Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About John McCain

Some of these are old news; some are eye-opening. Not that I was looking for any more reasons not to vote for him ...

1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has "evolved," yet he's continued to oppose key civil rights laws.

2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain "will make Cheney look like Gandhi."

Now that is scary!

3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.

4. McCain opposes a woman's right to choose. He said, "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned."

No surprise here.

5. The Children's Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children's health care bill last year, then defended Bush's veto of the bill.

6. He's one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a "second job" and skip their vacations.

Not that I begrudge anyone their wealth, but it would be nice if those in power had some empathy for those who are not worth seven, or even six, figures.
Life's a lot different on the other side.

7. Many of McCain's fellow Republican senators say he's too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He's erratic. He's hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."

I hear this all the time, along with references to his mental state post-captivity. Not to say he hasn't been effective in the Senate, but you have to wonder, as he gets older, how he'll handle the pressure.

8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates.

9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his "spiritual guide," Rod Parsley, believes America's founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a "false religion." McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church "the Antichrist" and a "false cult."

So why are we all over Obama's ties to Jeremiah Wright? Shouldn't we be using the same standards for all candidates?

10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.

One of my big concerns; I'd like subsequent generations to enjoy the earth, too.