Posted on 03/20/2007 10:06:51 AM PDT by RWR8189
Since announcing my support of Sen. John McCain's candidacy for president recently, the most curious question I have received is "why now?" The simplest answer is "why not now?"
Candidates are beginning to emerge. The '08 gates have opened, and now is the time to help a friend who I believe is the most able, proven leader in our midst to be the next president of the United States.
What compels me to speak out now about the many reasons I believe my friend of 25 years is the right person to lead this country? Because I believe that John McCain's leadership is needed now - more than ever.
As we begin to ask hard questions of those who put forward their credentials for the presidency, it's critically important that those credentials are equal to the challenges and opportunities before us. We need a leader who fits the times, not merely a candidate who thinks it's his or her time to lead.
Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, much has changed. We are safer than we have ever been. We are thriving despite those who tried to thwart us. Progress is measurable, but we must make the utmost effort to sustain those successes and build new means to protect and defend the nation and to prosper in a 21st-century world. We must face difficulty as the definition of difficulty continues to change.
The challenge of our time, however, is not simply to change, but also to leave nothing to chance. That is particularly true when electing the next president of the United States.
John McCain is well known as the soldier's soldier and the citizen's soldier, whose attention to duty to country is unequalled. We know the mettle of the man who has been tested and has passed the test – as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, as a member of the United States Congress, and as a statesman who engenders the respect of our friends and allies around the world.
I know John as a good friend, but also as an artful leader, a diplomat, a tenacious legislator, a stalwart conservative, an astute negotiator and a consensus-builder. I know that while partisans think in terms of red versus blue, John thinks in terms of red, white and blue. For him, patriotism is not an ideal. It's a verb. It's a way of life. It's John's way of life, one that has never wavered in steadfast determination to defend the security and freedom of the American people.
In my view, the times are calling John McCain forward. They are calling for the man who understands the demands of war, the leader who has long advocated a new strategy in Iraq and repeatedly called for more troops to stabilize the region. They are calling for the senator with the long view, who understands what the consequences of failure in Iraq could mean to us all.
The times call for a leader who has fought in the relentless way that only John has fought, to ensure that America has the best equipped and supported military in the world, to ensure that the men and women of our armed forces have the resources and reinforcements they need.
Our next president must lead as John has led: with the knowledge that, on the home front, security is not a federal effort; it's a national mission, one that requires the active role of federal, state and local authorities.
With boundless energy, John has traveled the country to build relationships and communication at all levels. He was of great help to me in pushing forward improvements in commercial aviation, port security and cargo screening. He led the call for comprehensive immigration reform and increased border security. He's worked hard to build bridges to one another and barriers to terrorists.
Some say timing is everything in life. I am of the view that the life of John McCain and his exemplary record of service have led to this moment. The nation has called him forward to serve before. We must do so again. The times demand it.
That is why there is no better time for me, than now, to ask my fellow citizens to call John McCain forward once again - to serve as president and commander-in-chief.
My question would be simply "why"?
*Humor of the Day*
surrender your US passport Ridge. Bah-bye.
Citizen soldiers don't get "F-" grades from Gun Owners of America.
LOL Birds of a feather... Or, Tom you need glasses!
Get lost, Tom.
You forgot the barf alert.
I like Tom, but....uh, no way no how.
I dont dislike McCain but lately hes making me scratch my head. He believes once voters know Rudys positions they will turn against him, and here I'm thinking, John, your not exactly the party line poster boy are you. That being said McCain is better than anyone in the Senete when it comes to Iraq, I do believe Bush ignores(ed) the Democrats(rightly) but he did do some things wrong and when McCain spoke he was forced to at least aknowledge problems existed, I wish he would have listened to McCain when it came to sending in more troops right from the start.
Tom Ridge shilling for John McCain, eh? I didn't know RINOs travelled in herds....
Voted against Brady Bill & assault weapon ban
McCain spoke generally of the need for some tighter gun controls on hardened criminals and children. In Congress, he pressured his colleagues to require background checks for buyers at guns shows, and he supported a requirement that trigger locks be sold with handguns. But the Senator opposed the two major gun-control measures of recent years, the 1994 ban on several types of assault weapons and the Brady Bill, which required a 5-day waiting period for handgun purchases. Source: Todd S. Purdum, New York Times, p. A14 Aug 17, 1999
You have to understand. The subliminal training is going to wear off soon.
Is he talking about "Flameout" McCain? The most experienced jet crasher the Navy has ever had? Is Ridge talking about the guy who worked with the junior senator from Massachusetts - Senator Kerry who served in Vietnam for a couple of weeks - to suppress any evidence of POW presense in Vietnam. Is Ridge talking about the great friend of the Senior Senator from Massachusetts who can't wait to sit in his Uncle Ted's lap and hand out Social Security cards and taxpayer financed health care to millions of illegal immigrants? That John McCain? Spare me.
Tom Ridge? Didn't he win the Norman Mineta Award for Irrelevance?
Where is the keeper of the BS meter??
No to McCain. I don't trust the guy - never have, never will.
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