During one of his town hall meetings (McCain really needs to stop having these), the senator was asked by a veteran why he didn't support the GI bill.
There's a lot to digest in that video, a lot of things to point out, but I'm just going to focus on one quote (I'll save the GI bill for another post):
"I've received every award from every major veteran organization in America...The reason why I have a perfect voting record from organizations like the Veterans of Foreign Wars, The American Legion, and all the other veteran service organizations is because of my support of them."
The wonderful site Project Vote Smart, which documents candidates' voting records and support from interest groups, has this to say about McCain's support from veteran's groups (click for bigger version):
He received a 100% rating in 2003 and 2004 from Vietnam Veterans of America. Fair enough. But look at the rest of that record. A 20% rating in 2006 from Disabled American Veterans (down from 25% in 2005). A "D" grade from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America in 2006. A 0% (that's right, zero) rating from Vietnam Veterans of America in 1997 and 1998.
I averaged out all of those ratings (I calculated the "D" grade as a 60%; that was the standard back when I was in grade school, anyway), and you know what it comes to?
42%
That's right. Over the past seventeen years, John McCain has received an average of a 42% rating from major veterans organizations (at least, those tallied by Vote Smart).
The point isn't that McCain was off in his claims; it's just how off he was. If he claimed to have a 100% record from veteran groups, but in actuality only had a 92% rating, that would be fine. But there's a world of a difference between that, and claiming that you have a perfect voting record when in fact, your record averages out to 42%. To quote Lewis Black, "that's not even in the ballpark!"
Some would argue that his statement at that Town Hall was just an anomaly; a one-time slip-up. In my opinion, even that wouldn't be excusable, considering the force with which he emphasized it. But, in case you're unconvinced that John McCain would actually intend to say such a thing, here's another one:
"I believe I have earned the right to speak out on veteran's issues. As a matter of fact, I've received the highest award from literally every veteran's organization in America."