Welcome To The Party, AP

Yes, the Associated Press did give John McSame coffee and donuts today, but they also gave him this present, a glimmer of truth into his actual record.

The likely Republican presidential nominee is much more conservative than voters appear to realize. McCain leans to the right on issue after issue, not just on the Iraq war but also on abortion, gay rights, gun control and other issues that matter to his party's social conservatives.

The four-term Arizona senator, a longtime member of the Armed Services Committee, criticized the earlier handling of the war but has been a crucial ally in President Bush's effort to increase and maintain U.S. forces in Iraq.

Besides the war, McCain agrees broadly with Bush and other conservatives on:

Abortion. McCain promises to appoint judges who, in the mold of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, are likely to limit the reach of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. McCain's record is not spotless on abortion: He said once, in 1999, that Roe v. Wade should not be overturned. But that amounted to a blip in an otherwise unbroken record of opposing abortion rights for women.

"I am pro-life and an advocate for the rights of man everywhere in the world," McCain told the Conservative Political Action Conference in February. "Because to be denied liberty is an offense to nature and nature's Creator."

Gay rights. McCain opposes gay marriage. True, he does not support a federal ban on gay marriage on grounds the issue traditionally has been decided by states. But McCain worked to ban gay marriage in Arizona. He also supports the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, and he opposed legislation to protect gay people from job discrimination or hate crimes.

"I'm proud to have led an effort in my home state to change our state constitution and to protect the sanctity of marriage as between a man and woman," he told CNN in March. "I will continue to advocate for those fundamental principals of our party and our faith."

Gun control. McCain voted against a ban on assault-style weapons and for shielding gun-makers and dealers from civil suits. He did vote in favor of requiring background checks at gun shows, but in general he sides with the National Rifle Association in favor of gun rights.

When the Supreme Court held arguments last month on Washington, D.C.'s handgun ban, McCain said it was "a landmark case for all Americans who believe, as I do, that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms."

If we had Democrats that would realize such positions on these issues are actually PROBLEMS and not reflective of some great unwashed masses who will doom, DOOM us in the general election, maybe we'd be getting somewhere. Actually I think that to some extent we are. You can see it in how McCain is reacting to the early attempts at branding him. He blew his first response to the mortgage crisis by basically parroting Marie Antionette, so he ditched it in favor of an approach that sounded more like he gave a damn about millions of Americans becoming newly homeless, even if in practice his latest plan would do nothing new and deliver no help to homeowners. He led an all-out assault, aided by the entire conservative movement to rewrite history on his "100 years" comment because he knows it plays really badly throughout the country.

The good news here is that nobody appears to be letting up on that one, from the leaders of the party on down to the most junior member of the Democratic caucus in the House.

Newly elected Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier of Hillsborough was sworn into Congress this morning and delivered a fiery speech criticizing President Bush's Iraq policy that led some Republicans to boo and walk out of the House chamber.

Speier, who won a special election Tuesday to fill the seat of the late Rep. Tom Lantos, was always an outspoken lawmaker in her years as a San Mateo County supervisor, state Assemblywoman and state Senator. She served notice Thursday that she plans be just as aggressive as a member of the House.

"The process to bring the troops home must begin immediately," Speier told fellow lawmakers including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco. "The president wants to stay the course and a man who wants to replace him suggests we could be in Iraq for 100 years. But Madam Speaker, history will not judge us kindly if we sacrifice four generations of Americans because of the folly of one."

While Democrats applauded, Republicans began a chorus of low boos. Some Republicans who had congratulated her just moments before, including Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista (San Diego County), walked out of the hall in protest.

Waah, waah, waah.

The truth is that McCain KNOWS his conservatism is a problem and so he must shroud it. That should kind of be a lesson to Democrats that they don't have to do the same when it comes to their liberalism.

CA-12: Lessig Out

I was preparing to write a piece about how Lawrence Lessig was waiting far too long to make a decision about whether or not to run for Congress, but apparently he got the same message.

With lots of mixed feelings, I have decided a run for Congress would not help the Change Congress movement. I explain the thinking in this 5 minute video (a new record for me!). First question: What happens to the contributions to Lessig08? As explained on the ActBlue page, all will go to (the yet to be established) Change Congress organization.

You can see his video at the link.

I will miss what would have been a very interesting debate in the 12th District, but I'm confident that Jackie Speier is going to be an excellent addition to our Congressional delegation. In the end, Lessig just didn't have enough time to make the sale.

In case you're interested in how this race could have gone,

CA-12: Speier To Challenge Lantos?

This should be very interesting. It looks like Jackie Speier, who was a fine state Senator who just missed in a there-are-no-losers primary for Lt. Governor with John Garamendi last year, is going to run for Congress in a primary against longtime incumbent Tom Lantos.

"It's Time!" declares an e-mail circulated by supporters to "friends" and "fans" this past week, announcing the first organizing meeting of the Jackie Speier for Congress Exploratory Committee on Tuesday at a home in Hillsborough.

Speier has been consulting with friends and supporters about a run since a poll conducted by allies in January showed her a 2-1 favorite among voters in the 12th Congressional District, which covers northern San Mateo County and parts of San Francisco.

Speier has since hired at least one staffer to start gearing up. Nonetheless, she told us late Friday that she hasn't made a final decision - and that when she does, we'll be among the first to know.

This is the first interesting primary fight in California on the Democratic side that we've seen in the US Congress this cycle. Speier would likely be seen as an upgrade to Lantos for progressives. So far this year Lantos has condemned MoveOn and intimated that "Europe was not as outraged by Auschwitz as by Guantanamo Bay."