"I'm a Teddy Roosevelt Republican" - McCain on Stephanopolis

[Fran Kubelik]

When asked what role if any he played in getting an agreement reached, McCain responded by saying: "I'm going to let you and others be the judge of that," and then went on to his ridiculous claim of being a Roosevelt Republican.

[maseman]

1. Why would he say that?

20% of americans can't find the US on a map let alone know anything about the Bull Moose Teddy Roosevelt. I think it is an empty thing to say and doesn't mean anything to the average Joe.

[Fran Kubelik]

3. All most people know about Roosevelt is that he's on Mt Rushmore.

Oh yeah, and he was a maverick. ;)

[Hepburn]

15. Soooooooo.....

...McHoover is saying he is dead, carved in granite and icy cold???

:rofl:

[secondwind]

5. "Moose"? Did you say "Moose"? There's the connection

:rofl:

[Morning Dew]

6. More McCain confusion here

trying to identify with Bull Moose Teddy when he's actually the Bull Goose Looney.

[Raineyb]

14. I would include McLoser in that 20%

How does the deregulator have anything in common with a trust buster? Really! Roosevelt wouldn't have let the banks get so big that we can't afford to let them fail. McLoser would let them continue to merge until there was only one company for banking, investing, and insuring.

What a moron!

Regards

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. Trust -Buster, indeed.

But in a completely different sense.

[MadBadger]

4. That meanz nothing to the average voter.

[Dollface]

7. They probably mix him up with FDR

[Motown_Johnny]

He has been identifying himself that way for many many years. He recently started switching off with...

"I'm a Ronald Regan Republican"

I would love to see an ad with these clips back to back, asking just WTF kind of Republican are you? Loyal? Maverick? Or someone who will say anything for a vote.

[tokenlib]

8. Obama should use this against McCain---just bring up the estate tax, among other issues.....

Another good point of linkage to Bush---Bush supposedly admires TR--yet goes against th progressive impulses of TR.

Neither Bush or McCain are Teddy Roosevelt republicans...

[liberal N proud]

9. Because he is trying to distance himself from being the Bush Republican

Or the Reagan Republican

[ingac70]

10. Teddy Roosevelt dumped the Repukes, John. n/t

[Spider Jerusalem]

11. HA!

John 'I've always been on the side of less regulation' McCain, with a ZERO rating from the Sierra Club, who's voted repeatedly against any increase in the minimum wage or greater protection for American workers, whose idea of diplomacy is 'Bomb Iran', comparing himself to a man who EXPANDED government regulation and oversight of corporations, who was one of the foremost environmentalists of his time, who helped lead the drive for a national minimum wage with maximum hours (not realised until the administration of his cousin Franklin), who won the Nobel Peace Prize for mediating the end of the conflict between Russia and Japan...don't make me fucking laugh. Does McCain actually KNOW anything about Theodore Roosevelt? Apart from the Rough Rider, cowboy, big game hunter caricature?

[WePurrsevere]

12. Senator McCain, my DH's grandfather worked for & knew Teddy well...

you sir are NO Teddy Roosevelt. From all the stories we've heard, Teddy was more of a REAL maverick then you could ever dream of.

[PA Democrat]

13. Teddy Roosevelt fought for more REGULATION of corporations.

John McCain is a corporate whore pushing more DEREGULATION. He's is no Teddy Roosevelt.

[npincus]

16. was he asked about Palin?

[Fran Kubelik]

17. Yup yup

He says he is SO HAPPY she is part of his campaign, because the American people like her.

[WeDidIt]

18. Claiming to be a "Teddy Roosevelt Republican" Makes him look older.

Most people would think, "man, he actually REMEMBERS Teddy Roosevelt? THAT'S FRIGGIN' OLD!

[juno jones]

19. Dude, he went up San Juan Hill with Teddy!

Now THAT's old.

Seriously he doesn't know what he's talking about, ol' trust-busting, diplomatic, enviromentalist TR is a-rollin' in his grave...

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

39. He was TR's horse

:rofl:

[crankychatter]

20. If they won't give us their resources, we park an armada in their harbor and sponsor a coup?

manifest destiny revisited

[Captiosus]

24. To be honest

That's the ONLY thing I dislike about TR.

His autobiography goes into great detail about how he helped manipulate things behind the scenes as Secretary of the Navy to get the Spanish-American War going in Cuba. He did it, basically, so he could go fight a war and be heroic. Afterward, though, he wasn't nearly as big on getting involved in wars. I know the Great White Fleet was the U.S. military's BIGGEST saber-rattling, but I also credit it for officially bringing us into the world powers category.

[crankychatter]

29. he was a racist

a serious bigot

what we did in the Philipines was on a level with our genocide of Native Americans

World Wars and the Industrial expansion they fueled were the driving forces behind the US flexing her muscle abroad

The re-invention and Americanization of Empire and Colonialism is hardly something to be proud of

I love Roosevelt frankly... I know it doesn't sound like it

He was VERY American... our villainy always cloaks itself in righteousness

[Captiosus]

37. I don't think Roosevelt should be left holding the bag on the

Philippine-American war.

That, and the annexation of Hawaii, was the policy of President William McKinley. McKinley even won in 1900 with the full annexation of the Philippines as part of his overall foreign policy platform. Roosevelt wasn't McKinley's Vice-President until McKinley's second term, after the American colonization 'genie' was out of the bottle.

Roosevelt ended open combat in 1902 except against one specific set of tribes. Yes, American forces stayed and "ruled" the Philippines, but that was McKinley's platform, had been started long before Roosevelt was even in the White House, and had considerable public backing.

I blame McKinley, not Roosevelt, for the modern era of American Empire and Colonialism.

Roosevelt didn't help, of course, with the Great White Fleet and by adding the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine but I don't think either of these were nearly as explosive as the policies of McKinley. Thankfully, the Roosevelt Corollary was reversed in 1928 by Coolidge and was thrown completely under the bus in 1934 by Franklin D. Roosevelt.

[crankychatter]

40. I should've stayed in school

good stuff... thank you for your energy

[Captiosus]

41. Sorry if I came across as an ass

It wasn't my intention, so if I came across as an asshole, I apologize.

I'm just a huge history/politics geek.

[Captiosus]

21. Oh yeah, John? A TR Republican?

Well I'm a Teddy Roosevelt Democrat because Teddy Roosevelt would be utterly demolished if he tried to be a Republican in today's modern Republican Party.

Any republican who tries to say he's a TR Republican hasn't read books on the man. He shares far more with the modern Democratic party than the modern Republican party. I guarantee you, based on his record of conservation, that TR would be solidly opposed to drilling in ANWR.

[Phoonzang]

22. So he's a Democrat? n/t

[regnaD kciN]

23. Did he mean "I voted for Teddy Roosevelt at a Republican convention"...?

:rofl:

[iceman66]

25. Well let's see . . .

Teddy Roosevelt was a leader of the "Progressive" movement, fought against corporate greed and corruption, supported conservation, advocated NATIONAL HEALTH CARE long before any other countries even had it, and eventually abandoned the Republican party.

Yep, that sounds just like John McCain!

[mitchum]

26. First he calls his wife "trollop" and "cunt" and now he says she's a "rough ride"?

He really has no class

[Tutonic]

27. Teddy Roosevelt was a maverick in an era of banking and financial

greed. He fought for greater regulation and sought to minimize the control of government by banking, railroad and other financial pols. A true Conservative. Grampy can't call himself a Teddy Roosevelt Republican and vote repeatedly for deregulation and lobbyist causes at the federal level.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

28. It says something about the Republican Party...

That they have to go back nearly a hundred years to find one of their leaders who wasn't a despicable asshole.

[msallied]

31. I think they could go back to Eisenhower

But then again, Ike was against the military-industrial complex, was pro-union, raised taxes, signed into the law the predecessor to Medicare. He was a flaming pinko commie by today's Republicon standards. How funny that some of the most revered Republicans in American History behaved more like Democrats.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

42. Or Nelson Rockefeller

But they hate him for the same reason. You could even put Barry Goldwater into that category (ironic, no?)

[Larkspur]

30. Teddy would say that McCain is a member of the "Bull Sh*t" not Bull Moose Party

McCain the Deregulator is the exact opposite of Teddy Roosevelt.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

32. A 'Bull Moose Republican,' then? I know Palin supplies the moose, so...

[ShadowLiberal]

33. Theodore Roosevelt was a big union & working class supporter in his policies, McCain is not

Today on economic issues at least (not sure about his stands on social issues) Theodore Roosevelt would have likely been a democrat.

[Buck Rabbit]

34. The Theodore Roosevelt who quit the Republican Party

and led the Progressives out of the GOP, never to return?

[BlueIdaho]

35. What utter bullshit!

I have made exactly one trip to Sagamore Hill and even I know more about Teddy Roosevelt than McCain does. He doesn't know the first thing about Big Stick foreign policy or Teddy's battle against the Robber Barron's, or even his environmentalist efforts!

John McCain don't know shit about Teddy and he don't know shit about being President either.

[whistler162]

36. Not even a Rockefeller Republican....

The only similarity between McCain and TR or Nelson Rockefeller is the wealth behind him!

[kevinds13]

38. So...

He wants to be known as the guy who will form his own party, doomed to failure, when his own party rejects him?