McCain the Gambler: Voters Are Beginning to See Which Choice for President is Really "Risky"

The Republicans have gone to great lengths trying to convince the voters -- especially the older voters -- that Barack Obama is "risky". The more voters know about Barack Obama, the more difficult their task has become. And another stark reality has stood in their way.

If you like taking risks, John McCain's your guy.

McCain is notorious for his willingness to throw the dice -- literally.

Last Sunday's the New York Times describes the scene at the Foxwoods resort Casino as he "tossed $100 chips around a hot craps table. When the marathon session ended around 2:30 AM, the Arizona senator and his entourage emerged with thousands of dollars in winnings."

McCain is a lifelong gambler - gambling as often as once a month, according to the Times. "In May 2007, as Mr. McCain's presidential bid was floundering, he spent a weekend at the MGM Grand on the Las Vegas strip," where he raised funds, "attended a boxing match and hit the crap tables."

But that's not all. McCain seems to like taking risks -- in his own life -- and with the country. Tossing around $100 chips is nothing for McCain. He's perfectly comfortable tossing around trillion dollar chips.

McCain threw the dice on Iraq, believed the flawed intelligence, and bet on a preemptive war that cost the country a trillion dollars and thousands of lives.

He championed the deregulation of the financial industry -- allowing wealthy investment bankers to make huge bets on risky loans that are now costing the American taxpayers another trillion bucks.

He wants to privatize Social Security, diverting a portion of everyone's Social Security payments in to risky private accounts and cutting guaranteed benefits in half -- a multi-trillion dollar gamble that doesn't look so good in a market that's lost a fifth of its value since the first of this year.

His health care "plan" bets on completely replacing employer based health care benefits with private plans that leave each family individually at the mercy of the health insurance companies. He goes so far as to tax health care benefits provided by employers and eliminates state regulatory protections for health insurance consumers.

In his own campaign he has a penchant for throwing the "Hail Mary" -- from Sarah Palin to last week's move to "suspend his campaign" and "postpone the debate". He is prone to make sudden, unpredictable moves, take chances, go with his gut.

McCain's campaign is increasingly erratic -- even "chaotic" according to the last Sunday's Washington Post. Robert Gibbs, press spokesman for Barack Obama, put it this way, "if McCain is driving the car, you might want to get off the sidewalk."

And like many compulsive gamblers, John McCain doesn't mind bending the truth if it stands in his way.

The question for a lot of voters -- especially seniors -- is this: Do we really want a high stakes gambler with a history of shooting from the hip with his hand on the button as Commander-in-Chief -- or appointing the Secretary of the Treasury with all his new power to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on Wall Street?

It's one thing for John McCain to gamble with his own money -- but do we really want John McCain gambling with our future?

Robert Creamer is a long time political organizer and strategist and author of the recent book: Stand Up Straight. How Progressives Can Win, available on Amazon.com.

Comments

[PioneerKing]

is he suffering from diarrhea of the mouth

[blindhog]

I'm angry at John McCain. How dare he put THIS woman in this position? I'm angry because he has insulted our intelligence. I'm angry because he has, in his own little way, set back women, both stay at home working women and outside the home working women. I'm angry that THIS woman has become the laughing stock of the world. I'm angry at Johm McCain.

[bodo]

McCain likes to call himself a maverick, but in reality he was for his entire life a hotheaded gambler and dangerous hazardeur, from crashing five airplanes years ago to picking Sarah Palin, a woman he hardly even knew, just a few weeks ago.

[lejman]

this gambling stuff has been all over the blogs since at least june's time magazine story. it is interesting that it is coming out now in a trickle via ny times. perhaps the analogy of wall street being a high stakes casino has provided a timely back drop for johnny macs compulsive urges in the military spending/casino industry enabling/deregulation facilitating arenas. he likes to roll them bones and i understand he is seeking to divest one of his 12 bedroom 13 bathroom cottages in arizona to appear more middle class this month. but you have to pay 100 grand for the privilege to bid on the property, let alone buy it.

[Shieldmaiden]

This maverick business might have been cute a month ago but with the economy in the tank McCain's shenanigans are just downright scary. Can you imagine if this had happened on his watch? At least Bush was smart enough to let other people take the wheel. McCain would suspended everything and let the country go up in flames.

[bluerednot]

This is one of the reasons that it became clear that McCain would never be able to be an admiral like his father and grand father. He simple did not possess the sound, well grounded steady judgment that was required of that high rank. - and in various discussions McCain has essentially acknowledged this.

Here's an interesting point - a long time ago some one explained to me that while the airlines like to hire former military pilots to be at the controls of their planes full of passengers , they generally prefer former troop transport / cargo / great big military plane pilots --- they are generally not as eager to get fighter pilots --- They want a calm, prudent captain at the controls - and the personality profile of the typical impulsive fighter jock just does not match up. The individual "maverick" fighter jock is great for high intensity,aggressive, risky, high stakes battles - but that is not the outlook that is desired when many many other lives are on board.

[KiwisCanFly]

"McCain threw the dice on Iraq, believed the flawed intelligence, and bet on a preemptive war that cost the country a trillion dollars and thousands of lives."

I have come to believe that McCain was an ardent and aggressive proponent of a preemptive strike. One would have to ignore a lot of history to buy into the McCain's version of the Iraq war. It's not just his cosponsoring the resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq.

Connect the dots. Fact check.

Iraqi exile leader Ahmad Chalabi, one of the most sordid figures in the run-up to the Iraq war. McCain, who was himself an early Chalabi backer with ties to the Iraqi going all the way back to 1991. Charles Black and his BKSH was the lobbying vehicle. Chalabi's INC. Scheunemann was a board member of the neoconservative think tank, the Project for the New American Century. PNAC demands one thing: The establishment of a global American empire to bend the will of all nations. Funded largely by the energy and arms industries. Scheunemann"s 2002 Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, McCain and Lieberman were on it, "a group of people who will talk to Americans about why the liberation of Iraq is something the United States ought to do." Their one goal, was to reverse a decline in support for possible military action.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/09/chalabi-mccain/

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/06/17/randy_scheunemann_mccain_advis.html

[LetMeUnderstandThis]

McCain continues to pull "Crazy Ivan"

[exmate]

Contrast this with the fact that Barack Obama is a poker player . Poker calls for skills that would serve the President well. It calls for assessing probability, reading other players and deciding whether or not they are bluffing. Obama is said to rarely bluffs and is quite a good poker player.

Truman, Kennedy, Nixon and Johnson were all good poker players and effective presidents.

[CeciliaBertrand]

Playing games is fine - playing with other peoples lives and money is not fine!!! We require stewardship and accountability in our leaders. How did McCain stay so long when he is so sold out???

[justobserve]

The scary thing is McCain is PROUD to be a Gambler! DON'T GAMBLE YOUR COUNTRY WITH McCAIN-PALIN'S RECKLESS JUDGMENT, LIES, BIGOTRY, FAKE FAMILY VALUES, SECRECY, CRONYISM.

[jezebel50]

This article is a must read :

Make-Believe Maverick : Rolling Stone

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/make_believe_maverick_the_real_john_mccain

[chandra-shekar]

I just read it...thorough and revealing....indeed, a must-read!

[kimpea]

I just wanted to say thanks for posting that... I read it last night (long read) but it was very interesting. Even if it were a bit left-biased, it's pretty convincing when you hear these words from McCain's own book and other decorated military men.

[demobydefault]

After eight years of G.W., I kinda chuckle at Republicans trying to paint their opponents as scary.

1. Unconstitutionally increasing the powers of the President.

2. Unconstitutionally increasing the powers of the FBI and CIA.

3. Ruining the international reputation of the US by alienating allies.

4. Starting a pointless and unpopular war by claiming there were weapons of mass destruction and ties to Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

5.Claiming success for the Surge in Iraq when ethnic cleansing and the bribing opposition were the real reasons violence declined.

6. A vice presidential pick that is not just irresponsible but also actively harmful to the state of the nation. The corruption of Halliburton is infamous.

7. Complete lack of policy regarding how Americans will meet the challenges of the 21st century.

8. Promoting deregulation...Promoting monopolies that have, when they're down, asked for handouts from the American people.

Ha! I'd vote for a tuna sandwich before I'd vote in someone who agrees with Bush, the most unpopular president in history, even half of the time. To vote with him 90% of the time...in his most unpopular year EVER? A tuna sandwich couldn't deal with the problems we're facing, but at least it wouldn't actively harm us.

[mizriz]

It's amazing to me that there are stil people backing McCain. Again and again, he has made poor decisions by not thinking through the decision completely. He comes across as a complete hothead and I am more worried about him with the nuclear codes than Sarah Palin (another of his poor choices).

[IndependentforObama]

Here is what I think Biden should say in private to Palin

"GOTCHA NOW, YOU HAVE NOWHERE TO HIDE, THE CLOCK IS TICKING AS YOU COLLECT DIRT ON YOURSELF. BET YOU WISHED YOU HAD BLINKED NOW huh huh huh"

Okay, maybe not. A simple hi will suffice. LOL