Today John McCain was outted on youtube as a double talking politician reminiscent of quote that John Kerry said and Republicans played over and over on television ads, in which Kerry said he voted against an item after he voted for it.

But is the group Democracy for America peaking too soon? Are they exposing McCain before it’s really advantageous for dems? I’m thinking so. But regardless of what I think, it came out today.

Here’s some of the things the self-proclaimed “straight talker” John McCain was caught on tape as saying:

On Iraq
“I believe we can win an overwhelming victory in (Iraq) in a very short period of time”
“I knew it (the war in Iraq) was probably going to be long and hard and tough and those that voted for it and thought that somehow it was some gonna be some sort of an easy task then I’m sorry they were mistaken. Maybe they didn’t know what they were voting for.” -Jan 07

On the Confederate Flag
“The Confederate flag is offensive in many, many ways, as we know. It’s a symbol of racism and slavery.” 1-9-2000
“Personally I see the (confederate) flag as a symbol of heritage.” 1-12-2000

Religious Right
“Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics or the agents of intolerance whether they be Louis Farrakan or Al Sharpton on the left or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right.” 2-28-2000
When asked on Meet the Press whether he still believed that Falwell was an agent of intolerance, McCain responded “no I don’t”. McCain also made nice with Falwell and Falwell responded by having McCain as the keynote speaker at the fundamentalist Christian college, Liberty University, which Falwell oversees.

Gay Marriage
“I think that gay marriage should be allowed if there’s a ceremony kind of thing if you wanna call it that — I don’t have any problem with that.” -Hardball with Chris Matthews
Then 11 minutes later on the same show:
“I believe if people want to have private ceremonies, that’s fine. I do not believe that gay marriages should be legal.”

I will only add this — McCain, as McCain existed in 2000 in his primary bid against George W Bush, was the McCain that many of my friends would have embraced. He even sounded good to me. Since that time, he has seen a need to change his personal beliefs to one of openness and honor, to one of intolerance and dishonor. If this is the best that Republicans have to offer, it may be a very good 2008 for Democrats also.