McCain: Major League Hypocrite
by
Larry Pratt
(December 2000)

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) flamed out in his presidential bid on the issue of so-called "campaign reform."

The Senator's bill would have expanded the price controls that have already been unconstitutionally imposed on free speech. He targeted so-called soft money expenditures which discuss issues and candidates but do not urge people to vote.

McCain's plan was to protect incumbents, such as himself, by closing off discussions of public officials which are intended to inform the public about their voting records without urging people to vote one way or the other. McCain would have prohibited mentioning an incumbent by name 60 days before an election.

That would translate in a presidential race to prohibiting Gun Owners of America from criticizing John McCain's anti-gun votes (C-- on Gun Owners of America's rating of the Senate) from around Christmas of the year before the general election in November.

But this fall, Mr. Clean chose to drench the airwaves with TV and radio spots in Colorado and Oregon on behalf of voter initiatives to register gun buyers in the name of closing the so-called "gun show loophole." With an endless supply of soft money dollars from the CEO of Monster.com, Andrew McKelvey, McCain the major league hypocrite, told voters of these two states that gun control would be good for them.

The Oregon measure would have registered gun buyers for five years with the State police, as well as the FBI. One of the sheriffs supporting the measure asserted that Americans have no individual right to keep and bear arms.

Let's hope that when John McCain runs for reelection to the Senate, the voters of Arizona do what the voters in the Republican presidential primary did to McCain -- defeat him.

John McCain would then have a legacy based on his attempt to destroy the First and the Second Amendments. That might be good enough to get a statue of him put up in Washington, D.C. where contempt for the Constitution is a badge of esteem.