Hello Everyone:

John McCain in my opinion was dead wrong when he told John King in this CNN interview that Obama has failed the bipartisan test:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0908/02/sotu.01.html

STATE OF THE UNION WITH JOHN KING

Interview With Christina Romer; Interview With John McCain

Aired August 2, 2009 - 09:00 ET

JOHN KING, HOST: "Just before the inauguration, the president had a dinner in your honor and said you're an American hero and a guy who reached across the aisle, and that is the tone he wanted to set when he came to Washington. On this point, has he failed the test he laid out at that dinner to be truly bipartisan?

SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN, (R-AZ): I'm afraid they have. And look, they got the votes. We understand that. They had the votes in the stimulus package and the budget and the omnibus, all this legislation, and they have picked off sometimes two or three Republicans.

But that's not changing the climate in Washington. What that is is exercising a significant majority. And so I respect their successes, but please don't call it changing the climate in Washington. Republicans did it when they were in the majority, Democrats have done it when they're in the majority..."

Here is the YouTube link where this part of the dialogue takes place at about 05:45 into the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5IIjI_BrIs

Senator John McCain on CNN "State of the Union" with John King 08 03 09 (29:45)

SenatorJohnMcCain
August 03, 2009

Here is the link to the CNN article about this interview:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/31/mccain-obama-has-not-changed-washington/

July 31, 2009

McCain: Obama has not changed Washington

Posted: July 31st, 2009 06:10 PM ET

From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

(CNN) — "Despite his campaign-trail promises, President Obama has failed to change the partisan tone in Washington, Arizona Sen. John McCain said Friday.

"I'm afraid they have," Obama's former presidential rival told CNN's John King when asked if the administration has 'failed' in delivering on its repeated pledge of bipartisanship..."

Obama in my opinion has sincerely tried to be as bipartisan as possible with Republicans but it has not worked out very well so far because of these three reasons which John McCain should know:

1) After all of the Republican losses in Congress in 2006 and 2008, there are few GOP moderates left so a lot of the Republicans "come from conservative states and conservative house districts. So, no one back home is going to mind very much, because there aren‘t many Republicans left in closely-fought seats:"

A) E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post talking about Obama trying to get Republican votes for the economic stimulus package:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28994362/

'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for February 5, 2009
Read the transcript to the Thursday show

Guest: E.J. Dionne, Clarence Page, Howard Fineman

E.J. DIONNE, WASHINGTON POST: "I agree with what Howard said at the end.  That, you know, some plan pretty close to this is going to pass eventually and a few Republicans, I think, will vote for it in the end.

But a lot of Republicans are just against this.  They are ideological conservatives. They don‘t believe in a lot of the programs Obama is putting forward and a lot of them come from conservative states and conservative house districts.  So, no one back home is going to mind very much, because there aren‘t many Republicans left in closely-fought seats.  The main Republicans are in a somewhat progressive state and they are playing a little bit of ball with Obama..."

B) Bill Schneider of CNN:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0812/18/sitroom.01.html

THE SITUATION ROOM

Obama: Watchdogs Were 'Asleep'; Auto Bailout Versus Bankruptcy?; Interview With Donald Trump

Aired December 18, 2008 - 16:00   ET

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): "The last House race just got decided for the Democrats. The final result? Republicans lost a net total of 21 House seats this year. That's on top of a 31-seat GOP loss in 2006.

Republicans have lost a total of 52 seats in the last two elections, which is exactly the number of House seats the party had gained in the 1994 landslide. The Republican revolution has been erased..."

2) Obama might have received about 30 House Republican votes on the initial economic stimulus bill IF John Boehner and the Republican leadership had not pressured all Republicans to vote "No" on it:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0901/28/sitroom.03.html

THE SITUATION ROOM

House Votes on Economic Stimulus Plan; President Obama Meets With Business Leaders

Aired January 28, 2009 - 18:00 ET

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: "Joining us now our senior political analyst, Gloria Borger; and Steve Hayes of "The Weekly Standard;" and Clarence Page of the "Chicago Tribune."

Were you surprised -- I was surprised -- that not one Republican voted in favor of President Obama's economic stimulus package?

GLORIA BORGER, SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I -- I was sort of stunned by it. But I was told by a Democratic source that there may have been about 30 Republican who were leaning toward voting for it. But this was a point that the leadership in the House wanted to make -- the Republican leadership -- to vote unanimously against what they called Nancy Pelosi's stimulus package and make a point..."

This kind of partisan behavior from the House Republican leadership is NOT Obama's fault in my opinion!

3) Most of the Republicans who are left in Congress either agree with Rush Limbaugh that they intentionally want Obama to fail while many other Republicans in Congress truly fear Limbaugh because he controls about 20 million people who make up the hard core base of the majority of the Republican Party. Any Republicans who Limbaugh does not like can be primaried (like how John McCain and Charlie Crist are right now and like how Arlen Specter was before his party switch) and/or they can be defunded if he tells his audience not to contribute to them:

A) Rush Limbaugh intentionally wants Obama to fail:

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/17327

Rush Limbaugh saying "I Hope the Stimulus Package Fails" should be nationalized!

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on February 14, 2009 - 8:37am.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z-OgbrCu_I&eurl=http://www.dccc.org/page/s/rush&feature=player_embedded

Rush Limbaugh Hopes President Obama Fails (0:19)

DCCCLive
January 26, 2009

"Sign our petition at http://www.dccc.org/rush and we'll send him your comments..."

B) Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) in my opinion is a valid example of an extreme Republican ideologue who agrees with Rush Limbaugh that he intentionally wants Obama to fail and who also wants to purge the Republican Party of their moderates who do not agree with his extreme ideology:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0709/Health_reform_foes_plan_Obamas_Waterloo.html

July 17, 2009
Categories: Healthcare

Health reform foes plan Obama's 'Waterloo'

"Senators and Congressmen will come back in September afraid to vote against the American people," DeMint predicted, adding that "this health care issue Is D-Day for freedom in America."

"If we’re able to stop Obama on this it will be his Waterloo. It will break him," he said..."

Here is the YouTube audio link of Jim DeMint saying this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHV4nDS501Y

Sen. Jim DeMint calls defeating Obama like Waterloo (0:14)

wmj08kms
July 20, 2009

"If we're able to stop Obama on [health care reform], it will be his Waterloo. It will break him..."

http://m.wltx.com/news.jsp?key=94108

DeMint Holds on to Conservative Ground
June 05, 2009 23:54 PM

WASHINGTON (Gannett Washington Bureau) -- "Sen. Jim DeMint says he knows how the GOP could regain its electoral stature after big losses in the 2008 elections: Return to the fiscal conservatism that he says endeared the party to millions of Americans in generations past...

DeMint caused a furor among Republicans by saying recently he'd rather have 30 Republicans committed to economic conservatism than 60 who stand for nothing..."

C) Other Republicans who do not agree with Jim DeMint's extreme ideology truly fear Rush Limbaugh because of how powerful that he is and because of how much influence that he has over so many people:

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/17270

ANALYSIS: Obama and Democrats are being smart by attacking Rush Limbaugh now!

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on January 31, 2009 - 11:49pm.

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/13578

ANALYSIS: Why Rush Limbaugh is so powerful & what many media pundits do not get!

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on October 10, 2007 - 1:47am.

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/12971

Bush met with 10 Neocon talk radio hosts and in private with Rush Limbaugh!

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on August 9, 2007 - 3:28am.

RNC Chairman Michael Steele had to apologize to Rush Limbaugh for what he said about him:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0903/01/dlh.01.html

D.L. HUGHLEY BREAKS THE NEWS

A Humorous Look at the News

Aired March 1, 2009 - 23:00 ET

MICHAEL STEELE, RNC CHAIRMAN: "So let's put it into context here. Let's put it into context here. Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh, his whole thing is entertainment. He has his an incendiary. Yes, it's ugly..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KL46KE51BY&feature=related (1:13)

RNC's New Chairman Michael Steele distances the GOP Party from Rush Limbaugh (1:13)

GhostOfThe92503
February 28, 2009

Michael Steele's only two choices were to either apologize and hope that Rush would forgive him or else Limbaugh threatened to tell his 20 million followers to defund the RNC which would have been a huge disaster for Steele:

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_030209/content/01125111.guest.html

A Few Words for Michael Steele

March 2, 2009

RUSH: "Why are you sending out these things, Mr. Steele? Why is your office sending out all these talking points to defeat the Democrat agenda in Congress if your position is you want it to succeed? And I don't understand why you're asking Republicans to donate to the Republican National Committee if their money is going to be spent furthering the agenda of Barack Obama.

If we don't want Obama and Reid and Pelosi to fail, then why does the RNC exist, Mr. Steele? Why are you even raising money? What do you want from us? If I want Obama and Democrats to succeed, I suppose we should be sending the RNC donations?...

So send those fundraising requests out, and, by the way, when you send those fundraising requests out, Mr. Steele, make sure you say, "We want Obama to succeed." So people understand your compassion. Republicans, conservatives, are sick and tired of being talked down to, sick and tired of being lectured to, and until you show some understanding and respect for who they are, you're going to have a tough time rebuilding your party..."

As long as Democrats and moderate Republicans do nothing to seriously fight back against Rush Limbaugh and as long as they allow him to remain as powerful as he is, then Obama will probably never get many Republican votes in Congress on his major legislation except for the very few moderates who are left. I have credibly documented that Limbaugh totally despises and rejects bipartisanship which is why it is NOT possible to achieve with extreme right wing ideologues from the Limbaugh wing of the Republican Party:

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/17327#comment-341863

"we despise bipartisanship here at the Limbaugh Institute..."

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on February 18, 2009 - 7:59am.

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/17327#comment-341862

Limbaugh again compared Bipartisanship to Jesus making a deal with Satan:

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on February 18, 2009 - 7:47am.

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/17338

ANALYSIS: Why Bipartisanship is NOT possible with far right wing GOP ideologues!

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on February 17, 2009 - 6:21pm.

Obama, Democrats, and moderate Republicans CAN seriously fight back against Rush Limbaugh right now by doing three things:

1) They can try to bring back some version of The Fairness Doctrine while they probably still have the votes needed in Congress and the political capital to do it. This is the one thing that Rush Limbaugh really and truly fears:

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/17308

Call Sen. Debbie Stabenow at 202-224-4822 to help her Fairness Doctrine efforts!

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on February 9, 2009 - 2:52pm.

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/16851#comment-333782

Bringing back The Fairness Doctrine would help to restore...

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on October 28, 2008 - 1:04pm.

Even if this cannot be done at the end of the day, it will still take a lot of time, money, and effort for the Limbaugh wing of the Republican Party to try and stop. Every minute and dollar that they spend trying to stop this is a minute and a dollar that they are NOT able to use for other things!

2) Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi can make every member of Congress vote on the record if they agree with many of the stupid things that Limbaugh has said over the years which will put them in a bind the next time they are on the ballot. They will lose most of middle America if they vote in favor of Limbaugh or they will risk getting primaried and/or defunded if they vote against Limbaugh and upset him.

3) Obama, Democrats, and moderate Republicans can also put out some qualified debate experts to go all over the country and to the media exposing the many stupid things that Limbaugh has said, showing middle America how out of the mainstream that Limbaugh is to help stop him from getting new followers, and by constantly challenging him to publicly debate the issues in a neutral location on even terms (so he cannot just cut someone off like how he can do on his radio program).

Limbaugh will probably refuse at first but he will look like a coward if he keeps on refusing and if the qualified debate experts get enough media attention. If Limbaugh accepts, then he will probably lose!

I give Colin Powell a lot of credit for his standing up to Rush Limbaugh and challenging others to do it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6LJB6cUH_M

Colin Powell: Republicans Are Afraid Of Rush Limbaugh (0:52)

NewsPoliticsNews
July 29, 2009

"From CNN's Larry King: Colin Powell: Republicans Are Afraid Of Rush Limbaugh - 07/28/09"

Here is the CNN transcript of what Colin Powell said which are the same points that I have been making for years:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0907/28/lkl.01.html

CNN LARRY KING LIVE

Interview with Colin Powell

Aired July 28, 2009 - 21:00 ET

COLIN POWELL, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: "I can handle his (Limbaugh's) criticism. The problem I am having with the party right now is when he says things that I consider to be completely outrageous. And I respond to it. I would like to see other members of the Party do likewise. But they don't.

LARRY KING, CNN ANCHOR: Do you think they are afraid to take him on?

POWELL: Well, I know a number of instances where sitting members in Congress or elsewhere in positions of responsibility in the party made light criticism of Rush, and within 24 hours they were backing away because there is --

KING: Why?

POWELL: -- a strong base of support for Mr. Limbaugh.

KING: So what? There is a strong base of support for everybody.

POWELL: Yes, but I do not have to worry about winning elections or having people who are supporting me or not supporting me. I am free and independent and can make any statements I want, and Mr. Limbaugh is free to criticize me all he chooses to, but he cannot tell me that I cannot be in the Party..."

On a side note, IF Rush Limbaugh stays in power over most of the Republican Party and IF Obama should lose in 2012, then we will probably go right back to the extreme ideology of the Bush-Cheney years IF a Limbaugh minded Republican candidate such as Jim DeMint ever becomes President!

As I said, Obama in my opinion has sincerely tried in good faith to be as bipartisan as possible with Republicans but unfortunately he has very little to work with right now as I have credibly documented:

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/17341

ANALYSIS: Why the economic stimulus compromise was as Bipartisan as possible!

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on February 18, 2009 - 5:21pm.

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/17338

ANALYSIS: Why Bipartisanship is NOT possible with far right wing GOP ideologues!

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on February 17, 2009 - 6:21pm.

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/17640

ANALYSIS: The extreme GOP base would oppose ANY Obama Supreme Court Nominee!

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on May 29, 2009 - 2:59pm.

All of these reasons in my opinion show exactly why John McCain was dead wrong to say that Obama has failed the bipartisan test. I would like to see John McCain answer these points in future interviews and that especially goes for Colin Powell's point about other members of the Republican Party standing up to Limbaugh!

I want John McCain to be asked what he has done of any substance to stand up to Rush Limbaugh and when he did it because I have not seen it happen yet. I think that John McCain needs to do this first BEFORE he criticizes Obama for something that is not his fault and which he could possibly do something about IF he really wants to and if he really puts "Country first" before his 2010 re-election campaign!

Mitch Dworkin

http://mitchdworkin.com/
Check out my new political website!

http://www.securingamerica.com/

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/16039
RESOURCES: Speeches, Articles, and Career Highlights to help define Gen. Clark!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on July 7, 2008 - 2:51pm.

http://www.securingamerica.com/ccn/node/7191
Listen to Gen. Wes Clark fight for Dems on Sean Hannity's radio program: An excellent example for all of us to follow and what we all need to be doing to help fight back against extreme right wing Neocon smear propaganda!