McCain Flips Flops on Flip Flop Re: CA CO2
Presidential Candidate John McCain raised a few metaphorical eyebrows last week when he reversed an earlier, federalist policy position. The Senator from Arizona stepped-up to an MI microphone and declared he'd [now] support California's quest to supercede federal automotive C02 regs (i.e. set higher corporate average fleet mpg averages than the feds). According to The Detroit News, the Senator from Arizona has, uh, reconciled his position on the matter. "Later Friday, a senior campaign aide sought to clarify McCain's position. The aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said McCain supports the ability of states to impose regulations until a national 'cap and trade' program to limit carbon emissions, something McCain has proposed, is in place. Once carbon caps are established, the aide said, McCain would oppose state regulations." So McCain will oppose California's tailpipe regs… later. Which means the statement "It's hard for me to tell the states they can't set their own standards… At the end of the day, I think states should make their own decisions" was premature recapitulation.
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This is what happens when the GOP chooses a candidate by default rather than by preference. All their other candidates simply imploded, so they were left with Grandpa McCain. McCain supposedly loves foreign policy and disdains domestic, (although he's not too clear on the finer points of either), so this is par for the course. He doesn't care (and therefore doesn't understand) enough about this stuff to set a firm direction for his staff. McCain could have gotten away with this in 2000, when he was younger and sharper, and when the internet was mainly the province of libertarians and there was no YouTube. The only reason McCain isn't below 40% in national polls is that the traditional media slobbers over McCain. They love him. They ignore gaffes that, had Obama comitted them, would have been in the news for weeks.
How do you tell a flip-flop from a flop-flip?
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