McCain and torture

At dinner last night with a couple of friends the conversation turned to Senator McCain and his quest for the presidency. They were both surprised when I said that Senator McCain said waterboarding is torture or more specifically,
“Anyone who knows what waterboarding is could not be unsure. It is a horrible torture technique used by Pol Pot and being used on Buddhist monks as we speak,” said McCain after a campaign stop at Dordt College here.
“People who have worn the uniform and had the experience know that this is a terrible and odious practice and should never be condoned in the U.S. We are a better nation than that.” (see http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/26/mccain-mukasey-torture/) But, and it is a BIG BUT, when faced with a bill that would end the practice of waterboarding, what did he do? He voted AGAINST it. He rationalized his vote, blah, blah, blah, but the bottom line is, from my perspective, he isn't really a man of principle. He is brilliant though. He knows that even though the Emperor has no clothes, the media won't keep pointing that out. He gets to have his cake and eat it too. (see http://weblogs.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/blog/2008/02/mccain_votes_against_ban_on_wa.html)
If you read the Chicago Tribune site, you will see that Clinton and Obama don't come off much better...they were on the road and didn't vote....