Mccain

Re "McCain enters from the outside," April 26 Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is hardly the muckraking reformer described in the article. He can't claim to be a reformer while supporting many of the policies of this corrupt administration. Indeed, McCain is the closest thing the Republican Party has to an establishment candidate. FRANKLIN G. BYNUM Los Angeles

Washington lobbyist Vicki L. Iseman sued the New York Times for $27 million over an article that she says gave the false impression that she had an affair with Arizona Sen. John McCain in 1999. In February, as McCain was seeking the Republican presidential nomination, the newspaper reported that McCain aides once worried that the relationship between Iseman and McCain had turned romantic. Iseman filed suit in Richmond. The newspaper stood by the story.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Tuesday he is canceling his appearance at a fundraiser for congressional candidate Brian Bilbray, apparently over their differences on illegal immigration. McCain said he wanted to "avoid distracting from the overall message of the Bilbray campaign." Still, he said he endorses his fellow Republican to replace Randy "Duke" Cunningham in the 50th Congressional District. Bilbray supports an enforcement-oriented stand on illegal immigration.

Soon after the Senate opened its long-awaited debate on healthcare legislation last week, John McCain strode into the chamber to spearhead his party's opposition to the massive bill. He offered Republicans' first amendment and leveled the party's most politically stinging charge -- that cuts in Medicare spending would hurt the elderly. A day later, McCain took the lead in grilling President Obama's team on its newly minted plan for the Afghanistan war. Why, McCain pressed, had the president set a deadline for withdrawing U.S. troops?

Re "McCain Stand Comes at a Price," Sept. 19 Here's another irony of the Bush presidency: For all that President Bush says he is in terms of values and integrity -- but isn't -- Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is. Yes, principled stands come at a price, but you don't see McCain having to issue press releases about his motives just in case we don't get it. My belief is that there are more of us in the middle than there are on the right, and we're all breathing a sigh of relief that there are some political leaders left who are willing to take a stand for justice and integrity based on well-grounded personal values and life experience that teaches them the risks of abandoning those values.

Re "Do we need another T.R.?" Current, Nov. 26 We know Teddy Roosevelt. He was a friend of the American people when he went against fat-cat corporations and created national parks. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is no Teddy Roosevelt. When McCain's voting record shows he is indeed a conservative Republican, when he backs down from habeas corpus and kisses up to right-wing ideologues, he loses his "maverick" standing. In the real world, McCain is just another conservative Republican. JEROLD DRUCKER Tarzana Matt Welch's opinion piece is by far the ultimate in character assassination.

Not so many months ago, I had the pleasure of watching, in a Senate hearing room, as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) took eight quavering studio chiefs to the woodshed over their companies' not-very-defensible practices in selling violent films to kids. I can remember thinking at the time that McCain, then chairman of the Commerce Committee, was, at least briefly, the most powerful man in Hollywood. Overnight, the entertainment industry came up with a tough new marketing and ratings policy.

Is Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain a hypocrite? He criticized former Gov. Gray Davis, calling it "disgraceful" when Davis raised $26 million for political purposes. Now McCain not only fails to complain about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's raking in unconscionable contributions of $76 million but instead campaigns with the governor, pushing ballot measures that are none of McCain's business. JOSEPH M. ELLIS Woodland Hills McCain's recent appearance with Schwarzenegger doesn't help the governor's image, it just hurts McCain's.

Re "Black voters hope, and fear," Oct. 19 In the event of an Obama loss, Pennsylvania state Rep. Jewell Williams, a Democrat, suggests a form of civil disobedience: a sickout by blacks. Williams and Damascus Harris would likely attribute an Obama loss to racism. Racism and fraud would be the mantra. Both are trying to lay a guilt trip on the non-Obama voters: "You're all racist." Nancy Pelosi, of Italian heritage and a practicing Catholic like me, would never get my vote if she were running against McCain.