John Mccain

WASHINGTON -- It didn't take long for Sen. John McCain to call a news conference the day President Clinton unveiled his new national security team.The Arizona Republican was the first member of Congress to step to the microphones at the Capitol and react (favorably) to Clinton's picks for secretary of state and defense. He followed up with interviews on CNN, CNBC, the PBS "News Hour" and the Don Imus radio show.Perhaps best-known for bravely enduring five hellish years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, the Naval Academy graduate has emerged as one of the Senate's leading voices on defense and foreign policy.

"I would find myself trussed up and left for hours in ropes, my biceps bound tightly with several loops to cut off my circulation and the end of the rope cinched behind my back, pulling my shoulders and elbows unnaturally close together. It was incredibly painful. " — Sen. John McCain from his book, "Faith of My Fathers" "[John McCain] doesn't understand how enhanced interrogation works. " — former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum For the record, John McCain was learning "how enhanced interrogation works" when Rick Santorum was still trying to find a good acne cream.

When Sen. John McCain takes the podium in the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., tonight to offer his vision of governing, he is expected to promise to change the culture of Washington, do things differently and tackle the country's problems in earnest, a pledge very much like that made by Sen. Barack Obama in Denver last week. For Mr. McCain, who long held the respect of Republican moderates and independents for his courage to buck the party line and take legislative risks, the promise of change is an especially difficult one to keep.

Education policy has gotten short shrift so far in this year's presidential campaign season, yet both Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama and GOP hopeful Sen. John McCain have offered visions of education reform, and the differences between them could not be more striking. Mr. Obama wants to strengthen public schools by boosting funding for early childhood education, rewarding good teachers with higher pay and offering tax credits for college tuition. Mr. McCain's plan centers on giving parents vouchers for private schools, eliminating most federal regulation of education and expanding online programs that let students take advanced math and science courses in schools where they aren't offered.

A Marylander who served as George W. Bush 's No. 2 at the federal Small Business Administration — one whose name was out there four years ago as a possible running mate for then-Gov. Bob Ehrlich — has popped up in a less flattering political context. Melanie Sabelhaus appears in an infomercial that helped sink former Arizona Rep. J.D. Hayworth 's hopes of beating Senator John McCain in the Republican primary. In the infomercial, which McCain used as an issue in the campaign, Hayworth played pitchman for National Grants Conferences, a company that made dubious promises to hook people up with free government grants, earning it an F from the Better Business Bureau and getting it crosswise with 24 state attorneys general.

Sarah Palin says it's a lie. Her press spokeswoman calls it "sick. " Other supporters of the former Alaska governor refer to it as a "hit job" - concocted by Hollywood leftists and the liberal media. Filmed in and around Baltimore last year, " HBO "s "Game Change," won't premiere until next Saturday. But even mostly sight unseen, the two-hour made-for-TV movie about John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign has generated a torrent of debate. Taking on a polarizing figure like Sarah Palin already makes "Game Change" one of the most evocative productions of the year.

Better known for his military service, running for president, and campaign finance reform, Sen. John McCain made a fateful decision in April to turn over critical evidence on U.S. Olympic athletes to steroid abuse watchdogs. Two months later, the Arizona Republican says in an interview that he is saddened at the number of athletes who - partly as a result of documents his committee made available - are facing the possibility of lifetime bans from the U.S Anti-Doping Agency. But he also defends the decision, saying the nation needed to get in front of sports doping among elite athletes or risk an Olympic scandal that could have damaged America's international reputation at a sensitive time and jeopardized New York City's bid to host the 2012 Summer Games.

PIEDMONT, Calif. -- Dear Sen. John McCain: I am a gook, even though I was not one of your North Vietnamese captors, who tortured you and other American prisoners of war more than 30 years ago. I am a gook, even though I was not a Viet Cong sympathizer who helped the North Vietnamese army battle Americans and South Vietnamese soldiers. I am a gook, even though I was not allied with the South Vietnamese military who fought alongside American GIs in that unfortunate war in which you and other Navy pilots were shot down.

A 19-year-old naturalized American citizen is accused of committing a crime of violence in the United States, and a gaggle of elected officials are urging for him to be treated as an enemy combatant and placed in the hands of the military. Not just the usual right-wing suspects but Rep. Peter King, Sen. Lindsey Graham and Sen. John McCain are leading the chorus. Thankfully, President Barack Obama did not listen, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was charged in his hospital bed today by federal officials with using a weapon of mass destruction and malicious destruction of property.

Barack Obama, Democrat (with Joe Biden) John McCain, Republican (with Sarah Palin) Cynthia McKinney, Green (with Rosa Clemente) Bob Barr, Libertarian (with Wayne A. Root) Ralph Nader, Independent (with Matt Gonzalez) Chuck Baldwin, Constitution (with Darrell L. Castle)