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Essays, Opinion, & Commentary |
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January 25, 2008 Patriot Profile: John McCain by Mark Alexander From The Patriot Post
Now that the Republican '08 presidential candidate field is narrowing, I am going to risk the admiration and disdain of our Patriot readers by submitting a series of profiles on the remaining candidates, whilst holding out hope for a couple of convention wild cards if the primaries produce no clear choice. The Patriot's editors have already provided Presidential Candidate Ratings on our Patriot Policy Papers page. These ratings are based on comprehensive analysis of many factors -- each candidate's record, experience, capability, character, leadership qualifications and, of course, the candidate's demonstrated ability to grasp the plain language of our Constitution -- and promote it accordingly. On that note, let's start with some "straight talk" about John McCain, who posts a solid, and decidedly unflattering "5" in our ratings. That is half way between Ronald Reagan and V.I. Lenin's ignoble ranks of "useful idiots." For his part, McCain says, "I seek the nomination of our Party, because I am as confident today as I was when I first entered public life as a foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution that the principles of the Republican Party -- our confidence in the good sense and resourcefulness of free people -- are always in America's best interests. In war and peace, in good times and challenging ones, we have always known that the first responsibility of government is to keep this country safe from its enemies, and the American people free of a heavy-handed government that spends too much of their money, and tries to do for them what they are better able to do for themselves." OK, sounds good. He continues, "We want government to do its job, not your job; to do it better and to do it with less of your money; to defend our nation's security wisely and effectively, because the cost of our defense is so dear to us; to respect our values because they are the true source of our strength; to enforce the rule of law that is the first defense of freedom; to keep the promises it makes to us and not make promises it will not keep. We believe government should do only those things we cannot do individually, and then get out of the way so that the most industrious, ingenious, and enterprising people in the world can do what they have always done: build an even greater country than the one they inherited." That's the talk, but how about the walk? McCain has considerable "insider" support from our high-rating convention wildcards, Newt Gingrich and Fred Thompson, both of whom know McCain well. He also has the support of a broad cross section of Congress, including many Reagan foot soldiers like Jack Kemp, Phil Gramm and Sam Brownback, and broad grassroots support of many fellow Patriots such as Vietnam veteran and former POW Roger Ingvalson, who was profiled in a Patriot Veterans Day edition. To his credit, and deficit, McCain, unlike the other Republican contenders, has a substantial legislative record on national issues -- which is why one can find voters who love him, and those who loathe him, on both ends of the political spectrum. McCain's lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union is 83, comparable to Thompson's 86. It is worth noting that the ACU does not rate voting records on how they comport with the Constitution, but how they comport with contemporaneous Republican mandates -- which are not always one and the same. He has been ranked favorably by other conservative organizations: National Federation of Independent Business -- 100 percent; Concerned Women for America -- 100 percent; Family Research Council -- 100 percent; National Tax Limitation Committee -- 94 percent; Citizens Against Government Waste -- 91 percent; and the National Taxpayers Union -- 88 percent. However, all Patriots should take pause at McCain's C+ rating from the National Rifle Association, and his lack of clear support for the Second Amendment, the "palladium of all other rights." Also, take pause at his Demo-memo comments about why he did not support the Bush tax cuts: "I cannot in good conscience, support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us at the expense of middle-class Americans who need tax relief." Stupefying. McCain has a decent record when it comes to the primary constitutional responsibility of the executive branch: national security. His position on Operation Iraqi Freedom has been clear, consistent and politically courageous. I believe his support for border security and comprehensive immigration reform are also notable. (Call it "amnesty" if you must, but the nescient evocation of this term short circuits a clear evaluation of a very complicated issue.) Regarding constitutional constructionists, McCain strongly supported the Supreme Court confirmation of Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito, and he aggressively supported the Reagan nomination of Judge Robert Bork. His McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform legislation, however, is an abomination and an outright affront to the First Amendment. Equally deserving of outright contempt from all objective scientific observers is McCain's white flag on the issue of "global warming" -- not so much whether the planet is warming, but why. He also supports the dubious cap-and-trade carbon emissions program. As noted by my colleague, George Will, "When McCain and Joe Lieberman introduced legislation empowering Congress to comprehensively regulate U.S. industries' emissions of greenhouse gases in order to 'prevent catastrophic global warming,' they co-authored an op-ed column that radiated McCainian intolerance of disagreement. It said that a U.N. panel's report 'puts the final nail in denial's coffin about the problem of global warming.' Concerning the question of whether human activity is causing catastrophic warming, they said, 'the debate has ended'." Will added, "Interesting, is it not, that no one considers it necessary to insist that 'the debate has ended' about whether the Earth is round. People only insist that a debate stop when they are afraid of what might be learned if it continues." Finally, perhaps the most injurious "straight talk" on McCain is the endorsement he received from The New York Times (along with its endorsement of Hillary Clinton), which proclaimed, "There is a choice to be made, and it is an easy one. Senator John McCain of Arizona is the only Republican who promises to end the George Bush style of governing from and on behalf of a small, angry fringe. With a record of working across the aisle to develop sound bipartisan legislation, he would offer a choice to a broader range of Americans than the rest of the Republican field." So, we are no longer "the vast, right-wing conspiracy" but the "small, angry fringe"? The bottom line with McCain: There's something to love and something to loathe for everybody, which accounts for his Patriot rating. John McCain is no Reagan conservative. P.S. If you are going to shoot at the messenger, make sure the first shot counts.
Copyright 2008 by Publius Press, Inc.
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