Posted on 05/12/2008 8:11:42 AM PDT by Bobkk47
Why has Sen. John McCain won the Republican nomination, and why will he win the election in November? One word: trust.
I didn't predict it. I didn't even vote for him in our primary, but I'm coming to appreciate what I think a lot of Americans understood about this rock-solid patriot and public servant. At a time of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, we want a leader we can trust.
Even if you don't always agree with John McCain, you can trust the man to do what he says.
An encore of the Clinton years is a trust nightmare most Americans do not want. Hillary earned her negative trust numbers the old-fashioned way by disappointing us over and over again. From her faulty memory on dodging sniper bullets in Bosnia to producing peace in Ireland, her actions have never engendered trust.
Barack Obama may be eloquent to some, but his trust account is already overdrawn. He promises to be a uniter, but where's the evidence of ever producing on that promise?
In the absence of a proven track record, people look for ways to assess his judgment. His close associations with the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the political rainmaker Tony Rezko and Weather Underground leader William Ayers encourage more questions than trust.
His campaign's continuing and consistent mischaracterization of McCain's "100 years in Iraq" comment do not match his promise to be a different kind of politician.
As upsetting as McCain can sometimes be to conservatives, his ability to take an unpopular stand and confront his own party is one of the things many respect the most. This man, who withstood years of captivity in a POW camp, is not afraid of a little criticism — giving it or receiving it. There's no better sign of character than the ability to honestly confront one's own party when you think it's wrong.
Whether it's harping on former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and calling for more troops on the ground, pushing for immigration reform or wielding the power of his gang of 14 in securing judicial appointments, this man can make waves.
In a recent talk in Pittsburgh, McCain provided some economic straight talk:
"In so many ways we need to make a clean break from the worst excesses of both parties. For Republicans, it starts with reclaiming our good name — our good name as the party of spending restraint."
Beltway Republican leaders earned their midterm election losses by not walking their principles. McCain doesn't walk softly and carry a big stick. He'll talk straight, loud and often. You can bet he will be using that big "veto" stick on a few Washington senators and congressmen who try spending as usual, no matter which party they are with.
When McCain talks about putting the brakes on government spending and ending the abuse of earmarks, you can trust he means it.
Because we trust his word, we are more likely to honor his promises to change. He may not have voted for the Bush tax cuts, but he has voted to sustain them and promises to work to extend them if elected.
When McCain got the message that his immigration plan was not what Americans wanted, he admitted that Americans don't trust Washington. Now, he has repeatedly promised that securing the border wall comes first. McCain has shown that he takes his promises and his duty seriously.
Finally, at a time when Americans seem to want a president who can work across the aisle, McCain is the man they can trust. Obama talks about uniting America in every speech, but McCain has the proven track record.
McCain's endorsement by Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., speaks to the power of building bridges across the political divide. You don't build relationships by bending your principles. You build them by finding common ground where even "enemies" can agree to make a difference together.
Demonizing Democrats or President Bush will not win this election. McCain has taken a strong stand against partisan attacks. He realizes that the United States thrives in a workable tension between alternative approaches to governing America. McCain focuses on what he is for and reaches out to any independent or Democrat willing to join his cause to make Washington work.
In a long and demanding campaign, authenticity and trust will beat eloquence and empty promises every time. In this great game of politics 2008, McCain has the wild card that will give him the winning hand: trust!
— Terry Paulson of Agoura Hills is a psychologist, speaker, author and host to the politicaltalk.org blog. E-mail him at terry@terrypaulson.com.
I hope it’s not Bob Dole type trust.
I can't argue with McCain at all here. He's absolutely correct. Fiscal/spending restraint has been seriously lacking the last 6-10 years or so.
With my mind still undecided about whom to vote for, I listen to ALL the candidates, not just what John McCain says.
I do believe that McCain will stand up for what HE believes in.
That isn't necessarily what the majority of the American people believe in.
Ya but what if you don’t like “what he says”. Then what?
Just throwing that out their. I will vote for him but I hate that I have to.
Ah, cripplecreek, that conjures up quite an image. Ahem.
LOL! Trust John McCain? ROTFL!
Another psychologist is shown to be an idiot. How could an ‘expert’ miss McCain’s obvious megalomania? His treachery to his own party in search of camera lenses? LOL!
I trust him alright:
I trust McCain to do the wrong thing on campaign finance;
I trust him to push for amnesty for illegal aliens.
On judicial nominations, I trust him to do the right thing - as long as that’s exactly what Harry Reid wants...
The bottom line on Mr. McCain? He’s not Obama. Beyond that, I cannot help.
I’m gonna step into that voting booth with a clothes pin on my nose and vote for the guy.
I don't trust McLame. he'll screw us in a heartbeat if it will make him look good to the msm.
For the first time in my life I don't care who wins the Pres. election. I can honestly say the O'Barnum winning won't be as bad as Mclame winning because at least w/ O'Barnum there will be no dillusion whose side he's on.
W/ McLame you'll never know until you feel the blade in your back..
How about a candidate I can trust to leave my rights and my guns alone, not take a bigger bite out of my paycheck, limit the Federal Government and start reducing it to within its Constitutional bounds, open up proscribed areas to oil exploration, secure the border (Where's the fence?), and hold the Congress to task to accomplish those same ends?
Hell, at this point I'd just be happy with someone who had the stones to veto all the crap in the first paragraph I wrote that I am sure the Congress will try.
I still don’t know that I will vote for John McCain, but I’m still willing to listen also.
With my mind still undecided about whom to vote for, I listen to ALL the candidates, not just what John McCain says.
I do believe that McCain will stand up for what HE believes in.
That isn’t necessarily what the majority of the FREEPERS believe in.
There, fixed it.
Like get money out of politics, frinstance?
Yeah, "my word is my bond" did not exactly send voters running to the polls.
You can bet that the MSM will do it’s best to eliminate that “trust”.
Fair enough...but he believes in winning a war which, IMO, is what we all ought to believe in if we want to survive the coming Islamic caliphate.
If he wins, McCain will have four years to earn my trust, or confirm my disgust. If he doesn’t win, I’m out nothing on him, not even a vote. But don’t worry John, 2012 is just around the corner. Let’s see what you do.
McCain has gotten lots of money out of politics. Think Keating to think about how much money he has gotten out of politics.
Is 'John McCain' synonymous with 'small government' and 'restrained spending'?
If not, then why expect that he will all of a sudden become Thomas Jefferson in the last years of his public life?
< /rhetorical question >
83% lifetime conservative rating. 80% last year. 94% last year, Club for Growth. 0% lifetime from NARAL, Planned Parenthood, and NOW. Very low ratings from ACLU, Sierra Club, and other wackies. Stong supporter of the GWOT. Opposed the trillion dollar prescription giveaway, federal subsidies for ethanol, federalized insurance, and pork of all variety. That’s a record I can live with. Much more than half a pie there.
I saw McCain on O’Reilly and I do trust him to continue the war on terror. I trust his experience, his service, and his intentions. He is THE choice in this election, we should support him.
Who was strongly opposed to and voted against Bush’s trillion dollar prescription drug plan? Who’s against federal ethanol subsidies, federal insurance, federal health care, multi-billion dollar “defense” contract boondoggles, bridges to nowhere, salmon farms, bear DNA studies and all other varieties of pork?
“Where’s the outrage!”
His naivete about the consequences of McCain-Feingold, meaning the defunding of Republican fundraising and empowering the Soros Democrats is a bit scary.
Rich Republicans have the exact same opportunity to do what Soros is doing. They choose not to step up to the plate.
“I hope it’s not Bob Dole type trust...”
OR George Bush trust (no new taxes)
OR George W Bush trust (illegal immegrants, etc).
Give me a break! Admit that McKennedy, er McHillery, er McCain is a liberal. That’s “liberal” as in more taxes to help our economy, more regulations to help our economy, more illegal immigrants to help the economy, no drilling to help the economy, less CO2 to help the economy. I don’t know if our economy can stand that much help.
No, actually, you didn't.
If the majority of the American people believed in shamnesty they would have got it.
Even after hearing otherwise from the American People John McCain still endorses it.
83% lifetime conservative rating. 80% last year. 94% last year, Club for Growth. 0% lifetime from NARAL, Planned Parenthood, and NOW. Very low ratings from ACLU, Sierra Club, and other wackies. Stong supporter of the GWOT. Opposed the trillion dollar prescription giveaway, federal subsidies for ethanol, federalized insurance, and pork of all variety. That’s a record I can live with. Much more than half a pie there.
Worth saying over and over again......even though we disagree on some issues, he’s got my vote.
First, there's the apologetic tone - “Yes, he does make Conservatives nervous on some issues, blah, blah.....”
Second, Obama and Clinton are so horrible - “Voting against McCain or staying home is political suicide, blah, blah.....”
Third, McCain really, really IS a Conservative - “Look at this quote! Look at this Senate vote! blah, blah.....”
There's just one problem.
McCain is a FREAKING CATASTROPHE for the Republican Party!
For the last ten years he has utterly demoralized and utterly alienated Movement Conservatives, who are the MOST important part of the Republican Party coalition.
Now, as this catastrophe slowly but surely becomes apparent to McCain's centrist Republican supporters, they direct their panic and their anger at Conservative Republicans!
One question - why didn't you guys think about this two months ago when you were voting for McCain?
Well said!
Oh yeah, the broken clock syndrome.
....from Club for Growth...
"First, it is notable that Senator McCain stood so astride the Republican anti-tax position that he was one of only two Republican senators to oppose the 2001 tax cuts[5] and one of only three GOP senators to oppose the 2003 reductions.[6]"
"...Third, Senator McCain not only voted against the Bush tax cuts, he joined leading liberal senators in offering and voting for amendments designed to undermine them. All in all, Senator McCain voted on the pro-tax side of 14 such amendments in 2001 and 2003. These included such odious measures as:"
"An amendment sponsored by Senator John D. Rockefeller (D-WV) to prohibit a reduction in the top tax rate until Congress enacted legislation to provide a prescription drug benefit[10]"
"An amendment sponsored by Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) against full repeal of the Death Tax.[11] This vote is in keeping with Senator McCain's 2002 vote against repealing the Death Tax[12]
" "An amendment sponsored by Tom Daschle (D-SD) and co-sponsored by Senator McCain to limit tax reduction in the top tax bracket to one percentage point[13]"
Do you that the fact that McCain has been suckered into believing in this Global Warming scheme will not cost Americans any freedom and hard earned money? Do you think when he "reaches across the isle", that the result will not be a bigger governement?
On Regulation, John McCain has a dismal record...
"A deeper look at Senator McCain's record, however, reveals a number of votes and bills that reflect much less favorably on his commitment to free market principles and his claim to being an economic conservative."
"Most egregious is Senator McCain's leadership role in two bills that would have drastically restricted free enterprise. The first was the Patients' Bill of Rights, which he sponsored with Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and former trial lawyer John Edwards (D-NC).[51] The bill allowed the government to impose a set of onerous mandates on insurance coverage instead of allowing individuals to make their own decisions about healthcare plans in the marketplace."
"Two years later, the Arizona maverick took a another swing at the free market with the Climate Stewardship Act, a bill he sponsored with Joe Lieberman (D-CT)[52] to require greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced to 2000 levels by the year 2010. This intrusive bill was projected to cost $76 billion annually by 2025, with huge increases in the cost of electricity and gasoline according to the Department of Energy.[53]"
Any Conservative who votes for McCain will be in for a world of hurt. This was only my first attempt at research on McCain, and 10 minutes of my time.
Senator John McCain's lifetime rating of 82.3% from the American Conservative Union is often cited as proof that he is conservative. Here is a closer look at that 82.3 rating. First, a rating of 82.3 is not really that high. It puts Senator McCain in 39th place among senators serving in 2006, the latest year for which the ACU has its ratings posted online. For that most recent year in particular, McCain scored only 65, putting him in 47th place for that year. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Chuck Hagel (R-NE), for example, scored 64 and 75, respectively, in 2006. Generally, McCain has voted less conservatively in more recent years. His average for 1990-97 was 88, but was only 74 for 1998-2006.
He sure does. Is Marx and Stalin one of them?
...from a Today's story on Bloomberg
"One of his opponents, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, interjected, telling McCain not to paint drug companies as ``big bad guys.''"
"``Well, they are,'' McCain responded."
"Half a Pie" is an appropriate observation.
Unfortunately -- for every one of McCain's "atta-boy", there is an offsetting "Aw Shit".
Several of his "Aw Shits" - would have rendered McCain a bottom rated "also ran" in any contest including a truly viable CONSERVATIVE candidate.
ONLY when McCain is viewed in comparison to an Obama does he even approach the standard of nose holding and least objectionable alternative.
Sad.
An astute observation about the McCain appeasers....
Supporting our troops easily trumps any of the so called aw shits you could possibly offer.
You think because McCain doesn’t bow and scrape to Big Pharma he is Stalin or Marx? Uh huh, ok.
Who cares about that spin? Simply put on average conservatives are getting 82% (lifetime) of the pie with McCain. That according to a, perhaps the, conservative watchdog group. Last year it was 80% which bears that out.
*blink*, *blink* :|
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!!
YER FUNNY.
McCain is again babbling about comprehensive immigration. He is eager to have the Third World overrun it. It beyond my wildest nightmare that the Republicans would have Insane McCain as the nominee.
McCain is again babbling about comprehensive immigration. He is eager to have the Third World overrun it. It beyond my wildest nightmare that the Republicans would have Insane McCain as the nominee.
It is pretty easy to get an 80 in 2008 when one is only there for 9 of 25 votes:
[+] 01. Earmark Disclosure S1 (Roll Call 5).
[+] 02. Regulation of Grassroots Lobbying S 1 (Roll Call 17).
[X] 03. Iraq War—Cloture S 574 (Roll Call 51).
[+] 04. Tax Cuts SConRes 21 (Roll Call 107).
[+] 05. Alternative Minimum Tax SConRes 21 (Roll Call 108).
[+] 06. Estate (“Death”) Tax Repeal SConRes 21 (Roll Call 109).
[-] 07. Stem Cell Research S5 (Roll Call 127).
[X] 08. Small Business Regulation S 761 (Roll Call 139).
[-] 09. Immigration Overhaul—Cloture S 1348 (Roll Call 206).
[X] 10. Coastal Drilling for Natural Gas HR 6 (Roll Call 212).
[X] 11. Energy Policy HR 6 (Roll Call 226).
[+] 12. Employee Rights—Cloture HR 800 (Roll Call 227).
[+] 13. Social Security Benefits for Illegal Aliens HR 2669 (Roll Call 263).
[X] 14. New Student Loan Program S 1642 (Roll Call 273).
[X] 15. U.N. Peacekeeping Operations HR 2764 (Roll Call 317).
[X] 16. Abortion and Sterilization HR 2764 (Roll Call 318).
[X] 17. “Mexico City” Policy HR 2764 (Roll Call 319).
[X] 18. Davis-Bacon Requirement HR 3074 (Roll Call 334).
[+] 19. District of Columbia Congressional Seat—Cloture S 1257 (Roll Call 339).
[X] 20. Hate Crimes—Cloture HR 1585 (Roll Call 350).
[X] 21. Health Insurance Expansion HR 976 (Roll Call 353).
[X] 22. Energy Policy—Cloture HR 6 (Roll Call 425).
[X] 23. Eminent Domain HR 2419 (Roll Call 429).
[X] 24. Energy Policy HR 6 (Roll Call 430).
[X] 25. Alternative Minimum Tax Adjustment HR 2764 (Roll Call 440). ACU: 2007 US Senate Votes
Of the 9 votes he made, he voted sideways on two. And look at the two he was bad on:
[-] 07. Stem Cell Research S5 (Roll Call 127).
[-] 09. Immigration Overhaul—Cloture S 1348 (Roll Call 206).
If one counts his missed votes against him, He voted ACU Conservative only 7 of 25 times.
That would be a rating of only 28%.
Here's his bad votes in 2006:
[-] 04. Tax Cut Rules S Con Res 83 (Roll Call 38)
[-] 12. Immigration Overhaul—Social Security Credit S 2611 (Roll Call 130)
[-] 14. Immigration Reform S 2611 (Roll Call 157)
[-] 15. Same-Sex Marriage Ban Constitutional Amendment S J Res. 1 (Roll Call 163)
[-] 17. Native Hawaiian Government S 147 (Roll Call 165)
[-] 18. Iran Sanctions S 2766 (Roll Call 172)
[-] 22. Border Fencing HR 5441 (Roll Call 200)
[-] 23. Embryonic Stem Cell Research HR 810 (Roll Call 206)
Then lets look at his bad votes in 2005:
[-] 02. Tax Cuts -- Fiscal 2006 Budget Resolution. S Con Res 18 (Roll Call 59)
[-] 08. Climate Change -- Energy Policy. HR 6 (Roll Call 148)
[-] 13. Mercury Emissions Rule -- Passage. S J Res 20 (Roll Call 225)
[-] 17. ANWR Oil and Gas Leasing -- Budget Reconciliation. S 1932 (Roll Call 288)
[-] 20. Tax Increases on Oil and Gas Development -- Tax Relief Act of 2005. S 2020 (Roll Call 332)
He doesn't need us, remember? So why all the hyperventilating by his supporters whenever conservatives don't genuflect at the mention of his name?
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