McCain is not GW Bush

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-17-2006
McCain is not GW Bush
12
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 4:39pm
At the most recent debate, John McCain stated that he is not George W. Bush.
In fairness to him, he is not. GWB is younger and did not serve in Vietnam.
On the other hand, McCain has sided with his buddy GWB between 90 to 95 percent of the time on the issues over the past eight years.
You do not have to be Bush to side with him on most issues.
McCain is not Bush. He just votes most of the time like he is.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 4:44pm

and Obama voted with his party 97% of the time ....


which is the #1 reason I am NOT voting for him.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-20-2008
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 5:19pm
Yes Obama voted with his party most of the time, but given that most of those issues were issues many/most democrats support that is hardly a bad thing, at least for most democrats. Given that many of us have opposed much of Bush's agenda we would have far more trouble if Obama had voted with him 97% of the time. I never understood the whole comparison. Ideologically republicans and democrats have different views and to expect a democrat to vote for an agenda they disagree with is pretty silly. I think the point of the discussion is that many of us disagree with Bush's policies so voting for policies we disagree with is the problem, not voting for those policies or voting against those policies is seen as a good thing.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 5:22pm

97% of voting with your party is partisanship ... and I am ready for it to end.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-20-2008
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 5:30pm
Well when I looked at the votes for and against what I found was that Obama voted for things I valued more than McCain did. If that is partisanship then so be it. I am not swayed by claims of partisanship especially when both candidates vote along party lines 90% or more. If we are going to cry partisanship where is the line exactly? 90%, 93%? Where exactly? I would think the line should be closer to 80% if you were going to distinguish - but that's just MHO.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 5:35pm

a lot of dems believe in Obama's stances .. so of course it wouldn't matter if it is a partianship to them.


I'm sort of neither Dem or Repub so I strongly admire a person who doesn't just vote with the group.


I haven't always agreed with McCain but most often (in the issues I looked up) I did.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-20-2008
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 5:48pm
I think that is the point don't you? Rather than focusing on the percentages look to the actual votes and see which candidate votes for or against the issues you value? Doesn't make sense to vote for a candidate who votes 'across the aisle' if you don't agree with the votes. I just think we need to focus on the actual votes instead of the percentages.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 6:02pm

not when it's 97%

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-20-2008
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 6:11pm
Considering McCain's record fluctuates between 90 - 95%, and for a time was 100%, it does seem a bit peculiar to focus on the 2% - 7% difference between the candidates, but I guess that in one way to make a decision. Better than flipping a coin I guess.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 6:18pm

for voting with is party?


that's not the info I had ... not sure if I had it bookmarked but I'll look.


also in previous years he's not voted with Bush 90% it's been less .

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-20-2008
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 7:06pm

"Congressional Quarterly 2005-2006 "party unity" scores provided by the RNC, Holmes and Chozick failed to note that according to a 2008 Congressional Quarterly study, McCain voted in support of the Bush administration's position 95 percent of the time in 2007, making McCain the administration's most reliable supporter in the Senate that year. Indeed, in a January 13 article (accessed via Nexis), CQ reported that "McCain's 95 percent support score for last year was the highest in the chamber." Moreover, CQ also found that McCain has voted with Bush 90 percent of the time over the seven-and-a-half years of Bush's presidency. "

So 95% or 97% is there really a statistical difference? They both predominantly vote along party lines. Obama hasn't been in office as long so McCain's 90%, averaged over 7 1/2 years may look different if adjusted to just the time they have been in office together. I really don't know.

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