Posted on 06/07/2008 6:33:28 AM PDT by K-oneTexas
Why McCain Would Make a Better President by Aaron Goldstein
McCain knows what government can and cannot do. More importantly, he knows what government should and should not do.
Should Barack Obama be elected President of the United States this November his chances for a successful term in office are slim to none.
As the candidate who extols the virtue of hope and change and whose audience chants in unison, "Yes we can!," Obama has set expectations so high that he is bound to fall short of lofty expectations.
After all, Obama has said this election is not so much about winning as it is about transforming the nation. This transformation would consist of (but would not be limited to) ending the War in Iraq; giving every American government health care, stopping lobbyists from running Washington and ending tax breaks to American companies that ship job overseas. It would come as no surprise to me if Obama told his adoring audiences they could eat all the ice cream they wanted without getting indigestion.
Levity aside, it does beg two questions. Can Obama transform this nation? Should Obama transform this nation?
If Obama can’t transform America then he is going to have a lot of explaining to supporters who will find themselves disenchanted and disappointed. They will come to view Obama as just another politician, a mere mortal. On the other hand, Obama could very well transform America but that doesn’t mean he should.
Sure we can leave Iraq. But what if Iran takes over Iraq? Sure Obama could meet with Ahmadinejad and try to reason with him. But what if Ahmadinejad laughs at Obama and decides to take Americans hostage? What if withdrawal from Iraq emboldens Islamic fundamentalists to carry out another attack on American soil on the scale of 9/11 or perhaps greater?
Sure we can give every American government health care. But will Obama tell Americans that their health care will be rationed? Health care for every American is nice as long as Americans don’t mind waiting two years for an MRI exam or for surgery. Heaven help those who don’t have two years to wait.
Sure we can stop lobbyists from running Washington and curtail their power. But tell me how you go about it without violating the First Amendment? And are some lobbyists more equal than others? I have a friend who tells me that only people who lobby for “bad things” should be reigned in. So would Obama exempt unions, environmentalists and anti-poverty organizations from lobby reform and only target those organizations that support lower taxes, veterans and Israel?
Sure we can stop giving tax breaks to American companies that ship jobs overseas. But how does whooping companies upside the head for investing overseas encourage them to invest at home? Besides, does Obama really want to stop American entrepreneurs from investing in places dear to him, such as Indonesia or Kenya, even if those entrepreneurs could have created those jobs here?
There are two lessons here. Don’t make promises you can’t keep and don’t make promises that aren’t worth keeping.
Conversely, not much is expected of John McCain. While liberals have swooned over Obama, many conservatives view McCain with suspicion. In fact, one of the pledges McCain has made is downright unpopular – staying in Iraq to win. But, of course, it takes a man of courage to do the right thing even if it isn’t the popular thing at the time. McCain supported the surge in Iraq when nearly no one else in Washington would. Yet because of his political clout that accompanied the brilliant strategy of General David Petraeus, the surge has worked. Of course, there is more to be done in Iraq. But if anyone can see this nation through what has become a very complicated war it is McCain.
Make no mistake. McCain isn’t trying to win a high school popularity contest with his position on Iraq. Why would McCain stick his neck out for President Bush, a man with whom he has had substantive differences, if he did not truly believe in winning the War in Iraq, let alone the surge? McCain is dead serious when he says that he would rather lose an election than lose a war. The same cannot be said for Obama.
Of course, McCain wants to win this election. But he doesn’t want to do it by telling people what he thinks they want to hear. Nor does he want to do it by telling people he is going to transform this nation. To do so would be an act of outright dishonesty. Besides, no one person, no matter how attractive and charismatic, should delude himself and others into thinking he can transform the nation with the stroke of a pen. McCain knows what government can and cannot do. More importantly, he knows what government should and should not do.
McCain’s proposals are modest but practical. They include an annual holiday on the Federal Gas Tax and Diesel Tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day; a repeal of the alternate minimum tax, a reduction in corporate taxes from 35 to 25%; a direct refundable tax credit for individuals and families looking for alternatives to employer-based health insurance; providing families resources to move their children from failing schools and an opportunity for homeowners to trade an onerous variable rate mortgage for a long-term fixed rate mortgage that better reflects the market value of the home. These proposals aren’t spoken of in grandiose language nor will they transform America. But they will help Americans who are in genuine need of it and help make day-to day-living a little more manageable.
I am not suggesting for a minute that McCain will implement these things with ease. After all, McCain has said he will veto any legislation that contains earmarks. A Democrat-controlled Congress isn’t likely to be inclined to go along with McCain’s proposals if he chooses to carry a veto stamp in his pocket. But McCain has also made a career of working with Democrats and if there is any Republican President who could get things done with a Democrat Congress, it is McCain. That might be an anathema to some conservatives but it will be music to the ears of the majority of Americans, liberal and conservative, who just want their government to work.
There is nothing wrong with Americans who are filled with hope and want change. But there is a difference between optimism and wishful thinking. Some promises aren’t attainable while other promises would do more harm than good. Barack Obama’s rhetoric might soar to the highest sky but in the real world his words are out of reach. John McCain’s rhetoric might not stir our collective imagination but in the real world his words rest on a foundation of solid ground. This is why I believe John McCain would make a better President of the United States.
Aaron Goldstein writes about the things that pique his insatiable curiosity. In addition to politics, he is an aficionado of baseball, poetry, music and ketchup flavored potato chips. Aaron satiates his various appetites in Boston. aargold24@hotmail.com http://www.poetsforthewar.org
“How about better than barak hussein obama? Those are your real choices, as much as you seem to enjoy comparing a war hero to pond scum or maggot-infested road kill. Real class.”
There are several war heroes in this nation that would make better POTUS’ (POTI?) than this POS.
We understand perfectly. You are very clear. It could not be clearer.
- You will accordingly vote, sir, for someone - Obama - who has declined to place even his hand over his heart during the National Anthem and Pledge.
- You will vote for someone who sat approvingly for 20 years in a political hall euphemistically called a church where its leader vilified, slandered, and cursed America - the country defended and made free by millions of patriots with their blood from the American Revolution to the Present Day.
- You will vote for someone who, to carry out the aim of his party, will bring about world defeat and derision of the U. S., beginning with Iraq and Afghanistan.
- You will vote for someone who will lead his party in a smear campaign for the next four years to formally - through clever “committee findings” - denigrate and slander everything that George Bush and every Republican has ever accomplished.
- You will vote for someone who, to carry out the specific wishes of financier, George Soros, will do everything he can to bring about a one-world government and a one-government world.
- You will vote for someone who in his (brief) legislative career has demonstrated nothing but virulent animosity toward the Second Amendment.
- You will vote for someone who will restore, and hugely expand, programs based on “minority rights” - including the abrogation of all judicial decisions forbidding reverse discrimination.
- You will vote for someone who in every public vote in his lifetime has voted against any - any - restrictions on abortion including third-trimester abortions and partial-birth abortions.
- The fact that this means millions - millions - of unborn children will be slain in the womb before they even see God's beautiful Earth - and the others slain the very moment they emerge upon it - is of no concern to us, is it?
- Yes, it has come to this. Orwell knew it was coming: “Big Brother Obama...Big Brother Obama...Big Brother Obama...Take us...Take us...WE ARE YOURS!!!YOURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Take your rant to the RNC you psycho. THEY decided on having Open Primaries where Democrats, so-called Independents and Moderates choose McCain.
And I 'ain't' voting for Obama. He'll take my state (IL) no matter whom I vote for so I'm voting for someone who respects the U.S. Constitution and still believes the USA has a BORDER- Bob Barr. So blow it out your a$$ Frances.
While I acknowledge his courage of forty years ago, spending time in a POW camp makes him only one of among "many" war heros. Moreover, one has to seriously doubt the "brains" of any Republican who ever thought members of the MSM were his friends.
I knew a couple of guys who would have been a lot better than McCain and anyone on the other side of the aisle anyway...
But apparently the party “leadership” has failed once again to hold onto conservative ideals, and allowed the moderate and psuedo “say-so” psycophants (sp?) to errode the conservative base into mediocracy...
Giving the liberals in this country the foothold and ability to capture the people in this country that do not think beyond the nose on their face and be enamoured by this message of “hope” and the “future”, yet not knowing that the person(s) delivering that message are not what they seem...
The result will be that we will end up in a true minority position and not recover for some time the political environment and temperament of the conservative voting block...
Not that a conservative slant in our government did anything for me except stay out of my life as much as possible...But it is a lot better than what is coming to solidify its majority after the message that was sent to us in 2006...
I’d vote for Hillary before the Afro-Marxist.
Yes, the power to divine the true intent of the writer, If I were you I'd blame public schooling for this affliction and ask for some sort of disability stipend until such time as you can realize when someone is being sardonic.
When TSHTF, you might as well smoke and drink.
I plan to.
Why should I wait for the opinion of others to guide my thoughts.....
By the way, that election in 2000 it was my vote that helped George W. Bush become president and win Florida.
Please post this dribble somewhere else, please? Why do you McCainiacs insist on putting salt on the wound of real conservatives? You aren’t going to change any minds, you aren’t going to accomplish a thing except make yourself ‘feel’ better. Did you hear that? FEEL BETTER. That’s exactly the type of emotion these tree-huggin, bunny-kissing liberals have poured into your ears throughout your life. Go put this crap somewhere where someone with no sense and no respect for their ideals might, might, change their mind.
How are you doing? it has been a long time since I have noticed one of your posts?
I don’t believe that John McCain was picked by The RNC as much as I believe he was picked by the DNC as beatable.
The democrats used crossover voters to ensure he had enough votes to win the nomination because they were sure that his name on the ballot would be enough to persuade Conservatives not to vote there by ensuring a win for Hillary.
Yes, Hillary was suppose to be the benefactor of this ploy, instead under the radar came Obama and took it from her. Which where we are today.
Sadly I do believe that conservatives will sit this out and allow the worst possibility to happen, if the past has taught us anything It is that they are willing to lose and lose badly for their ideas.
As for the time between now and the convention, the only thing I see that could stop John McCain from getting the nomination is that he has a physical problem that would stop his run and unlike other conservatives that all but put those thoughts into print I would not wish any ill will on that man.
I don’t believe that John McCain was picked by The RNC as much as I believe he was picked by the DNC as beatable.
I must agree, but I also believe that the RNC was complicit if not instrumental.
The democrats used crossover voters ...
Agreed, however...the RNC rearranged the primaries with front loading open primaries and penalized many states delegates.
When the RNC did not seize control of the circus performances, aka the "republican debates", I knew we were screwed! Also, allowing the enemedia to decide on who would be permitted to participate in the debates on the eve of the first actual primary in the country was a huge sign that the primary was nothing more than a farce.
Only the Republican Party of New Hampshire had the guts to call out Fraud News and withdrew from the sponsorship of the debate. RP of SC, had no such intestinal fortitude and in fact stole $10,000. from one candidate by not insisting he participate in the debate.
You are correct, of course, in that Hitlery was the anointed one. It was a forgone conclusion...until!
The VA state republican convention was last Saturday. As a delegate to said convention, I can tell you there was NO enthusiasm for the "presumptive one"
Some of "my guys" at Walter Reed are getting very original with their ideas to stop this. LOL! They are VERY worried!
Yeah I agree about the BDS, it would seem that either we have a number of very deep trolls or a great number of the BDS crew lack the Courage to face the reality that Bush has done the best he could with the cards he has been dealt.
That is the very nature of politics, you work with what you can until you can raise the stakes. If Bush had any sort of republican support at all the Democrats would never have been able to pull off some of the greatest political scams of our time.
It probably makes sense for people who live in swing states to vote for McCain.
Is there any reason someone in Alaska or Illinois should vote for him?
“Is there any reason someone in Alaska or Illinois should vote for him?”
Yes - because this election has been topsy-turvy from the get-go, and nothing can be assumed.
Actually, a lot of the 'Rats would be better off with McCain than with Obama. McCain will give most of the 'Rat Senators what they want (the hardcore leftists wouldn't get what they want, but even under an Obama presidency they'd probably be held somewhat in check by the moderates).
McCain would probably be less destructive to the country than Obama, but more beneficial to most of the 'Rats who would prefer not to have the country collapse too completely before they've managed to get their 'piece of the action'.
Is there any conceivable way in which Obama could lose Illinois and yet still emerge with 270 Electoral Votes? Does not compute.
I’m not sure logic has anything to do with this election cycle. Nothing will surprise me at this point and I wouldn’t be surprised if a new electoral map *was* drawn this time around. Of course, I’m assuming tradition will prevail but you know what they say about assuming.
Is there any reason someone in Alaska or Illinois should vote for him?
Leave nothing to chance, always vote no matter what the odds are.
Barack Hussein Obama, says of his nominees, “We need somebody who’s got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it’s like to be a young teenage mom, the empathy to understand what it’s like to be poor or African-American or gay or disabled or old and that’s the criteria by which I’ll be selecting my judges.”
John McCain says of his nominees, “The duties and boundaries of the Constitution are not just a set of helpful suggestions. They are not just guidelines to be observed when it’s convenient and loosely interpreted when it isn’t. In federal and state courts there are still men and women who understand the proper role of our judiciary and I intend to find them and promote them. My nominees will understand that there are clear limits to the scope of judicial power.”
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