Happy Valentine's Day from John McCain!!

A sneak peak into what a John McCain presidency (:shudder:) would look like:

John McCain's straight talk double talk express

[h/t Kicking Ass]

Two more polls show Obama leading McCain

In case you needed another reason to vote for Barack Obama, here's a look at two recent polls showing Obama leading McCain in a head to head match up:

McCain vs. Obama (Rasmussen) McCain 42, Obama 47, Undecided 11
McCain vs. Obama (Time) McCain 41, Obama 48, Undecided 6

By comparison:
McCain vs. Clinton (Rasmussen) McCain 46, Clinton 43, Undecided 11
McCain vs. Clinton (Time) McCain 46, Clinton 46, Undecided 8

While I have no doubt that both Obama and Clinton could beat McCain, it's still nice to go into it with a lead!

John McCain tops other candidates in media coverage

But not all media coverage is good.

Sure it may be true that 492 term Senator John McCain is receiving more media coverage than anyone else in the race for President, but it seems to me he's not getting very favorable coverage either (being constantly bashed by members of his own party and all). Remember Ann Coulter claiming she'd rather vote for Hillary? Then there's Michelle Malkin who's been railing on and on about how "liberal" he is for weeks on her blog. Also, questions about McCains bad temper. And more on McCain's temper.

In the last week, Senator John McCain has surpassed even Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton in the amount of news coverage he has received.

The media effectively anointed Mr. McCain as the Republican front-runner after he won Florida. At the same time, reporters were writing up a storm about how conservatives were trying to deny Mr. McCain the crown. All of this made for a frothy brew of coverage for the week of Jan. 28 to Feb. 3.

Last week the presidential election dominated 51 percent of the nation’s news coverage, the highest level since PEJ began counting. The week’s events included the Florida primary, a Republican debate and the first one-on-one Democratic debate between Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton.

Mr. Obama, who got 34 percent of the coverage last week, was about even with Mrs. Clinton, who got 32 percent. These two have long dominated the political coverage, so Mr. McCain’s spike in visibility is noteworthy.

And for the record, Bill Clinton only garnered six percent of the media coverage last week.

UPDATE: And how could I have forgotten to mention the "not so breaking news" that John McCain dumped his first wife after she was crippled in a car crash and the fact that Cindy McCain is a known pill head! I'm sure the media will reemphasize this story when John McCain wins the Republican nomination too. And they should too, given that McCain comes from a party that rails on and on about their "morals," but as we all know, in reality, they're nothing more than a bunch of hypocrites.

McCain fell like a brick for Cindy, who was the heir to a brewery distribution business worth millions. For several years afterwards the McCains endured Washington gossip that he had dumped his first wife - who had been crippled in a car accident - in favour of a trophy bride to enhance his political ambitions.

It was in the late 1980s, after a series of miscarriages and giving birth to three children, that Cindy developed spinal problems and was prescribed painkillers after surgery. Her husband and family had no idea she was secretly taking pills stolen from a charity she had created called the American Voluntary Medical Team, which sent mobile surgical units to war zones. When federal agents began to investigate gaps in the charity’s records, Cindy telephoned her husband, a senator in Washington, and confessed.

She admitted at the time that the 1994 episode had “nearly destroyed both of us”. But she underwent treatment and attended meetings of Narcotics Anonymous as part of a deal with prosecutors who dropped charges.

Look who voted against ethics reform!!

The U.S. Senate passed the "Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007," by a vote of 83-14 today. The bill is a key ethics reform measure which now goes to George Bush for approval. No surprise though that all 14 "no votes" came from Republicans!!!! Who were they? Bennett (R-UT), Burr (R-NC), Coburn (R-OK), Cochran (R-MS), Cornyn (R-TX), Craig (R-ID), Crapo (R-ID), DeMint (R-SC), Ensign (R-NV), Graham (R-SC), Inhofe (R-OK), Kyl (R-AZ), Lott (R-MS), and McCain (R-AZ).

So Presidential hopeful John McCain doesn't think Congress is in desperate need of ethics reform? Interesting. Let's review the key provisions of the measure via Politico:

Requires disclosure on the Internet of lobbyist fundraising for lawmakers, including the amount of direct campaign contributions and bundled contributions and who raised them, as well as which lobbyists hosted fundraising events and how much was raised. Lawmakers must disclose the names of those lobbyists who have raised $15,000 or more for them within a six-month period by "bundling" donations from a pool of contributors.

Bars members of Congress from attending parties sponsored by lobbyists at national party conventions.

Requires lobbyists to report their lobbying activities every three months in an electronic format available on the Internet. The results will be posted immediately on the Internet.

Bans all gifts from lobbyists or their clients to lawmakers and their staffs.

Bans nearly all extended travel by members of Congress sponsored by nongovernmental entities. It does so by (a) barring any organization that employs a lobbyist from sponsoring trips for members longer than one day, (b) requiring pre-approval of all trips by the relevant congressional ethics committee, (c) requiring disclosure of all trips on the Internet and (d) barring lobbyists from going along on any of these trips. Senators, as well as candidates for the Senate and for the White House, are required to pay full charter rates for trips on private planes. House members and House candidates are barred from accepting trips on private planes.

Requires disclosure of the names of the sponsor and recipient of congressional earmarks “if technically feasible” to be posted on the Internet 48 hours before final approval of appropriations and tax bills. The relevant committee chairman, the majority leader or someone designated by the majority leader must certify that earmarks have been disclosed. Senators must certify the earmarks would not directly benefit them financially.

Permits any senator to remove an earmark by raising a point-of-order challenge on an earmark slipped into a conference report.

Extends the "cooling-off" period for senators before they are eligible to join a lobbying firm from the current one year to two years. Former House members would have to wait one year. Both House and Senate members are required to disclose publicly any job negotiations they engage in while serving in Congress. Lawmakers are forbidden from attempting to influence hiring decisions among lobbying firms.

Bans secret "holds" on pending legislation.

So what exactly is John McCain and the rest of these Republican wackjobs so afraid of? Being honest?