John McCain

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In Case You Missed It: RNC Victory Chairwoman Carly Fiorina on Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) Change Agenda

WASHINGTON, April 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Fiorina: "I think John McCain is going all over this country, campaigning each and every day, making sure that all Americans understand the changes that he would bring to Washington, changes to reduce government spending, to stop earmarks and the corruption of money in Washington, changes to give workers an opportunity for a second chance with worker retraining programs." (MSNBC's "MSNBC Live," 4/22/08)

A Product of The RNC Research Department

Paid for by the Republican National Committee.
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Source: Republican National Committee

DNC - McCain Myth Buster: John McCain and America's Communities

Today's McCain Myth: John McCain would help communities that have been left behind

WASHINGTON, April 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being issued by the Democratic National Committee:

John McCain says that on his campaign tour this week he is visiting "places that have long been ignored or are losing ground as the global economy forces change" and that "[i]t's time for action" to help those communities. But in reality, John McCain has proven time and again that he would leave these communities behind by vetoing earmarks, which have funded critical programs in these economically struggling areas. In fact, during his visit to Youngstown, Ohio, today it remains to be seen if McCain will keep up his anti-earmark rhetoric considering that earmarks have funded essential initiatives and projects in Youngstown like improving education and health care and supporting an Air Reserve Center. [McCain Press Release, 4/20/08; Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW.org) Pigbooks, FY95-FY07]

For the candidate who wants to have it both ways, this is just politics as usual. But how can McCain say he would help America's working families when he also said he would veto funding to give them things like hospitals? It's time for McCain to fess up. No more doubletalk -- which is it?

Youngstown Earmarks Included Funding for Education...

-- In 2003, Youngstown State University received $500,000 for expenses to expand a materials engineering/science program (Institute of Museum and Library Services - Department of Education). [Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW.org) Pigbooks, FY95-FY07]

And Health Care...

-- In 2005, Forum Health in Youngstown received $200,000 for facilities and equipment (Health Resources and Services Administration - Department of Health and Human Services). [Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW.org) Pigbooks, FY95-FY07]

-- In 2004, the Ursuline Sisters HIV/AIDS Ministry in Youngstown received $50,000 to expand their health care and counseling services (Health Resources & Services Administration - Health & Human Services). [Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW.org) Pigbooks, FY95-FY07]

-- In 2004, the Saint Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown received $400,000 for construction, renovation, and equipment (Health Resources & Services Administration - Health & Human Services). [Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW.org) Pigbooks, FY95-FY07]

-- In 2001, Forum Health of Youngstown received $921,000 pediatric and adolescent asthma school program (Disease Control, Research & Training - Centers for Disease Control). [Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW.org) Pigbooks, FY95-FY07]

-- In 2000, Forum Health of Youngstown received $1.2 million for a hospital conversion project (Community Development Block Grants). [Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW.org) Pigbooks, FY95-FY07]

-- In 1999, the City of Youngstown received $1 million for the Southside Medical Center [Community Development Block Grants]. (HUD) [Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW.org) Pigbooks, FY95-FY07]

And for the Air Reserve Center...

-- In 2006, the Youngstown Air Reserve Station received $7.5 million for a Joint service logistics facility (Phase I), (Air Force Reserve). [Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW.org) Pigbooks, FY95-FY07]

-- In 2000, the Air Force Reserve, Youngstown Air Reserve Station, received $3.4 million for the Apron Runoff/Storm Water/Deicing Collection System. [Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW.org) Pigbooks, FY95-FY07]

After casting himself as a "Maverick" in 2000, the new John McCain is walking in lockstep with President Bush, pandering to the right wing of the Republican Party, and embracing the ideology he once denounced. On the campaign trail McCain has callously abandoned many of his previously held positions, even contradicted himself, in a blatant attempt to remake himself into a candidate Republicans can accept in 2008. So just who is the real John McCain? The Democratic National Committee will present a daily fact aimed at exposing the man behind the myth.

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, www.democrats.org.

This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Source: Democratic National Committee

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DNC Launches McCain Ad and New National Field Organizing Effort

WASHINGTON, April 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and DNC Political Director David Boundy announced the rollout of a new field effort to register voters and talk to them about why McCain is the wrong choice for America's future. The rollout coincides with the launch of the DNC's ad, "Better Off," which will be used at organizing events across the country.

As part of this effort, the DNC will begin the phased rollout of its new online Neighborhood Volunteer tool, which will empower grassroots activists to utilize the voter file for organizing efforts in their neighborhoods. The tool builds on the DNC's investment in its new state-of-the-art national voter file. Each volunteer will contact their neighbors and will be able to print out walk packets, scripts, and materials. The data volunteers collect will be fed back into the DNC's national voter file.

Neighborhood Volunteers are already making voter contact in the states and will be registering people to vote as a critical part of the DNC's 50-state strategy. These volunteers are talking to their neighbors about why John McCain is the wrong choice for America's future, as well as engaging voters about local issues and down-ballot races in states around the country. There are more than 49,000 volunteers in the program, and more than 160 state partnership staff members in regular contact with them.

"The DNC's Neighborhood Volunteer Program and organizing tool are critical parts of our strategy to beat John McCain," said DNC Chairman Howard Dean. "By encouraging local volunteers to make direct contact with their neighbors, we're activating Democrats at the grassroots level as they take the Democratic message directly to neighborhoods across the country. The tool is innovative, effective, and enormously valuable as we move our field operation and 50-state strategy into the next phase. Make no mistake: the DNC is already actively working to elect a Democratic president come November."

The organizing tool was developed around years of research that shows that door-to-door contact is by far the most effective form of voter contact. The tool was tested successfully in Virginia and Ohio in 2007 and begins phased rollout this week.

The DNC's field effort coincides with the release of the DNC's new ad this week against John McCain called "Better Off," which gives voters the chance to hear John McCain in his own words as he explains that despite the sliding economy, he thinks Americans are better off than they were eight years ago. Democratic state parties and elected officials across the country are following McCain as he travels around the country in his latest campaign tour, holding him accountable for his doubletalk on the campaign trail and lack of solutions for America's working families.

Source: Democratic National Committee

Web Site: http://www.democrats.org/

Dean: McCain Has a Problem of Saying One Thing and Doing Another - Dean Calls on McCain to Denounce John Hagee and Highlights His Hypocrisy on Campaign Finance Reform

WASHINGTON, March 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today on CNN's Late Edition, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean highlighted John McCain's hypocrisy on the campaign trail. Citing McCain's efforts to skirt the same campaign finance laws he once championed and his failure this week to denounce John Hagee who has made discriminatory comments, Chairman Dean contended that John McCain "has not made a case for his honesty."

Echoing George Will who called John McCain a "situational ethicist" in a recent column, Dean pointed out McCain's long-term pattern of doing favors for friends going back to the Keating Five scandal. Dean said McCain is offering Americans four more years of George Bush, especially given that he said he would keep U.S. troops in Iraq for 100 years and supported Bush's veto of children's health care. [Washington Post, 2/28/08]

  Below are excerpts from his interview:

  John McCain's Hypocrisy on Campaign Finance Reform:

"John McCain is a flawed candidate. Here is a guy who is a typical situational ethicist. He runs on his integrity but he doesn't seem to have any. We're familiar with the fact that he got on the ballot in Ohio with what now turns out to be false pretenses. He qualified because he was taking public financing and now he says he's not going to. He doesn't have permission from the F.E.C to do that."

"This is a long-term pattern with John McCain. Let's not forget that this is the John McCain that took $100,000 in campaign contributions and flew on corporate jets for the savings and loan magnate Charles Keating who is now serving jail time or was serving jail time. The John McCain that he says he is not who John McCain is. He's a situational ethicist very much like George Bush."

John McCain's Embrace of John Hagee:

"And just this week he refused to denounce and reject John Hagee, a militant anti-catholic, right-wing pastor. John McCain has a history of doing what it takes regardless of what the ethics of this are. I think he's going to be a flawed candidate. I don't think people want four more years of what is essentially George Bush."

"John McCain has a problem with personal integrity. He has a problem of saying one thing and doing another. What about John Hagee? What about a guy who is a vicious anti-Catholic, who is supporting John McCain and John McCain does not denounce or reject him, as Barack Obama did to Louis Farrakhan. That is the kind of stuff that really bothers Americans. People arguing over philosophy is not a problem. We can have our disagreements with John McCain. Maybe people want to stay in Iraq for 100 years. That's fair game. But people will not elect somebody who they don't think is honest and I don't think John McCain has made a case for his honesty."

John McCain Represents a Third Bush Term:

"He thinks it's great to stay in Iraq for 100 years, thought it was terrific that George Bush vetoed children's health care. I don't want... four more years of George Bush and I think that's what John McCain offers us."

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, www.democrats.org.

This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Source: Democratic National Committee

Web site: http://www.democrats.org/

Long-Time San Diego Community Leader, Transplant Patient, Joe Dolphin, Endorses John Mccain

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the New Hampshire primary, a headline described McCain's presidential campaign as one that was "breathing new life."

Ironically, Joe Dolphin, who announced his endorsement of McCain today en route to U.C.S.D. Medical Center for a lung transplant, is also hoping to receive breath that will give him new life. The long-time San Diego community leader has suffered for many years with AAT (Alpha-1 Anti-trypsin Deficiency Emphysema), a genetic lung disease which is fatal. The only effective treatment is a lung transplant.

"I want my friends to know I support John McCain and hope they will vote for him. He is the only candidate with the right credentials to lead America in these troubled times. He has the judgment, brains, and maturity to be a great President. His judgment is based on carefully weighing the evidence on both sides of issues and making rational and practical decisions. His behavior is controlled by a brain that was strong enough to withstand years of torture as a prisoner of war. As for his maturity, you just have to look at the smiling face with gray and balding hair," Joe proclaimed.

Dolphin was president and CEO of the San Diego-headquartered Medevac, Inc., the first ambulance company to go national, from 1971 to 1993 when he sold the company. He was appointed by Ronald Reagan to the California Emergency Medical Advisory Committee in 1974. He started the City of San Diego Paramedic Program in 1978. In 1981, Medevac was named as one of the nation's 100 fastest growing private companies by INC. magazine. Medevac provided service in the following counties and cities: San Diego, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Missouri and Topeka, Kansas.

As the Republican nominee for California State Senate 39th District, in 1996, Joe received more votes in his district (126,653) than Bob Dole did.

In 1995, Dolphin was President of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. In 1993, he served as the Foreman of San Diego County's Grand Jury. Back in 1979, Joe was President of Republican Associates of San Diego County.

Joe Dolphin currently resides in Del Mar with his wife, Nancy.

Source: Joe Dolphin

DNC: McCain Myth Buster: John McCain and Fiscal Responsibility

Today's McCain Myth: John McCain is fiscally responsible

WASHINGTON, March 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following release was issued today by the Democratic National Committee:

John McCain likes to call himself "fiscally responsible" on the campaign trail, but in reality he is offering four more years of President Bush's same fiscally reckless policies. Just this week, McCain said he supports privatizing Social Security, a costly plan the American people have already rejected.

McCain told the Wall Street Journal that he is "totally in favor of personal savings accounts." Not only did McCain support the President's plan, he actually hit the road and campaigned with President Bush in support of it, even though a majority of the American people opposed it. What McCain failed to mention was that the plan would have required the government to borrow "$2 trillion over the next decade or two" and would have put the economic security of millions of Americans -- including 790,000 seniors in his home state of Arizona -- at risk. McCain has already pledged to make the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy permanent and keep our troops in Iraq for a hundred years, propositions that would cost an additional $6 trillion dollars. [New York Times, 1/2/05; Wall Street Journal, 3/3/08; AP-Ipsos Poll, 2/28/05; New York Times editorial, 9/23/04; US Census Bureau State and County Quickfacts, 1/2/08; Senate Budget Committee Fact Sheet, 1/24/08]

Still no word from McCain on how he'd pay for it all. Maybe that is how you say "fiscal irresponsibility" in straight-talk?

2008: McCain "Totally In Favor" of Bush Social Security Plan. "I'm totally in favor of personal savings accounts and I think they are an important opportunity for young workers. I campaigned in support of President Bush's proposal and I campaigned with him, and I did town hall meetings with him." [Wall Street Journal, 3/3/08]

2005: McCain Campaigned for Bush Social Security Plan. "McCain has been especially supportive of his onetime rival, appearing with Bush at three events over the past two days in trying to prod Democrats into negotiations to include private accounts in a plan to revamp Social Security." [Washington Post, 3/23/05]

Cost of "Four More Years" Placed At $6.3 TRILLION. The CBO "January Budget and Economic Outlook" showed continued deterioration in the budget outlook with the projected 2008 deficit growing to $219 billion. But as bad as the budget situation has become under the current Republican Administration, continuation of the Republican policies by any of the Republicans on stage tonight will only make things worse. The majority staff of the Senate Budget Committee estimates that funding Republican priorities like making the Bush tax cuts permanent and funding ongoing -- and perhaps permanent -- operations in Iraq will add $6.3 trillion to the CBO's already dismal ten-year predictions. [http://budget.senate.gov/democratic/documents/2008/cbojanupdatefactsheet2008. pdf]

AP-Ipsos Poll: More Than Half of Americans Oppose Bush on Privatization. "More than half of Americans, 55 percent, say they oppose the president's plan to create private accounts, while 39 percent say they support it, according to the poll conducted for AP by Ipsos-Public Affairs." [AP, 2/28/05]

After casting himself as a "Maverick" in 2000, the new John McCain is walking in lockstep with President Bush, pandering to the right wing of the Republican Party, and embracing the ideology he once denounced. On the campaign trail McCain has callously abandoned many of his previously held positions, even contradicted himself, in a blatant attempt to remake himself into a candidate Republicans can accept in 2008. So just who is the real John McCain? The Democratic National Committee will present a daily fact aimed at exposing the man behind the myth.

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, www.democrats.org.

This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Source: Democratic National Committee

Web Site: http://www.democrats.org/

DNC: John McCain Doesn't Understand the Challenges America's Families Face

WASHINGTON, March 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With oil prices hitting a new record high today, people across the country are feeling the pinch. America's working families are struggling with skyrocketing health care, energy, and college costs, stagnant wages, and a foreclosure crisis that has many Americans struggling to pay their mortgages. But John McCain just doesn't understand the challenges working families face and is offering nothing more than a third Bush term on the economy that will leave America worse off.

The candidate who himself admitted "[t]he issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should" and said that the economy is strong has shown time and time again he just doesn't understand the challenges confronting the American people. Asked this week what short-term relief he would offer, all he could come up with was making Bush's budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthy permanent in 2010--nearly two years from now. Not only are the Bush tax cuts skewed to the wealthy, as McCain himself argued in 2001 and 2003, but McCain has refused to explain how he will pay for the never-ending war in Iraq while making Bush's tax cuts permanent. Together, they would cost $6.3 trillion over 10 years. [Boston Globe, 12/18/07; Wall Street Journal, 3/3/08; Senate Budget Committee Fact Sheet, 1/24/08]

McCain has backed President Bush's decision to veto a children's health insurance bill, skipped a key vote on the economic stimulus package, and refused to say whether he supports President Bush's threat to veto a Democratic mortgage relief bill. [AP, 2/6/08; Politico.com, 2/6/08; Congressional Quarterly Today, 2/27/2008]

"John McCain just doesn't understand the challenges American families face every day," said DNC Communications Director Karen Finney. "If he did, he wouldn't try to defend and extend Bush's economic policies that have been devastating for America. Instead, McCain offers more of the same out-of-touch policies that do nothing to help working families, and that's the last thing voters want."

McCain Is Sure No Expert On the Economy...

McCain Says He Doesn't Understand the Economy. McCain admitted to reporters "[t]he issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should." [Boston Globe, 12/18/07]

McCain's Short-Term Solution For the Economy? Tax Cuts for the Wealthy in Two Years, Of Course. When asked what efforts would have a short-term impact on the economy, McCain responded "In the shorter term, if you somehow told American businesses and families, 'Look, you're not going to experience a tax increase in 2010,' I think that's a pretty good short-term measure. And as far as confidence is concerned, I think if you say, 'Congress is going to cut corporate taxes right away,' if you say that you've got a plan to eliminate the AMT, I think some of those are kind of short-term measures right now." [Wall Street Journal, 3/3/08]

Republicans Postponing Consideration of Housing Bill So McCain Doesn't Have to Make a Hard Vote. "Consideration of the mortgage package was delayed earlier in the week when a debate over the Iraq War lasted longer than expected. At the time, Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., maintained that Republicans were intentionally delaying consideration of the mortgage package so that Arizona Sen. John McCain -- the presumptive GOP presidential nominee -- would not have to cast a vote on the bill before the March 4 Ohio primary." [Congressional Quarterly Today, 2/27/2008]

McCain Skips Vote to Give Tax Rebates to Seniors and Disabled Veterans. "McCain skipped a difficult Senate vote Wednesday on whether to make 20 million seniors and 250,000 disabled veterans eligible for rebate checks as part of a proposed economic stimulus package" despite the fact that he "was actually in Washington -- his plane landed at Dulles Airport by 5 p.m., leaving plenty of time to make the vote." [AP, 2/6/08; Politico.com, 2/6/08]

Cost of "Four More Years" Placed At $6.3 TRILLION. Yesterday's CBO "January Budget and Economic Outlook" showed continued deterioration in the budget outlook with the projected 2008 deficit growing to $219 billion. But as bad as the budget situation has become under the current Republican Administration, continuation of the Republican policies by any of the Republicans on stage tonight will only make things worse. The majority staff of the Senate Budget Committee estimates that funding Republican priorities like making the Bush tax cuts permanent and funding ongoing - and perhaps permanent - operations in Iraq will add $6.3 trillion to the CBO's already dismal ten-year predictions. http://budget.senate.gov/democratic/documents/2008/cbojanupdatefactsheet2008.p df

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, http://www.democrats.org/. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Source: Democratic National Committee

Web Site: http://www.democrats.org/

Democratic National Committee: John McCain Offers a Third Term of George W. Bush

WASHINGTON, March 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being issued by the Democratic National Committee:

As John McCain traveled to the White House this afternoon to receive President Bush's formal endorsement, the newly anointed Republican presidential nominee confirmed to voters once and for all that a vote for McCain is a vote for a third Bush term. Though he's cast himself as an Independent "maverick" who has no problem breaking ranks with the Republican Party, the truth is on the economy, the war in Iraq, health care, and many other issues McCain stands in lockstep with Bush and his disastrous policies. And after seven years of failed Bush leadership, that's the last thing the American people want.

"John McCain just doesn't get it," said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. "American families are struggling with higher costs of living, stagnant wages and a mortgage crisis that threatens their homes and financial security, but as President Bush himself said today, John McCain is no change at all. All he offers is four more years of the failed Bush economy, an endless war in Iraq, and shameless hypocrisy on ethics reform. The fact is, the American people want change, not another out-of-touch Bush Republican, and Democrats welcome the opportunity to draw this contrast for voters."

Third Bush Term on the Economy...

McCain's Short-Term Solution For the Economy? Tax Cuts for the Wealthy in Two Years, Of Course. When asked what efforts who have a short-term impact on the economy, McCain responded "In the shorter term, if you somehow told American businesses and families, 'Look, you're not going to experience a tax increase in 2010,' I think that's a pretty good short-term measure. And as far as confidence is concerned, I think if you say, 'Congress is going to cut corporate taxes right away,' if you say that you've got a plan to eliminate the AMT, I think some of those are kind of short-term measures right now." [Wall Street Journal, 3/3/08]

Republicans Postponing Consideration of Housing Bill So McCain Doesn't Have to Make a Hard Vote. "Consideration of the mortgage package was delayed earlier in the week when a debate over the Iraq War lasted longer than expected. At the time, Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., maintained that Republicans were intentionally delaying consideration of the mortgage package so that Arizona Sen. John McCain -- the presumptive GOP presidential nominee -- would not have to cast a vote on the bill before the March 4 Ohio primary." [Congressional Quarterly Today, 2/27/2008]

Third Bush Term on Iraq...

McCain Would Spend 'a Hundred Years' or a 'Million Years' in Iraq. McCain interrupted a voter during a town hall meeting in New Hampshire telling him we could spend "maybe a hundred" years in Iraq and "that would be fine with me." After the town hall meeting, he told a reporter "that U.S. troops could be in Iraq for 'a thousand years' or 'a million years,' as far as he was concerned." [McCain Derry, NH town hall meeting, 1/3/08; motherjones.com, 1/3/08]

McCain Consistently on Bush Talking Points. In 2003, McCain echoed Bush's rosy predictions by claiming that the end was "very much in sight" in Iraq. In 2005, McCain backed Bush, arguing that another year would prove "stay the course" was working. [The Hill, 12/8/05; ABC News, Good Morning America, 4/9/03] In 2006, McCain argued that Iraq was "on the right track" even as it slipped further toward civil war. [MSNBC, Imus in the Morning, 3/1/06] As of late, McCain's campaign insists, "terrorists are on the run," even while half of Afghanistan appears to have fallen back under the control of the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden remains at large. [johnmccain.com, press release, 12/17/07; Time, 12/8/07; Investor's Business Daily, 12/14/07]

Third Bush Term on Health Care...

John McCain Does Not Have a Plan For the Uninsured. According to the Wall Street Journal, McCain's plan does not focus on "reducing the ranks of the uninsured," of which there are about 47 million, or one in seven Americans. [Wall Street Journal, 10/11/07]

McCain Opposed Reauthorizing SCHIP and Providing Insurance For Millions of Uninsured Children. McCain voted against reauthorizing the State Children's Health Insurance Program for five years, expanding the program by $35.2 billion. [Senate Vote #307, 8/2/07]

Third Bush Term on Social Security...

2008: McCain "Totally In Favor" of Bush Social Security Plan. "I'm totally in favor of personal savings accounts and I think they are an important opportunity for young workers. I campaigned in support of President Bush's proposal and I campaigned with him, and I did town hall meetings with him." [Wall Street Journal, 3/3/08]

2005: McCain Campaigned for Bush Social Security Plan. "McCain has been especially supportive of his onetime rival, appearing with Bush at three events over the past two days in trying to prod Democrats into negotiations to include private accounts in a plan to revamp Social Security." [Washington Post, 3/23/05]

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, www.democrats.org.

This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Source: Democratic National Committee

Web Site: http://www.democrats.org/

Democratic Radio Address: Veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan Wars Questions McCain's Leadership on Iraq and Understanding of American Families' Struggles

WASHINGTON, March 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following release was issued today by the Democratic National Committee:

Roger Martinez, a former infantryman in the U.S. Army's 75th Ranger Regiment and veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, delivers the Democratic radio address this week. Martinez was deployed twice to Afghanistan and once to Iraq with the 1st Ranger Battalion and now is studying at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

In his address, Martinez points out that John McCain would keep our overstretched U.S. military in Iraq for 100 years and continue President Bush's failed policies. Noting that McCain has worked in Washington, D.C. for 25 years and has supported Bush's budgets which have damaged the economy, Martinez also said that McCain is out of touch with the needs of working families like his own.

The transcript of the radio address is below. To listen to the address, click here:

http://www.democrats.org/page/-/audio/radio_addresses/20080308%20Martinez. mp3

Transcript of Radio Address:

Good morning. My name is Roger Martinez and I proudly served our country as an infantryman in the U.S. Army's 75th Ranger Regiment. I was sent to Afghanistan and Iraq with the 1st Ranger Battalion on three separate deployments.

While I was serving my country, I chose not to speak out about politics. However, I love our country too much to stay on the sidelines now that I'm home.

There is so much at stake in this election. We need a new Commander-in-Chief who will rebuild our military. We need a Commander-in-Chief who will promise to make our fight against Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda in Afghanistan a greater priority than Iraq's civil war. And we need a Commander-in-Chief who understands the challenges - new and old - that our nation faces.

I honor and thank John McCain for his years of military service to our country, but I don't think he offers the right leadership on Iraq or understands how to reinvigorate our economy here at home.

As the President said earlier this week, Senator McCain is "not going to change." That is a mistake. Our country and our Armed Forces cannot afford another leader like President Bush who would keep our overstretched military in Iraq for 100 years while ignoring the other threats our country faces both at home and around the world.

I know that my brothers and sisters in uniform are fighting valiantly in Iraq. But no matter what they do, they cannot solve the political problems there.

In choosing the next Commander-in-Chief, we need to ask ourselves: How long will we have to be in Iraq? How many more trillions of dollars are we going to commit there? And how can we combat global extremism in a smarter fashion than the last administration?

Like many other veterans, I am working on the next chapter of my life. I'm pursing a degree in communication at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Before I joined the U.S. Army, I worked with my father and older brother in a factory in Ohio and have many friends still working in those same factories. It was on that factory floor where veterans from all eras of the military encouraged me to serve my country and to see the world. But it was my brother joining the Army Reserves that really opened my eyes to the great opportunities that military service can provide. I am so thankful that I followed their advice. But it was also on that factory floor that I learned that all the hard work in the world wasn't enough for so many families, when Washington is more interested in helping the ultra-rich than the working families.

After working in Washington for 25 years and admitting that he does not understand the economy, John McCain is out of touch with the struggles of American families like mine.

He says the economy is strong, but how can he not see that families just like mine are struggling to pay for out of control health care costs, home heating bills, gasoline, and college tuition? He hasn't even put out a plan to address the mortgage crisis.

We cannot afford to elect someone who can't explain how they will pay for 100 years in Iraq and who plans to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, while voting against funding for veteran's health care.

We don't need more of the same Bush budgets that have led to massive debt and damaged our economy.

It's time we elect a Democrat this November who can deliver the change we need. It's time we elect a leader who understands the challenges that America faces here at home and around the world. It's time we elect someone who will safely re-deploy our troops from Iraq so that they can begin to re-focus on the conflict that was begun on 9/11 - so that our military may ultimately be successful and so that their efforts around the world may not have been in vain.

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, www.democrats.org. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Source: Democratic National Committee

Web Site: http://www.democrats.org/

George Bush and John McCain Lack the Courage To Ban Torture

WASHINGTON, March 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, President Bush vetoed an intelligence bill because he opposed a provision in it that would ban the use of torture, such as waterboarding, even though a majority -- 58 percent -- of Americans oppose the technique. A vocal opponent of the Bush Administration's use of torture in the past, John McCain has again changed his position and his principles and voted against the same provision last month in an attempt to cozy up to the right wing of the Republican Party. [CNN Political Ticker, 11/6/07; Washington Post, 2/14/2008]

"It is shameful that George Bush and John McCain lack the courage to ban torture," said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. "And it is reprehensible that McCain changed his position on torture just to win an election. That's not the kind of leadership Americans want, and it's exactly the reason why voters will reject John McCain in November. The last thing we need is another president who will put politics over principle."

      Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee,
                            www.democrats.org.
   This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's
                                committee.

Source: Democratic National Committee

Web site: http://www.democrats.org/

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