Steve Benen has a list of McCain's position reversals. He hasn't updated in awhile but the list has McCain reversing, backtracking and in some cases denying existence of reversal on 76 different issues. Some of my faves from the list:
4. In February 2008, McCain reversed course on prohibiting waterboarding.
5. McCain was for closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay before he was against it.
7. McCain was for kicking Russia out of the G8 before he was against it. Now, he’s for it again.
11. McCain is both for and against a “rogue state rollback” as a focus of his foreign policy vision.
16. McCain was against additional U.S. forces in Afghanistan before he was for it.
27. McCain is both for and against earmarks for Arizona.
30. McCain opposed a holiday to honor Martin Luther King, Jr., before he supported it.
32. McCain was both for and against state promotion of the Confederate flag.
33. In 2005, McCain endorsed intelligent design creationism, a year later he said the opposite, and a few months after that, he was both for and against creationism at the same time.
34. And on gay adoption, McCain initially said he’d rather let orphans go without families, then his campaign reversed course, and soon after, McCain reversed back.
35. In the Senate, McCain opposed a variety of measures on equal pay for women, and endorsed the Supreme Court’s Ledbetter decision. In July, however, McCain said, “I’m committed to making sure that there’s equal pay for equal work. That … is my record and you can count on it.”
40. John McCain initially argued that economics is not an area of
expertise for him, saying, “I’m going to be honest: I know a lot less
about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues; I
still need to be educated,” and “The issue of economics is not
something I’ve understood as well as I should.” He now falsely denies
ever having made these remarks and insists that he has a “very strong” understanding of economics.
42. McCain said in 2005 that he opposed the tax cuts because they were “too tilted to the wealthy.”
By 2007, he denied ever having said this, and falsely argued that he
opposed the cuts because of increased government spending.
57. McCain said he would “not impose a litmus test on any (judicial) nominee.” He used to promise the opposite.
59. McCain went from saying he would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade to saying the exact opposite.
62. McCain supported his own lobbying-reform legislation from 1997. Now he doesn’t.
70. McCain criticized TV preacher Jerry Falwell as “an agent of intolerance” in 2002, but then decided to cozy up to the man who said Americans “deserved” the 9/11 attacks. (Editor's Note: Falwell's was blaming specific Americans for 9/11. His exact quote was "I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.'")
71. In 2000, McCain accused Texas businessmen Sam and Charles Wyly of
being corrupt, spending “dirty money” to help finance Bush’s
presidential campaign. McCain not only filed a complaint against the
Wylys for allegedly violating campaign finance law, he also lashed out
at them publicly. In April, McCain reached out to the Wylys for support.
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