John McCain

John McCain's Opinions

Marijuana Should marijuana be legal? Disagree I can't support the legalization of marijuana. Scientific evidence indicates that the moment that it enters your body, one, it does damage, and second, it can become addictive. It is a gateway drug. The Slippery Slope Pitch   The Paternal Pitch   Edit Pitches 29 Oct 1999    Source Is marijuana a gateway drug? Mostly Agree I believe that marijuana is a gateway drug. That is my view and that's the view of the federal drug czar and other experts, although that is also a debatable question. The Testimonial Pitch   Edit Pitches 11 Aug 2007    Source Drugs Is the health risk of a psychoactive drug a legitimate reason to make it illegal? Agree I can't support the legalization of marijuana. Scientific evidence indicates that the moment that it enters your body, one, it does damage, and second, it can become addictive. It is a gateway drug. Edit Pitches 29 Oct 1999    Source Abortion Should abortion be legal? Mostly Disagree The exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother are legitimate [to an outright ban on abortions]. Edit Pitches 31 Jan 2000    Source Is abortion morally acceptable? Mostly Disagree The exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother are legitimate [to an outright ban on abortions]. Edit Pitches 31 Jan 2000    Source Philosophy Is the death penalty acceptable? Agree I think that the new technology of DNA would, I think, provoke a review, clearly, of cases that may be questionable, but I certainly wouldn't abandon the death penalty. Edit Pitches 16 Feb 2000    Source Is affirmative action fair? Neutral The issue [of affirmative action] in the early '90s was a little more complicated. I've never believed in quotas, and I don't. There's no doubt about my view on that issue. And that was the implication, at least, of that other vote. Edit Pitches 06 Apr 2008    Source Middle East Politics Would invading Iraq result in a quagmire? Disagree I am very certain that this military engagement will not be very difficult. It may entail the risk of American lives and treasure, but Saddam Hussein is vastly weaker than he was in 1991. He does not have the support of his people. And I'd ask one question: What member of the Iraqi army is willing to die for Saddam Hussein when they know he's going to be taken out? So I don't think it's going to be nearly as difficult as some assume. Edit Pitches 12 Sep 2002    Source Should the US president talk face to face with Iran's president? Disagree ...what [would] such a summit with President Ahmadinejad would actually gain, except an earful of anti-Semitic rants, and a worldwide audience for a man who denies one Holocaust and talks before frenzied crowds... [this] would harm Iranian moderates and dissidents, as the radicals and hardliners strengthen their position and suddenly acquire the appearance of respectability. [Instead] we must create the real-world pressures that will peacefully but decisively change the path they are on. Edit Pitches 27 Jun 2008    Source War Should the United States invade Iraq? Agree I think the president has embarked on a well planned effort to rid the world in this country of the threat of the use of weapons of mass destruction by Saddam Hussein. Edit Pitches 12 Sep 2002    Source Will genocide occur if the US pulls its combat troops out of Iraq? Mostly Agree I fear the potential for genocide and ethnic cleansing in Iraq is even worse [than Rwanda]. The sectarian violence, the social divisions, the armaments, the weakened security apparatus of the state - all the ingredients are there. Unless we fight to prevent it, our withdrawal will be coupled with a genocide in which we are complicit. Edit Pitches 11 Apr 2007    Source Is Russia's invasion of Georgia justified? Disagree In the face of Russian aggression, the very existence of independent Georgia and the survival of its democratically-elected government are at stake. ... Whatever tensions and hostilities might have existed between Georgians and Ossetians, they in no way justify Moscow's path of violent aggression. Russian actions, in clear violation of international law, have no place in 21st century Europe. Edit Pitches 11 Aug 2008    Source Homosexuality Should the federal government ban gay marriage? Disagree The constitutional amendment we're debating today strikes me as antithetical in every way to the core philosophy of Republicans... It usurps from the states a fundamental authority they have always possessed and imposes a federal remedy for a problem that most states do not believe confronts them. Edit Pitches 14 Jul 2004    Source Should gay and straight couples have the same legal benefits? Disagree I think that gay marriage should be allowed if there's a ceremony kind of thing if you want to call it that. I don't have a problem with that. ...[but] I don't believe that gay marriage should be legal. Edit Pitches 11 Feb 2007    Source Economics Is Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a huge risk to the economy? Agree If Congress does not act [by sponsoring the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005], American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole. Edit Pitches 25 May 2006    Source

Evolution Did complex life evolve through the process of natural selection? Agree I happen to believe in evolution. ... I respect those who think the world was created in seven days. Should it be taught as a science class? Probably not. The Reconciliatory Pitch   Edit Pitches 02 Jul 2006    Source Should Intelligent Design be taught in science class? Mostly Disagree I happen to believe in evolution. ... I respect those who think the world was created in seven days. Should it be taught as a science class? Probably not. Edit Pitches 02 Jul 2006    Source Health Is abstinence-only sex education effective? Agree The guy I really respect on this is Dr. Tom Coburn [who believes abstinence only education is effective]. ... I look to people like [him]. I’m not very wise on it. Edit Pitches 16 Mar 2007    Source Should the United States have Universal health care? Disagree I don’t think that there should be a mandate for every American to have health insurance. I think that one of our goals should be that every American own their own home, but I’m not going to mandate that every American own their own home. I think that every American should have, be available to, an affordable college education. But I’m not going to mandate that every American go to college. I feel the same way about health care. Edit Pitches 31 Oct 2007    Source Liberty Should the US close Guantanamo Bay? Agree I would close Guantanamo Bay. And I would move those prisoners to Fort Leavenworth. And I would proceed with the tribunals. ... Guantanamo Bay has become an image throughout the world which has hurt our reputation. Whether we deserve it or not, the reality is Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib have harmed our reputation in the world, thereby harming our ability to win the psychological part of the war against radical Islamic extremism. Edit Pitches 08 Apr 2007    Source Are gun control laws a serious breach of civil liberties? Agree It seems like every time there is a particularly violent crime, the anti-gun crowd comes up with a plan to capitalize on tragedy and limit Second Amendment rights for all Americans. I opposed the ban on so-called "assault weapons" which was first proposed after a California schoolyard shooting. I thought it made no sense to ban a class of firearms based on cosmetic features. I opposed waiting periods for gun purchases... Edit Pitches 21 Sep 2007    Source Oil Is oil a motivation for maintaining a military presence in Iraq? Agree If we leave prematurely... this uncertain swirl of events could cause the region to explode and foreclose the opportunity for millions of Muslims and their children to achieve freedom... [and] the price of oil escalate dramatically and our economy decline... Edit Pitches 11 Apr 2007    Source Should oil be drilled in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? Disagree Quite rightly, I believe, we confer a special status on some areas of our country that are best left undisturbed. When America set aside the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, we called it a "refuge" for a reason. Edit Pitches 17 Jun 2008    Source Democracy Can the US military presence in Iraq help create democracy? Neutral There are the first glimmers of progress under General Petraeus' political-military strategy. While these glimmers are no guarantee of success, and though they come early in the implementation of the new strategy, I believe they are cause for very cautious optimism. Edit Pitches 11 Apr 2007    Source Mostly Agree [I hope that if I'm president, that] in 2013 the Iraq War has been won, Iraq is a functioning democracy, violence is much reduced, and America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly so that America might be secure. The United States maintains a military presence in Iraq, but a much smaller one that does not play a direct combat role. Edit Pitches 15 May 2008    Source Science Is global warming caused primarily by humans? Agree The world is already feeling the powerful effects of global warming, and far more dire consequences are predicted if we let the growing deluge of greenhouse gas emissions continue... Edit Pitches 24 Apr 2007    Source Should research on stem cells from human embryos be banned? Neutral As president, John McCain will strongly support funding for promising research programs [...] that do not involve the use of human embryos. Where federal funds are used for stem cell research, Senator McCain believes clear lines should be drawn that reflect a refusal to sacrifice moral values and ethical principles for the sake of scientific progress, and that any such research should be subject to strict federal guidelines. Edit Pitches 01 Jan 2008    Source Macroeconomics Is free trade generally beneficial for a country? Agree Every time the United States has become projectionist [...] we could pay at a very heavy price. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Acts in the 1930s were direct contributors to World War II. It sounds like a lot of fun to bash Chinese and others, but free trade has been the engine of our economy in the last half of this year; it will continue to be. ... Free trade should be the continuing principle that guides this nation's economy. Edit Pitches 09 Oct 2007    Source Politics Is Yucca mountain the best place to store nuclear waste? Agree My preference is that we store [nuclear waste]. I always thought that Yucca Mountain was the right place to do it... It's not a problem of technology. It's a problem of political will. We have now the worst of all worlds, because we have nuclear waste sites around every nuclear power plant in America, which provides us with the greatest challenge to our security so I would try and resolve it and I would try to go back and revisit the Yucca Mountain issue... The Long Standing Pitch   Edit Pitches 05 Dec 2007    Source Should the US fence its border with Mexico? Agree I come from a border state. I know how to fix those borders with walls, with UAVs, with sensors, with cameras, with vehicle barriers. They want the border secured first. And I will do that, and, as president... The Personal Pitch   Edit Pitches 27 Jan 2008    Source Can you be patriotic without always having loved your country? Agree I really didn't love America until I was deprived of her company [whilst in solitary confinement in a POW camp]. The Convert Pitch   Edit Pitches 13 Mar 2008    Source

Comparisons with Other Experts and Influencers

The similarity between John McCain and each expert and influencer is calculated by looking at how the same questions were answered. These figures are used to calculate conforming, nonconforming, and projected opinions. The accuracy of the analysis depends on John McCain's coverage, which grows with the number of their opinions entered into TakeOnIt.

Conforming Opinions

John McCain's conforming opinions are opinions that align with the group of experts and influencers John McCain typically agrees with.

Nonconforming Opinions

John McCain's nonconforming opinions are opinions that contradict the group of experts and influencers John McCain typically agrees with.

Projected Opinions

John McCain's projected opinions are opinions John McCain is expected to have if their opinions align with the experts and influencers that they typically agree with.