REMEMBER JOHN McCAIN?

REMEMBER JOHN McCAIN?

By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN

Published on FOXNews.com on April 4, 2008.

He’s the guy who was running for president before all the national attention shifted to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Now, McCain seems to be only an afterthought, at best, or an anachronism, at worst. He has got to get back into the game, otherwise he will never be in contention.

Forget that he leads in the polls. That means nothing. His lead is only the consequence of the division among Democrats. Supporters of Hillary are quite incapable of uttering the “O” word to a pollster and Obama backers won’t admit that they’d ever back Hillary. But once the they settle on a nominee — provided there is no super delegate larceny involved — Democrats will be Democrats and McCain’s lead will vanish. He has got to use this period, when he is not under attack, to flesh out his image and begin his campaign.

To do that, he can’t wait on the sidelines and only put out carefully controlled stories — like his biographical tour which he has just begun. He has to wade into the midst of current controversy, carve out his message, demonstrate his relevance, and make the headlines he needs to become a center of attention and interest.

What should be his message? Populism. Many will urge that he fortify his base. But with Republican Party identification at an all time low, there isn’t enough base out there to win. He needs to attract swing voters. Not by going to the left of the Democrats, but by transcending their liberalism by attacking the forces of privilege their party is bent on protecting.

Here are a few choice targets:

• McCain should go after those who have caused the subprime crisis and demand justice. He should press for recapture of the fees and commissions they made by making loans they knew were no good. He should demand that their licenses be ended, their institutions closed, and their ill gotten gains confiscated.

• He should attack credit card companies for their abuse of consumers through usurious interest rates, high penalty fees imposed at the drop of a hat, and interchange fees that add to the cost of everything we buy.

• McCain should take up the case against Congressional perks, building on his efforts to curtail earmarks, cracking down on Congressional ethics, and taking aim at the day to day practices (as opposed to the speeches) of his two fellow senators who are running for office.

• He should go after regulators who don’t regulate, beginning with those who let unsafe toys into the U.S. He should condemn the FAA for its weaknesses. He should go after the Fed and other regulators for their laxity in the face of the emerging credit crisis.

• McCain should blast China for its abuse of Tibet. While governments are cowed into silence, McCain should speak out for human liberty and against the repressive tactics of Beijing even as China wants us to celebrate their Olympic games.

Strong, vigorous, populist advocacy can bring the spotlight back to McCain, draw attention to the integrity and strength which has always made him a unique public figure.

As he sought the GOP nomination, this muckraking McCain had to be bottled up inside a national security conservative façade. But no matter how deeply McCain believes in national security, it is his populism that has earned him the plaudits that got him to where he is today.

It’s time for the bleached out McCain to exit and for the hearty, embattled, opponent of falsity and privilege to take center stage. And, to show the Democrats how to do it.

Go To DickMorris.com to read all of Dick's columns!

Help Bring the SAVE Act to the House Floor!

Help Bring the SAVE Act to the House Floor!
Call Your Representatives Now!

For over five months, House Leaders have ignored the SAVE Act (H.R. 4088), an important piece of enforcement-only legislation introduced by Congressman Heath Shuler (D-NC). Even though the legislation has 149 co-sponsors from both parties, House Leaders refuse to give it a hearing in the Judiciary Committee!

The reason the SAVE Act has such wide support in Congress is because it both provides more resources to secure the border and contains critical interior enforcement measures. These include:

Mandating that all employers use the E-Verify electronic employment verification program mandatory within 4 years of enactment (SAVE Act §201);
Requiring employers who receive no-match letters to inform employees that they must correct the no-match within 10 days or be terminated. (SAVE Act §202(a)); and
Prohibiting employers from deducting wages paid to illegal aliens. (SAVE Act §211).
To learn more about the SAVE Act, click here.

Now, a growing group of Representatives who support enforcement of our immigration laws are trying to force a vote on the SAVE Act by using a discharge petition filed by Congresswoman Thelma Drake (R-VA). Under House rules, if a discharge petition receives at least 218 signatures, the bill will bypass the normal committee process and go directly to the floor.

Currently the SAVE Act discharge petition has 185 signatures—meaning only 33 more are needed to bring the bill to the floor! To see if your Representative has signed the discharge petition, click here.

Please call your Representatives now and urge them to bring the SAVE Act to the floor immediately!!!!

If your Representative has signed the discharge petition, please thank him/her and let them know you will be watching its progress.
If your Representative has not signed the discharge petition, tell him/her you want enforcement first and that Congress must pass, fund, and implement enforcement legislation before entertaining guest worker amnesty legislation that rewards special interest groups.

San Francisco launches outreach for illegals‏

San Francisco launches outreach for illegals‏
From: Grassfire.org (alert@grassfire.net)

From the Desk of:Steve Elliott, President, Grassfire.org Alliance

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is launching an $83,000outreach campaign designed to attract illegal aliens. Using television, radio, posters and brochuresin five different languages, Newsom says, "We'regoing to spend resources, time and energy to doPSA's, to do campaign outreach into community clinics,into public schools, into our police stations tolet people know what a sanctuary city is all about... Newsom says illegal aliens answering his call need not feardeportation. "We are doing the right thing," he said. ed, this arrogant thumbing of the nose by SF Cityofficials to the established laws of our land and the blatantdisrespect for those citizens who will be required to footthe bill for these illegals is reprehensible, and demandsa strong reaction! That's why I'm asking ALL members of our Grassfire team to takea few minutes to contact Mayor Gavin Newsom and City SupervisorTom Ammiano.

Action Item--Contact SF City Leadership Mayor Gavin Newsomphone: 415-554-6141Email: gavin.newsom@sfgov.org Tom Ammiano, City Supervisorphone: 415-554-5144Email: tom.ammiano@sfgov.org Please contact both of these city leaders and express youroutrage over their public outreach effort welcoming illegal aliens. Let them know that their plan is a "ringing dinner bell" thatwill attract even more illegals--increasing the burden forthose living in San Francisco legally! Urge them to do the right thing by enforcing our laws.
++Action Item #2--Alert your friends Forward this message to 30-40 friends and familymembers urging them to follow your lead bycalling city officials as well. Also encourage them to sign our national petitionto secure our borders by clicking here: http://www.grassfire.net/r.asp?u=5796&PID=16048556 Thank you for taking immediate action. Steve ++Help Grassfire Secure the Border: http://www.grassfire.net/r.asp?U=5793&CID=242&RID=16048556 + + + + + + +

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(Note: Please do not "reply" directly to this e-mail message. Thise-mail address is not designed to receive your personal messages.To contact Grassfire.org with comments, questions or to changeyour status, see link at the end.)

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Feedback or comments on this update? Go to FireSociety.com and post your comments so that the Grassfirestaff along with thousands of citizens can benefit from yourthoughts and opinions: http://www.grassfire.net/r.asp?U=5794&RID=16048556 + + Technical questions only: For technical questions regarding this email, go here:(Not for comments/feedback on this update) http://www.grassfire.net/r.asp?U=5795&CID=242&RID=16048556

10 things you should know about John McCain (but probably don't

10 things you should know about John McCain (but probably don't):

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.1

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."2

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.3

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


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.5


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.6

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."7


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.8

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."9


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

John McCain is not who the Washington press corps make him out to be. Please help get the word out—forward this email to your personal network. And if you want us to keep you posted on MoveOn's work to get the truth out about John McCain, sign up here:
http://pol.moveon.org/mccaintruth/?id=12407-3006548-q2Trs2&t=232


Thank you for all you do.