McCain for President

Tomorrow is Super Tuesday. Since I am away for a couple of weeks, I took advantage of the early voting period and voted last week. So, I have already placed my vote. Interestingly, I listened in a few people's conversations who were also early voting, and at least a couple of women (black) were saying this was the first election they were interested in. That's bad news for Republicans, I believe.

So, after much consternation this season, I decided, after talking to my father and giving it much thought, that I was going to vote for John McCain. I know that may be apostasy to friends I have on the right, but, here is my rationale:

1. The same #1 reason I voted for Bush in 2004, because I think he's the meanest, baddest, most serious candidate who understands the threat of global jihad, and will continue to take the fight to the enemy. Many will say he opposes Gitmo and waterboarding, and those are good points, but here's why they are wrong:
• I don't believe that it really matters where the detainees are held. Gitmo, here, some foreign country, doesn't matter to me. These guys are already being coddled at Gitmo, and the courts and Liberals will continue to push to give them Constitutional rights anyway. So, I think our enemy here is the Courts, not John McCain.
• Although I have done a rotten job completing some of my Joint Professional Military Training, I have gotten far enough to realize that we do have some ethical standards and morals to uphold in this country and as the military in this country. So, if John McCain, as one of the only men in office who was actually tortured, says waterboarding is torture, and he doesn't want it the official policy of the United States, then I accept that. Now, do I wish he had just refused to make a statement, yes, I do, but he has also made clear that in the "ticking (nuclear) bomb" scenario, he'd do whatever is necessary to stop it. I think in McCain, he is making clear that if a decision like that is going to be made, he's going to make it, and he's going to make the right decision.
2. He can win. Look, I like Romney, I liked Thompson, but, the former seems (and I only mean seems, because I don't think he is) an empty suit. I don't believe John McCain is a repeat of Bob Dole. I think Fred Thompson would have been Bob Dole, notMcCain.
   
3. He has said repeatedly that he will appoint judges like Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, and Alito. And, since the next president is going to get to appoint as many as 3 judges in the next 4 years, he has a 1 in 3 chance of getting the nature of the court changed.
   
4. He's serious about controlling spending, to his detriment (see below). I think he'd actually try to cut spending. He was one of the few to vote against Bush's expansion of Medicare, he has said he would reform social security, via private retirement accounts, and take on Medicare and Medicaid. He understands the ticking time bomb those things are, and he is prepared to expend some political capital on them.
   

Let's address the areas where McCain has worked against Conservative causes:

1. Immigration - here McCain was clearly wrong and out of step with most conservatives. But, hey, so was W, and we all voted for him. I don't think anyone that actually ever listened to what W had to say about this issue ever could have not known what W was for. So, McCain just took the same path, as did many Republicans, and how those lined up was largely based on geography and the safeness of their seat. Look, J.D. Heyworth is evidence of what taking a strong stand against immigration in Az will do for you. I also believe that McCain got the message, he can be for border security first, and still get something else done on immigration. I will say that I am not against large numbers of immigrants being allowed into the US from Mexico. Especially given that they are 90% Roman Catholic (and practice it), I see them ultimately as Republican voters and as a firewall against the secularists who want to make Secularism our official state religion. But, I digress...
2. McCain/Feingold - Ok, he was just plain wrong here, and he needs to admit it, but, this was another pre-2004 item that W signed into law. We voted for W in 2004, didn't we?
3. Bush Tax Cuts - Wrong for voting against them, but, if memory serves, he took this tack in the 2000 election, and I think he felt compelled to stick with it, in keeping with his maverick image. At any rate, Republicans go against tax cuts at their peril. I don't think it's likely to happen again. McCain likes to say he wanted spending cuts in exchange, and voted no because they weren't there.
   
4. Stem Cell research - this is becoming a non-issue with recent advances, but McCain has been on the wrong side of it. But, he has been a consistent pro-lifer, and has stated that he thinks Roe should be overturned. On other social issues, he's supported letting States decide issues such as gay marriage. I tend to agree with this approach. There are those that get all apoplectic when candidates don't support a Human Life Amendment, Marriage Amendment, etc to the Constitution. I am a Federalist also who believes that 1) the states are the best places to decide these issues (just like abortion) and 2) they're not going to pass anyway. These are done as stunts, not as serious policy initiatives.
   

Nothing after the jump!