Posted on 12/20/2007 6:39:06 PM PST by Norman Bates
There are times in this nations history so perilous that they cry out for a steady, experienced leader, a person so trusted that we would put the fate of this country in his hands.
This is one of those times, and Sen. John McCain is that person.
He has a brand of courage that is rare in the public arena these days - a courage forged in part by those years spent as a prisoner of war in Vietnam and in part by more than two decades of fighting for what he believes in on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
In an age when too many candidates are driven by polls and focus groups, fashioning and re-fashioning their core beliefs, McCain is a man of unwavering conviction and integrity. His values, his beliefs, his goals are what they were when he first entered public life, what they were in 2000 and what they will be a decade from now.
And those goals include a safe and secure America, a country that is respected around the world for honoring its commitments, for encouraging and respecting the rule of law whether in Baghdad or Guantanamo Bay.
During a meeting with Herald editors and reporters Wednesday McCain was accompanied by James Woolsey, a man who has served in two Republican and two Democratic administrations, including a stint as CIA director under President Clinton. If Woolseys presence was designed to send a message - well, message received, at a number of levels. Yes, McCain is well regarded by those who share his commitment to national security. And, yes again, there are those who operate above the partisan fray.
The two men were passionately critical of the latest National Intelligence Estimates that downplayed the danger of a nuclear Iran.
Its not up to the intelligence community to make policy, McCain said, adding that their conclusions about Irans future nuclear capability is not substaniated by the facts on the ground.
The war in Iraq has, of course, loomed large both in the national consciousness and as a campaign issue. McCain knew that the administrations early military strategy was not enough to get the job done. And he was among the first to sign on to this years troop surge as devised by Gen. David Petraeus.
John Edwards used to call it the McCain surge. He doesnt anymore, McCain said. Al-Qaeda isnt defeated in Iraq, but its on the run.
But John McCains expertise doesnt begin and end with national security. He is now a firm believer in the power of tax cuts as a driver of the economy. He saw the Bush tax cuts work and vows to make them permanent. He also supports an end to the alternative minimum tax, which has managed to snare far too many middle class families in its unindexed grip. This week the Congress moved to increase the exemption for the middle class, but thats merely a one-year fix.
McCains name, of course, is also synonymous with immigration reform - the kind of real reform that will both safeguard our borders and provide a path to citizenship - not amnesty - for the 12 million illegal aliens who now live among us. The senator freely acknowledges that his support for immigration reform threatened to jettison his presidential candidacy.
What we miscalculated was the total mistrust in government, McCain told the Herald. They didnt believe we could secure the borders. But this isnt 1986. The technology has changed. But more than that, it takes commitment. A McCain administration would have that commitment.
On immigration reform, on tax reform, on campaign reform McCain has proven time and time again that he has the ability to reach across that increasingly wide partisan divide and make things happen.
This week Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who was himself on the Democratic presidential ticket in 2000, took the unprecedented step of endorsing McCain in the upcoming Republican primaries. He did so with these words:
In this critical election, no one should let party lines be a barrier to choosing the person we believe is best qualified to lead our nation forward. The problems that confront us are too great, the threats we face too real, and the opportunities we have too exciting for us to play partisan politics with the presidency.
The Boston Herald agrees. And so this newspaper too will break with its decades-old tradition of endorsing candidates in both the Republican and Democratic primaries. In doing so we also address our words particularly to those millions of independent voters here, in New Hampshire and around the nation who can choose to cast their ballot in either party primary.
The choice this year is indeed clear. John McCain should be the next president of the United States and the Boston Herald is proud to endorse his candidacy.
The Globe, the liberal one, is the main paper not the Herald.
“What is with you? I wonder what you think of Ronald Reagan. “
Best President of my lifetime. I *am* a Reagan Republican.
“You didnt actually think he acheived two landslides with conservatives alone, did you? He had a large chunk of democrats and a majority of independents as well.”
Ronald Reagan did that yet remained a conservative. The conservative agenda can win independents in the right package.
McCain has a RINO agenda. McCain has not only walked away from conservative principles on many occasions, he was *instrumental* in undercutting conservatives time and again at key times on key issues.
Just one example: Did you know we could have *already* made the Bush tax cuts permanent had it not been for John McCain?
Reagan was no purist conservative.
Sandra O’Connor, for one. There are plenty of examples.
The question should have been:
Does Liebermans ACU rating of under 20%, indicating that he is a liberal Democrat on practically all issues save the GWOT tell you something about his endorsement of McCain?
Liberals want John McCain to be the GOP nominee.
Why should conservatives agree to that?
Why are you undercutting Ronald Reagan now?
I didn’t say ‘purist’ I said ‘conservative’.
The Republican does not have to run as a RINO to win the election.
Exactly
Give me a break. I’m not undercutting anyone. Reagan reached out to moderates - fact. In his own day many purist conservatives loathed him - fact (some of the same who now admire him).
What you need to do is read his own autobiography from 1990 where he states how he weathered opposition from purists on the right and went for compromises he felt were good overall. That is how he won big.
Besides some of the issue you list about McCain are peripheral. I would say Iraq and the GWOT are the most important, and McCain is right on them. He is right on spending, which is also way up there. Right to life, as well. And he wants the border secured.
But it’s funny you mention undercutting Reagan, because that’s exactly what Mitt Romney did in the 90s.
The problem with McCain is that he compromises with everything. If you ask Liberals who their favorite Republican is, they’ll tell you it’s between Mayor Bloomberg and John McCain.
Don’t forget the immigration bill from this past summer. It was “AUTHORED” by senator McCain and his partner in compromising, Senator Kennedy.
When the enemies of this country are at the negotiating table, do you really want this guy representing you? How much of our sovereignty is he willing to compromise?
That "old news" ploy only works for democrats. The media will destroy McCain against any dem. They will find plenty of "fresh" angles on Keating. We both know they are there because Keating was stinky as all heck.
He will not have any idea how to handle it because he has become accustomed to HRC level kid gloves from the media. That will end the moment he is the Republican nominee.
Your points are well made.
Besides some of the issue you list about McCain are peripheral. “
perpheral!!?!?!
- Bush’s tax cuts were the centerpiece of Bush’s 1st term doemsitc agenda. McCain said no.
- CFR has been the WORST bill in the last 10 years out of Washington. McCain authored it.
- Comprehensive illegal immigration bill would has been the largest welfare giveaway and biggest expansion in entitlements and also would have destroyed the GOP majority for a generation...
yeah, small potatoes ... and of course that is just the tip of the RINO iceberg of things McCain is doing.
McCain-Lieberman would be a huge expansion of Govt regulation in energy, for example.
“Reagan reached out to moderates”
Reagan did not make it a point to push and enact liberal legislation as his modus operandi in reaching out. All you need to know about the difference between McCain and Reagan is the difference between how the media treats McCain and Reagan. McCain’s media respect is due to his RINO-ism.
And McCain’s RINO actions are precisely why he should be rejected as a nominee.
Yes, that is true. The media polls especially are sloppy in letting non-core Republican voters ‘represent’ the voters for these polls. So McCain and Guiliani get over-represented in these.
The media boosts and endorsements only amplify the point.
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