People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.
~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events,
not of words. Trust movement.
~ Alfred Adler
What people say, what people do, and what they say they do are entirely different things.
~ Margaret Mead
In the Senate, John continued to demand that Congress put an end to loopholes for special interests and fix the broken system in Washington that too often allows lobbyists to write legislation and members of Congress to waste taxpayer money. In November 2004, Senator McCain was overwhelmingly reelected with nearly 77 percent of the vote.
John McCain has a remarkable record of leadership and experience that embodies his unwavering lifetime commitment to service. First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona in 1982, John has led the fight for reforming Washington, eliminating wasteful government spending, and strengthening our nation's armed forces.
John McCain is an experienced conservative leader in the tradition of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan. He is a common sense conservative who believes in a strong national defense, a smaller, more accountable government, economic growth and opportunity, the dignity of life and traditional values.
We cannot underestimate the difference he has made on the Senate floor and in negotiations during long days and late nights. Even the NY Times (Monday, July 21, 2008) is quoted: "Over the past eight years, (Senator) McCain has mastered the art of political triangulation - of getting things done. Variously teaming up with Mr. (former Senator Trent) Lott against the President or the new Republican leaders, with Democrats against Republicans, and with the President against the Democrats - to become perhaps the chamber's most influential member."
While he votes with his party most of the time, Senator McCain has often broken ranks on the Senate floor as well, helping Democrats on split votes. These votes relate to better budgetary transparency, oversight of war, better equipment for soldiers and health care for veterans, transparency about interrogation techniques, and of course his signature domestic causes of immigration reform and ethics reform. Unlike many who use "non-partisan" as a slogan, McCain has reached across the aisle many times when it mattered, when his convictions led him to do so.
When the ‘swift-boating' happened to Kerry in 2004, John McCain stood above the fray publicly denouncing the Swift Boat veterans. Furthermore, he vigorously defended John Kerry's service and honor.
As the war-on-terror lurched out of control with no hands on the wheel, John McCain's voice was the loudest among Republicans who broke ranks to criticize the policies of Donald Rumsfeld and the Bush administration. Senator McCain proved that he was not simply a Republican partisan, to be herded by the military opportunists that were in control, willing to wage war recklessly.
On October 26, 1967, a missile struck John's plane and forced him to eject, knocking him unconscious. John was then taken as a prisoner of war into the now infamous "Hanoi Hilton," where he was denied necessary medical treatment and often beaten by the North Vietnamese.
