Dedicated to Any Undecided Voters, Part II

With a posting from a couple of days ago, I provided numerous events in the life of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) which emphasize his inability to serve as President of the United States due to his lack of character and honesty. There are also multiple incidents highlighting his deficiency in both maturity and temperament. The following examples are some of the most impressive, with the majority being between McCain and members of his own party:

• In an interview with "Rolling Stone", Dan Schnur, McCain's press secretary for his 2000 presidential campaign, stated "If I tried to convince you [McCain] does not have a temper, you should hang up on me and ridicule me in print".
• At least five of his Republican colleagues have officially proclaimed that McCain is temperamentally unsuited for the role of President. According to former Sen. Robert Smith (R-NH), McCain has "very few friends" in Congress due to his frequent "incidents of irrational behavior" with his fellow Senators. Smith added that McCain's "temper would place this country at risk in international affairs and the world perhaps in danger. In my mind, it should disqualify him." Based on McCain's temper, Sen. Peter Domenici (R-NM) decided in 2000 that "I didn't want this guy anywhere near a trigger". Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) commented that "The thought of [McCain] being President sends a cold chill down my spine. He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me." Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) stated that "[McCain] was very rough in the sandbox. Everybody has a McCain story. If you work in the Senate for a while, you have a McCain story. He hasn't built up a lot of goodwill." Describing him as "a vicious person", former Rep. John LeBoutillier (R-NY) stated that "Nearly all the Republican Senators endorsed Bush because they knew McCain from serving with him in the Senate. They so disliked him that they wouldn't support him. They have been on the hard end of his behavior."
• Aside from the quotes above from his congressional colleagues, other individuals with strong ties to McCain have made similar statements. As the Republican state committee chairman in McCain's home district in Arizona, Rob Haney declared "The guy has no core, his only principle is winning the presidency. He likes to call his campaign the 'straight talk express'. Well, down here we call it the 'forked tongue express'." Haney also commented that "McCain is mentally unstable and out of control and vindictive" and worries about "his ability to handle real political problems". Jon Hinz, the former Executive Director of the Arizona Republican Party, stated that "It's the President's job to negotiate and stay calm. I don't see that he has that quality...I've just seen too much. That temper, the intolerance - it worries me." Pat Murphy, the former editor of "The Arizona Republic", proclaimed "Most of us in the media in Arizona thought of [McCain] as a guy who had a terrible temper, occasionally had a foul mouth, a guy who whined and pouted unless he got his way. McCain has a temper that is bombastic, volatile and purple faced. Sometimes he gets out of control."
• Lawrence Wilkerson, a retired U.S. Army Colonel and former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, offered these comments on McCain: "No dissent, no opinion to the contrary, however reasonable, will be entertained. Hardheaded is another way to say it. Arrogant is another way to say it. Hubristic is another way to say it. Too proud for his own good is another way to say it. It's a quality about him that disturbs me." James Dobson, the highly conversative founder of the evangelical group called Focus on the Family, stated that McCain "has a legendary temper and often uses foul and obscene language".
• Sensitive about his height and physical appearance, McCain exploded on the night he was elected Senator in 1986 after discovering that the stage for his victory speech was too low. As a result, the television audience witnessed his head bobbing at the bottom of the screen, his chin continuously out of view. An enraged McCain tracked the young Republican volunteer down and proceeded to poke the volunteer in the chest, calling him an "incompetent little s--t".
• At a Republican fundraiser in 1998, McCain delivered an inappropriate joke about President Bill Clinton's daughter. "Do you know why Chelsea Clinton is so ugly?" he asked. The supposed punchline: "Because Janet Reno is her father."
• During his 1992 congressional campaign, McCain's wife, Cindy, rubbed his head and joked about his thinning hair. The response from McCain was quite admirable: "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you c--t." Although the exchange was witnessed by three reporters, the McCains deny its occurrence.
• McCain had a heated argument with Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) regarding the fate of missing U.S. servicemen in Vietnam. "Are you calling me stupid?" Grassley asked. "You're a f-----g jerk!" shouted McCain. Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-NE) later told reporters that he believed McCain was "going to head butt Grassley and drive the cartilage in his nose into his brain. I'm going to watch a colleague kill a colleague."
• McCain once informed Domenici, the Republican chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, that "Only an a--hole would put together a budget like this".
• Speaking at a luncheon attended by McCain, former Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson was among a group of local mayors fielding questions from the Arizona congressional delegation concerning local land issues. At one point, Johnson was interrupted by a McCain outburst: "Hold it a minute. Somebody write down everything this guy has to say. You know what, we need to record him. It's best to get a liar on tape." Johnson stood and asked, "Senator, if you have a problem with me, why don't we go out in the hallway and talk about it?" McCain replied: "You're god damn right I have a problem with you. They've been treating you like a princess in Phoenix while they've been burning me over this dam deal and I'm sick of it." Following the verbal altercation, Johnson has stated that "His volatility borders in the area of being unstable. Before I let this guy put his finger on the button, I would have to give considerable pause."
• After barging into a bipartisan meeting on immigration legislation and attempting to seize control of the proceedings, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) responded to McCain's actions: "Wait a second here. I've been sitting in here for all of these negotiations and you just parachute in here on the last day. You're out of line." McCain roared: "F--k you! I know more about this than anyone in the room."
• During a campaign appearance in April 2007, McCain responded to a question regarding our approach to the Middle East: "That old, that old Beach Boys song, 'Bomb Iran'. Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb."