Republican Showdown

In the News: Almost two months after having captured the GOP Presidential Nomination, and still waiting on a single Democratic challenger, Senator McCain has been focusing his efforts on his actual job: legislation. McCain is currently drafting legislation that calls for a federal "gas tax holiday" between Labor Day and memorial Day; a move that would theoretically encourage people to travel and spend more money on non-gasoline items. However, McCain's proposal is facing strong opposition from states, as well as fellow Congressmen who see this as a temporary fix to a continuous problem.

Scandal: McCain has been under fire recently for using his wife's private corporate jets on his campaign, since he has co-authored legislation demanding that politicians pay in full for their plane tickets while on the campaign trail. These critics demand that McCain pay his wife, chair of one of the nation's largest Anheuser-Busch distributors, for all of these unethical flights.

What's he been up to?

After a seemingly huge break, we're all back online to see what McCain has been up to.
It seems that McCain is still trailing Obama and Clinton in fund raising rather massively, as he's been attempting to kick up his income for the upcoming election race. Though his methods have brought McCain an improved income, it seems nearly impossible for him to catch up to the money making machine that is Barack Obama.
On the topic of money, McCain has stated publicly that balancing the budget is less important in his eyes than dropping taxes. It seems that McCain hopes to correct the economy of the United States by ensuring that people have more money to spend on what they want, rather than to first fix the budget crisis of the federal government. With the impending recession, this may be a plan favored by some citizens of the country, while many others will still be focused more on the need to balance the budget.
Interestingly, Obama has come out stating that he believes that McCain would be a better president than Bush. While it may be surprising to hear this coming from a potential opponent in the upcoming election, it's really not as big of a deal as it seems, when you take into account that certain democrats believe Bush to be a rather large failure as a president.

The Stare, Rice and Rockefeller

In the News: After accusing John McCain of not caring for people because he dropped bombs on Vietnam, Senator Rockefeller apoligized (but does he mean it?). Condoleeza Rice denied the rumors that she has any intention of becoming a running mate for McCain. Instead, she will reportedly head back to Stanford University. McCain accused the promises of the Democratic nominees that outline a plan of removal of troops from Iraq as a "failure of leadership." So what then is a "success of leadership." African American leaders such as Oscar Tillman, part of the NAACP, and Campbell Jr. say that the relationship between McCain and African Americans is becoming strained. This could seriously injure McCain's chances at becoming the next president. He better step up. Also, McCain is well behind in campaign finances, raising only $15 million dollars in March, $5 million behind Clinton and $25 million behind Obama. And McCain, to his great horror, was treated with THE STARE of Hillary Clinton during hearings on Iraq with General Petraeus.
Endorsements: National Right to Life endorsed McCain. This will hopefully get him a boost with the social conservatives.