Matt Ortega

Who is the real John McCain, and why should Americans listen to him?

In the 2000 presidential race for the Republican nomination, Senator McCain introduced the “Straight Talk Express” into the lexicon of American politics.

It is a narrative that portrayed the so-called “maverick” McCain as a different kind of politician that chose principle over party. It earned him a “moderate” branding and with the imminent decimation of the GOP majorities in Congress, created an aura of “electability” about him in the pundit class.

During the 2000 primary race, when then-Texas Governor George W. Bush personally started slinging mud, McCain said:

“Bad generals always fight the last war.”

That advice appears to be lost on the 70-year old southwestern senator heading into the 2008 primaries.

Indeed, for 2008, McCain is taking nothing for granted and trying to emulate Bush’s success by veering farther to the right than his now-defunct “maverick” image ever allowed him. This right turn continues to create sharp contrasts between the current McCain and the McCain from 2000. From abortion to war, Senator McCain has allowed his quest for the party’s nomination to take precedent over principle.

McCain’s biggest hurdle, should he win the nomination, will be the continuing occupation of Iraq. The conflict in Iraq does not escape the evolving principles of John McCain. In August 1990, the Arizona senator was quoted in the New York Times that he opposed “trading American blood for Iraqi blood.”

Fast-forward to 2007 where McCain is the biggest supporter of Bush’s war — neck and neck with Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-Connecticut). McCain’s ownership of the escalation policy adopted by President Bush earlier this month should give Americans pause considering the senior senator’s track record on Iraq: length and difficulty (Iraq won’t be an issue in 2008?), endorsement of the escalation plan and his reservations that it is too small (see: “numbers game” on escalation, including his initial request for 20,000 more U.S. forces and his belief that an increase would “risk broken army” and put a “terrible strain” on military) and incorrect prognostications by his own admission.

Why should Americans believe Senator McCain finally got it right this time?

His Iraq stance is not resonating with the American people and is, in fact, hurting his standing with Americans. (In fact, according to a recent poll produced by the Princeton Survey Research Associates, Americans by more than a 2-to-1 margin say that “since the war began” Congress is “not assertive enough” in opposing President Bush, ergo Senator McCain, on Iraq.)

Documentarian Robert Greenwald’s Brave New Films put together a three-minute video that chronicles these and many other contradictions for the website The Real McCain authored by Cliff Schecter.

In Monday’s Los Angeles Times, staff writer Michael Finnegan profiled the new Greenwald ad and the rise of online video in making the case against 2008 candidates.

Read more from Schecter here.