I should probably like John McCain more than I do. After all, we went to the same school, and both served as naval aviators and attack pilots. I honor his courage in the face of horrible adversity while a prisoner of war in the Hanoi Hilton – especially the fact that he kept faith with his fellow prisoners and refused an early release offered to him based on his status as an admiral’s son. His politics seem unobjectionable to me. He’s right on the war – a single issue lever throw in my voting booth – and in my view righter than most of his own party on the environment and the status of illegal immigrants, both from a pragmatic perspective and from the point of view the party’s future viability. He’s admitted to not knowing much about the economy, but that’s no great crime in my book: Might prevent him from the well-intentioned meddling so common to those who think they are better at making choices for the rest of us than the rest of us. He even ran a little wild in his younger days, let a couple sheets fly to windward – a fact that commends him to my heart more than an alternate history of preachy political monasticism eternally Shaping The Future With An Eye On The Prize. Or one of callow insipid, vacuity. Masquerading as “change.”
But the fact of the matter is that I could like him more, for reasons that probably don’t reflect well on me. He just seems a little too impatiently disagreeable. Like if he was interviewing you for a job you’d secretly hope not to be chosen. Or that something else might come along – at lower pay even – and that right quick.
It’s silly, because I was always taught that leadership is not a popularity contest. Except in politics where, you know, it sort of is.
With all that said, it’s unclear to me at least what kind of pipe such Obama supporters as Iowa Senator Tom Harkin and Georgia congressional candidate Bill Gillespie are smoking from when they attack McCain’s 30-year old military record. Sure, it might be a significant area of strength for the Arizona senator – not to mention a signal distinguishing characteristic from his likely political opponent this fall – but, barring some blockbuster revelation that he slept with Jane Fonda after she manned an NVA arty tube and negotiated with the enemy in private character while honeymooning in Paris, his record is simply unassailable.
Attacks of this nature do not just make the attacker himself seem mean and shabby, they’re aggressively stupid: The kind of voter who’d flip on a former Vietnam POW because of his military service is the kind that never would have voted for him anyway, while those that still honor such dusty virtues as honor, courage and sacrifice will only find their resistance stiffened.
It’s just dumb.
There is no military service that is acceptable for a Republican running for office.
If he or she saw combat then it made them crazy.
If they joined but didn’t see combat, or didn’t join at all, then they are a chickenhawk.
If they served one tour then their service was too brief to count, and probably they separated because of cowardice.
If they served a full career then they can’t possibly understand the plight of the ‘working man’, no matter how many decades have passed since the candidate hung up his spurs. And they are probably crazy.
Yes, it’s politically stupid. That’s what so disturbing about it. It appears that kind of talk (military service is a problem) isn’t a political calculation. Rather, it seems to spring unthinkingly from their deeply-held beliefs.
Military service is a bad thing in leaders …except when it’s a Democrat trying to enhance his resume, a la Harkin, or the infamous J F Kerry. For the life of me, I can’t understand why Americans can’t see the double standard used by these jerks. …and Lex, I feel the same way regarding McCain. Thanks for articulating it so well.
Lex, you’ve summed it up pretty well. It’s a puzzle. The man is someone I’d like to like. Heck, I wanted to like him and should have liked him more after buying and reading his book. But then there were his “maverick” politics – and I don’t care how much spin his people put out about the Gang of 14 allowing judges to be confirmed, or whatever, the guy was not keeping faith with his party. He has often times been singing the other team’s fight song.
And some of his stances, frankly, support the notion that maybe his admittance to USNA was, to be polite, ‘not completely merit based’ – a thought reinforced by his graduation (survival?) in the top 99.9% of his class. Yes, it could have been the partying – and I don’t hold that against him at all….I’ve met a few cadets from the other trade school who were out on the town, on their own authority, at a down the river tavern – Snuffy Smith’s if my memory serves….good guys – obvious future snake eaters.
But there have been more than a few times that I’ve questioned whether the guy has the gray matter for the job based on what he was actually doing on the job.
The temperament is another thing – which if I were the bad guys in the WOT I’d NOT want McCain to win. No way. I want McCain for this reason and probably this is the sole area in which I trust him to remain firm.
Anyway: Regarding the environment – I have always been angry as hell at the argument and belief by the left that conservatives basically want to do, or that we will support things that will poison our own children and our planet’s future. And though there’s a role for government in that, McCain’s vocal acceptance of the ‘man is responsible for global warming’ thing is for me, well, proof positive that he might not have all the oars in the water.
On the illegals: Here’s an area where I think that all conservatives agree that a big fix is needed – “comprehensive” would be the p0ison word for that. And we could achieve this IF people like McCain would ADMIT their fault and complicity in the problem, and basically APOLOGIZE in doing so. McCain and the others in government allowed the problem to grow from the 1996 Reagan amnesty, after they promised to do several things to stop the problem from growing. They either lied, were incompetent or were bought off. And now, McCain being his surly self, won’t admit any of that, will go ballistic on the notion that the last try at “comprehensive” reform included effective amnesty and no way to prevent future masses from coming here illegally. He just won’t accept the obvious truths.
What an interesting guy, someone whose service cannot be faulted, but also what a difficult man to vote for any year but this year. There have been times I’d bet that the NVA offer to repatriate him early was because he was a pain in their collective asses, too.
If a lack of passion (it’s not “dislike”. I just am not head over heels for the man as President) for McCain is a character flaw, then I suppose I am flawed. No new revelation there.
The impression I get is that he is irritated by the process and the prospect of the office. Like a parent who has children but cannot be bothered to interact with them. There are SO many other things he could be doing.
At the same time, I can’t blame him. This political process is enough to drive even the most wonderfully patient person batty and I often find myself disgusted and irritated with it. And I’m not running for President.
With regard to his military service, if there was something there to attack, then Harkin’s and Gillespie’s actions would understandable. But there is nothing there – NOTHING – that is worthy of attack.
And the attacks do not seem to pay off politically which – to me – makes them even more reprehensible. The attacks are simply mean-spirited and ignorant.
McCain has two big pluses in my book…
1) his military service and support for the GWOT
2) the alternative to McCain this November
Lex … I seem to recall that, in your statement summary of your basic beliefs when you were approaching a discussion of them with your son’s rather liberal girl friend, that you noted something to the effect that America’s system of government was the worst in the world, except for all the other systems of government in the world. Why don’t we all take the position that McCain is not a perfect candidate, that he has faults, is impatient and sometimes cranky [me too, folks; old age is not for sissies]. So he’s not perfect, but he’s the best one on the scene by a country mile. So suck it up, my loves, and pull that noting machine lever for him in November. The alternative is horrifying. And unacceptable.
Marianne
OOPs … voting machine, not noting machine. Even Homer’s wife nods.
Marianne
Indeed… the lesser of three weevils… so vote for John… “and all your wildest dreams will come true”. Best
I’ve always pictured John McCain sitting in a folding chair on the Democrats’ side of the aisle. But for the opportunity of appointing judges, I will vote for him in November.
On my more cynical days, I wonder if bitter personal attacks on McCain’s military service aren’t intentional — designed to provoke a berserk reaction by finding his most sensitive spots of personal honor.
Let’s face it … people who haven’t, at the least, followed his biography aren’t going to understand what some of those things meant to him. Even people who have, like me, are unlikely to catch things that are more specific to people who have been in the military, or what have you.
So provoking one of the more transparent (personalitywise) candidates in modern history into a rash act is likely to be on the other side’s wishlist.
Ray, I hadn’t thought of that! Interesting idea…
Someone please correct me if this is wrong, but didn’t McCain lead the charge to collect scalps after Tailhook? I’m getting that from Stephanie Gutman’s book “The Kinder Gentler Military”. The tailhook scandal scuttled more than one distinguished officer’s career as I understand it. Shouldn’t McCain’s role in that as someone who has attended several Tailhook’s and proceeded to act shocked get some attention?
I agree his military record is unassailable. But I wonder just how high this should rate. What kind of other things should it trump? George McGovern and Adolph Hitler also had solid combat credentials. So does Howard Zinn. Oh let’s not forget Jefferson Davis. He was a combat veteran before he entered politics and he lost a war to Lincoln who had never seen a second of combat.
I don’t have a hold on him yet. I wonder how much of what we see is ‘him’ and how much of it is what the media spins us to see. Case in point… that Gerald Ford was clumsy or that Dole was mean. They just put it out there again and again and again… in print, on the news, on the radio. It makes it hard to like Senator McCain. I’m not in love with him and wish I could be.
But the others frickin’ SCARE me. So McCain it is and I hope that most of what I do not like about the Senator is what the media continues to try to feed me.
Bear with me for a moment. This is part of Senator Obama’s modus operandi. Back when he ran for state senate in IL, he managed to get everyone on the ballot excluded, and he ran unopposed. He tried the same thing with Senator McCain, trying to get him declared ineligible because he was born outside of the US.
He got one of the Chicago papers to illegaly obtain his Republican opponents’ divorce records, leaving the Republicans with little time to mount an effective challenge for the US Senate.
There are also stories from reporters that Obama has a very thin skin and a TERRIBLE temper, and has personally ripped them apart. He has also gotten into more than a few dust-ups with other state senators when he was in office.
Basically, the guy can’t win in a stand-up fight, and will try everything to eliminate or severely cripple his opponent. Hey, that’s politics. For all his talk about “Hope and Change,” he’s basically another Chicago politician. Some of his talking points are directly the same as those proposed by Jimmy Carter.
For myself, I’ll follow the advice from the novel “Dark Horse” by Fletcher Knebel. It involves a presidential election, and what can go wrong with it. In the end, the democratic candidate asks the republican candidate if he should stay in the race. The republican gives the democrat the following advice: never ask yourself if you’re the best person in the US to be president. If you want to be honest, there’s alsways someone better than you. Instead, ask yourself if you’re the best person running to be elected president.
Based on that advice, I’m going for McCain, warts and all. He’s the only one showing any kind of leadership qualities.
Lex and friends, thanks for letting me rant.
Bou, I am with you. The alternatives to McCain scare me $#!&less. A 4 year tour of them would be a form of national self-flagellation.
And if we continue to vote for Republicans (and as a Party they are NOT conservative), why would they have any reason to become the conservative Party again?
Bou & geo6 nailed it.
VOTE McCAIN
He sucks the least.
And those who criticize his military background are despicable scum, or thugs working for despicable scum.
Luke, as a Tailhook ‘91 survivor I don’t remember it that way. And I’m not saying that McCain’s service qualifies him for the presidency – just that it makes little sense to attack his service. It’s just… stupid.
This whole election cycle has been instructive to me. There are a whole lot of people who say they won’t vote for McCain because he’s not conservative enough. I hear, “if I vote for him I’ll be sending the wrong message.” Well then why don’t you pull the lever for Obama to really send the message?
Whoever wins will claim a mandate whether you show up or not.
Worst part of the whole thing is that it is so unecessary. It would be better to work the whole Bush third term angle than anything else. Making McCain look like a Bush clone gets traction. His military service was 28 years ago anyway. There is plenty in his Senatorial record and in the current Presidents record to keep the Dems busy through the election………..
I’m not the most educated person in the world, but, with things being what they are abroad. I”ll take McCain in a pinch. Especially over the alternatives. I liked Fred T. early, and still do, but since he’s bailed out, no pun intended, I could to Johnny Mac for 4. The other two candidates make me want to quit, take my ball, and go home to the flat lands of Carolina. They speak of change, but, change in and of itself isn’t always a good thing.
Honestly, I don’t think Obama will last, and if Hillary turns out to be his running mate… Now that scares me. I’d rather have John, and Condie, but that ain’t ’bout to happen.
There exists a strong possibility that John McCain may be exposed to “swiftboating” much as John Kerry was in the last election.
There are groups like the “Vietnam Veterans Against John McCain” who question (attack) his conduct both as a POW, and later on his Senate POW/MIA hearings. And they have anti-McCain videos on YouTube.
Somewhat surprising, these groups are not Lefties, but mostly Conservative (I think former congressman Bob Dornan can be classified as such, don’t you?)
Unfortunately, it’s going to be an ugly presidential campaign season.
I like what Marianne has to say… PLUS the bit about “old age isn’t for sissies”.
Obama’s recent gaffes: “Iran doesn’t pose a serious threat” one day in Portland and “I’ve made it clear for years the threat from Iran is grave” the next day in Billings, MT. That leads me to wonder about his un-sustaining brain.
That, plus there’s no doubt what he’d do with the military:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0du8wMLzEY
McCain is the BETTER Choice!
McCain has his flaws, but he appears at once Churchillian and Lincolnesque in comparison to BHO. If we elect Obama, we deserve everything comming to us.
fliterman
The Swift Boat campaign opened with a photo of the SB Div officers, including one JF Kerry. The caption indicated that of 23 members, 1 had died, 3 supported Sen Kerry, 19 refused him. So until VVAJM can show that 90% of the Wardroom rejects Sen McCain, I’d not get excited.
Cheers
Luke,
You are wrong about Tailhook, but nice try.
And you miss the difference between Lincoln and the two democratic candidates. Lincoln was a man who, even as a young man always tried to do the right (not Wright) thing. He didn’t need polling to tell him what to do, and he had an extremely long record of service as a legislator. He voted consistently on issues (voting “Present” is not consistency) and when he ran for president, for better or for worse, the voters knew what they were getting.
Nice try though…
Flit-
I’m pretty sure that a POW could get away with doing something wrong (even very wrong) in Hanoi, and we wouldn’t have known about it. Most of them don’t talk about that stuff in public. I am equally sure that someone in the limelight like McCain has been for so long would have been exposed a long time ago.
Best,
Nose
Help the IT impaired. Anyone know how to dump your Gravatar cashe?
Edward is fundamentally correct. What matters, matters, at least to me.
The rest of the B.S. is inevitable..One gets like that living in an upside-down, nonsensical “Bizzaro World” sometimes.
Flit,
Yes. They (MSM, the Soros groups, etc.) will look to the old “Manchurian Candidate” tactic. And plenty of under-educated and stupid Americans will buy into it, too. Put 600 POWs in one basic location for 7-8 years and it’s inevitable animosities break out..But as Lex says- Bring that out at your own peril– stupid is as stupid does.
On the other hand, JFnKerry’s dilemma was caused by his own hand when he stupidly came out at the Dem convention touting his “war record” so visibly. He pissed off his shipmates and was “blanket partied” for it. Fitting and the way of the warrior.
b2
Back in the 2000 primary season there was a lot of chatter amongst the black helicopter crowd about McCain’s supposed infirmities while on active duty. Didn’t stick–lots of innuendo and rumor, not backed by anything–but certainly was distasteful.
I suspect that Obama has a glass jaw when it comes to his wife. When the GOP starts to attack Mrs. Obama, as it will happen, we will see who has the nasty temper and we’ll see if the media chalks it up to righteousness as it should be hands off the spouse, or if they pounce on it.
Just speculating, but if they attacked Cindy McCain, and he got pissed, we’d fall into the whole ‘he has an ugly temper’ role… forget that it should be ‘hands off the wife’. That won’t come up.
Going to be? It’s already been a bruising campaign and we aren’t even in the home stretch.
I’m with Marianne as well. The alternatives to McCain leave me sleepless and frightened.
YO LEX!
Kinda thin on the posts lately! Too busy at work?
Don’t go getting slack on us…
Cheers,
Nose
The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the – Web Reconnaissance for 05/22/2008 A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often.
I think both Barack and McCain are sensitive on their personal honor. Barakabama didn’t throw the good Reverend under the bus until the Reverend dissed him and said he was just another politician. Then Wright joined Geraldine Ferraro and Barack’s aging racist typical white person grandma under the bus. You can’t criticize Barack or his wife because “I find that unacceptable.”
Well McCain has more than a little bit of that arrogance in himself–which is why it’s difficult to warm up to him. But as noted above, McCain is much the least of the three weevils facing us in November. I’ll hold my nose and vote McCain.
As for the Harkin attacks on McCain–that’s the sort of stuff you get from a particular sort of person–and then have to wipe off your shoe. Harkin acted like a low class idiot.
Just Some of What Defines Barack Obama :
* He voted against banning partial birth abortion.
* He voted no on notifying parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions.
* Supports affirmative action in Colleges and Government.
* In 2001 he questioned harsh penalties for drug dealing.
* Says he will deal with street level drug dealing as minimum wage affair.
* Admitted marijuana and cocaine use in high school and in college.
* His religious convictions are very murky.
* He is willing to meet with Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Kim Jung Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
* Has said that one of his first goals after being elected would be to have a conference with all Muslim nations.
* Opposed the Patriot Act.
* First bill he signed that was passed was campaign finance reform.
* Voted No on prohibiting law suits against gun manufacturers.
* Supports universal health-care.
* Voted yes on providing habeas corpus for Guantanamo detainees.
* Supports granting driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.
* Supports extending welfare to illegal immigrants.
* Voted yes on comprehensive immigration reform.
* Voted yes on allowing illegal aliens to participate in Social Security.
* Wants to make the minimum wage a “living wage”.
* Voted with Democratic Party 96 percent of 251 votes.
* Is a big believer in the separation of church and state.
* Opposed to any efforts to Privatize Social Security and instead supports increasing the amount of tax paid.
* He voted No on repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax
* He voted No on repealing the “Death” Tax
* He wants to raise the Capital Gains Tax.
* Has repeatedly said the surge in Iraq has not succeeded.
* He is ranked as the most liberal Senator in the Senate today and that takes some doing.
Bou,
To a certain extent, I agree with you. However, when a candidate’s spouse chooses to get involved in the campaign (Mrs Obama’s speech where she declared that now was the first time she had ever been proud to be an American), all previous rules are out the window. In my opinion she became fair game at that point….not so much for the content of the statement (although I thought it was in very poor taste) but because of her willingness to become a very vocal part of the team.
Nose, Re your comment # 33 above…Clearly a seismic shift in priorities…what with planning that monumentally self-involved two wheel, iron butt road odyssey to chasing the ole ball a chain around the house…he’s on his own time now and he’s obviously making it work for him… Excelsior. Best
Lets see,
George Washington was a General before he was President, Madison and Monroe fought in the Revolutionary War as officers, as did Andrew Jackson, who also fought in the War of 1812, along with William Harrison, Zachary Taylor and James Buchanan, and so it goes. Fully 31 of the 42 individuals who have served as President served in the Armed Forces of the United States, – 12 Generals, an Admiral, assorted officers and one enlisted man, Private James Buchanan.
Harkins comments are a logical and historical argumentum ad absurdum. However, since the military is the most admired institution in polls and the Congress the least, the Democrats have to try something.
Lex must be golfing. Or napping. Those retired guys.
That McCain does not score particularly high on the likability scale does not bother me in the least. Candidates like Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton were very likable personalities that the public fell in love with, until they got to know them a little better in the role. Barack Obama may be the next in line.
It also does not bother me particularly that McCain does not fall in line with all of the normal conservative positions. As Ronald Reagan said, “my 80% friend is not my 20% enemy”. Conservatives seem to get caught up in that too readily. To be effective, politicians often have to make compromises. I am comfortable with McCain, warts and all, and will be delighted if he is elected.
Guy- Oh I COMPLETELY agree with you. 100%. I’m just saying… it will be interesting to see how the press handles it as well… the candidate.