McCain’s fickle mind

I know that distorting your opponent’s views is a part of any campaign. Obama, for instance, has muddied the waters on McCain’s proposed tax of health care benefits, but that’s a very complicated subject with lots of room for interpretation.

But as we hit the last days of this long campaign, McCain's attacks against Obama have become inconsistent and incoherent. Look at what McCain said Wednesday on CNN about the “socialist” tag he’s been putting on Obama.



Larry King: You don't believe Barack Obama is a socialist do you?

McCain: "No, but I do believe that he has been in the far left of American politics and stated time after time that he believes in spreading the wealth around. He has talked about courts that redistribute the wealth. He has a record of voting against tax cuts. And for tax increases."



So after suggesting over and over again that Obama's a socialist, McCain, when asked directly, backpedals. And look at that next quote: “He has talked about courts that redistribute wealth.”

Yeah, he’s talked about how they don’t want to, and the context of his remarks is that he agrees it’s not a good idea for the courts to take on that role. So the bottom line is that Obama’s position is the opposite of what McCain is suggesting.

McCain also has a record of voting against tax cuts—he voted against Bush’s original tax cuts, the ones he now supports and wants to expand.

So: Obama’s a socialist, he’s not a socialist. Progressive income tax good, progressive income tax bad. Against big government, for big government bailouts of banks. Bush tax cuts bad, Bush tax cuts good.

This inability to get his story straight is just one of the reasons that McCain simply does not have a strong argument for taking control of our economic future.