John McCain

I've posted several items on Obama and why we should be very scared of him and why I think we shouldn't vote for him as our next President.

But I haven't said much about McCain and why I think you should vote for him as our next President. Part of that is because I've never been a huge McCain fan. As most conservative Americans aren't. John McCain has always marched to be beat of his own drummer. And a lot of times that has taken him pretty far away from some conservative values and ideas. Such as McCain/Feingold Campaign Finance law. Or the McCain/Kennedy Immigration bill. Both of those bills were strongly fought against by the conservatives and left a real bad taste in their mouths about McCain. Including me!

So why am I now getting on the McCain bandwagon. Is it a classic case of the lesser of two evils? Am I selling out my conservative ideas by saying you should vote for him instead of the Libertarian candidate, Bob Barr? Am I holding my nose and choosing anything but Obama?

If I'm totally honest I'd have to say that some of the above is true. But there is a more fundamentally important, and very valid reason for choosing McCain. Something that allows me to overlook and forgive (but maybe not forget) his past dalliances with the left. Something that permits me to look myself in the mirror and say Yes, America should vote for John McCain. That one thing is our Security. America's Security.

No one doubts that we live in some troubled times right now. Probably as tough as I've seen in my lifetime. By that I mean that the opportunity/chance for some major calamities, either natural, fiscal or militarily to occur is very high. I could chronicle them, but you know what I'm talking about - Iran, the economy, natural disasters, etc.

So that makes the election of the next President as important as any we've had since Reagan. Then we were coming off the Carter years and a weak military, a weak economy and a still active Cold War. Now, whether you want to call the problem the Bush years, ( which I don't totally subscribe to) or something else, I feel the next 4 years are more critical for the coming generations than any other period in decades. Maybe ever.

And McCain has some unique abilities, experiences and traits that I feel will be critically needed in the coming years if we do have some or all of the potential crisis's occur.

1. Militarily he has the background and understanding to quickly judge and decide prudent actions or non-actions in the case of a military event. No, he doesn't have the command background of a Powell, but he has a lot of experience with the military, he understands their capabilities and limits while fully understanding the political ramifications of their actions. He's doesn't seem to be a loose cannon, but nor does he seem to be one that if military action is needed would first run to a focus group, like Clinton did, to see what the reactions of the public would be.


2. Fiscally he has a long career and experience in the public sector, working both sides of the isle to come to a mutual agreement. Right now our Congress is almost totally frozen by partisan politics. McCain, like it or not, has shown the willingness and ability to pull together coalitions to get things accomplished. Something that would be critical in an economic crisis.


3. Natural disasters would also require a sound but forceful and measured response. Again, he's proven his capabilities in this area, including the need to develop bipartisan agreement.

So right now, given the situation we're in with the economy and the War on Terror and also the other potential problems lurking out there, McCain has the right stuff, the right make-up to help us get through some tough times. He is the right choice for 2008.