/entry3606304.shtml

CBS News’ From The Road Blog: McCain Blasts MoveOn.org - Again

By Andante Higgins

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http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/12/mccain-vows-he.html

ABC News’ Political Radar Blog: McCain Vows He Won't Let Dems 'Lose This War'

By Bret Hovell

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Associated Press: Swift Says Democrats Will Brand Romney 'Flip-Flopper'

By Glen Johnson
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) _ Jane Swift, the acting governor whom Mitt Romney elbowed aside to make his own gubernatorial run in 2002, warned New Hampshire voters Tuesday it would be a mistake to nominate her fellow Republican for president because Democrats could eviscerate him as a ''flip-flopper'' in the general election campaign.

''Politics is a definition game. If candidates don't successfully define themselves, others will gladly do it for them. Being defined as a chronic flip-flopper will make Mitt Romney particularly vulnerable,'' Swift wrote in an op-ed piece for The Union Leader, the state's largest newspaper.

Swift, who has endorsed Romney rival John McCain in the nomination contest, said Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton would surely attack Romney for changing his views on abortion, and his emphasis on other issues, if she emerges as her party's nominee.

''In a Romney-Clinton matchup, Democrats need only take a page from the George W. Bush playbook: Undermine the voters' sense that Romney can be trusted by highlighting the number of times he's conveniently changed his mind. And don't forget: He will have to do some more flipping if he becomes the party's nominee. Romney would have to tack back toward the middle _ where most American voters comfortably sit _ in order to win. That might just be a flip-flop-flap,'' Swift wrote.

The Romney camp replied with a tart statement underscoring the enmity between the two former allies.

''You can tell the McCain campaign is in desperate straits when they look down their bench of surrogates and the only person sitting there is Jane Swift, who left the state in worse shape than she found it,'' Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said. ''Mitt Romney turned things around by cleaning up Jane Swift's budget mess, and he has the experience, the vision and the values to fix what's broken in Washington.''

Swift's column completes a trifecta for Massachusetts gubernatorial involvement in the New Hampshire campaign in recent weeks.

Swift's running mate, former Gov. Paul Cellucci, held a rally in front of the Massachusetts Statehouse late last month to accuse Romney of increasing spending and failing to deliver on promised tax cuts during his four years in office. Cellucci is backing former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Last week, the Romney campaign responded by inviting former Gov. William F. Weld to a day of campaign events, where he toasted Romney's fiscal stewardship and urged primary voters to back him. Weld has not only endorsed Romney, but worked vigorously to raise money for him.

In her op-ed, Swift recalls her own political history with Romney.

Swift, then lieutenant governor, succeeded Cellucci as acting governor in 2001 when he resigned to become U.S. ambassador to Canada. She planned to mount her own campaign for governor in 2002, but tearfully stepped aside after Romney returned from the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics and made it clear he would challenge her for the nomination.

''As a Massachusetts state senator, I was one of Mitt's early supporters in his 1994 contested primary for the U.S Senate. As acting governor of Massachusetts in 2002, I ended my own campaign for the Republican nomination to give Romney the best opportunity to beat the Democratic candidate that November,'' Swift wrote.

''Once elected governor, however, Romney began his transformation of consciousness. His flip flops on social issues are well documented,'' she added. ''As his national ambitions grew larger, it seems Massachusetts grew smaller in Romney's rearview mirror. The governor who promised to be the salesman-in-chief for his state's economy instead toured the country using us as the butt of his jokes.''

Swift closed with a pitch for McCain that itself included jabs at Romney.

''I have great admiration for John McCain because he sticks to his beliefs, even when they are not politically popular,'' she wrote. ''We disagree on important social issues, but I know where he stands and why.''

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http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/DanNowicki/12401

Arizona Republic’s McCain Central Blog: Cindy McCain: My Husband Can Beat Hillary Clinton

By Dan Nowicki


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http://www.opinionjournal.com/forms/printThis.html?id=110010979

Wall Street Journal: That Does Not Compute

Mitt Romney Has A Passion For Data. A Great President Needs A Passion For Principle.

By Jeffery Lord

Mitt Romney loves data and lusts after process.