Op-Ed Mischaracterizes Senator McCain

To the editors:



Not only does today’s Crimson op-ed “The Mirage of the Maverick” (Dec. 11) mischaracterize the record of Senator John McCain, but the facts supplied to substantiate these misleading assertions are flat out wrong.

The op-ed falsely states that Senator McCain voted against funding embryonic stem cell research. However, HR 810, the bill McCain voted for, funds embryonic stem cell research; the author misidentifies this bill as an adult stem cell bill. In fact, it was S2754 that funds adult stem cell research, and Senator McCain voted for this bill, as well. In supporting the measure to fund embryonic stem cell research, McCain broke ranks with a majority of his Republican colleagues and took a centrist position that is neither hypocritical nor slippery. Aside from misstating Senator McCain’s principled and clearly articulated position in support of unlocking the potential of this important research while doing so in an ethical and moral manner, the writer appears to misunderstand the nature of these two pieces of legislation.

The op-ed continues to mischaracterize Senator McCain’s record by quoting a New York Times op-ed that uses a McCain spokesman’s quote out of context to imply that Senator McCain opposes abortion in all cases. However, the progressive watchdog group Media Matters points out that although the spokesman said Senator McCain would have signed the South Dakota abortion bill, the spokesman continued to say that the Senator would have taken steps to see that “exceptions of rape, incest, or life of the mother were included” in the bill. Once again, McCain stakes out a clearly defined position on a complex and controversial issue and shows that one need not sacrifice conservative principles while engaging in pragmatic politics.

Further, the op-ed criticizes McCain’s centrist credentials while ignoring some of Senator McCain’s most notable pieces of bi-partisan legislation that seek a middle ground: his immigration bill (co-sponsored with Senator Ted Kennedy) and his climate change bill (co-sponsored with Senator Joe Lieberman). Senator McCain’s record indicates an ability to work across the aisle when possible to do what is right for the country.

While the op-ed makes the imaginative assertion that former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is a “model conservative,” one need not read the op-ed for very long before realizing that the real mirage is not McCain’s maverick status but, rather, the op-ed’s collection of misleading mischaracterizations of both Senator McCain and his potential opponent.



STEVEN E. JOHNSTON ’09

Dec. 11