Do You Like McCain?
John McCain is a likable guy. He's a war hero. He's an ex-prisoner of war, even. He knows what wae ia likw ans has questioned the reasoning behind our adventure in Iraq and has mosr recently led the Senate to require that the White House and its multiple offices not subject prisoners of war to torture.
McCain is a smart man and, to us lefties, offten a voice of reason from within the Republican party. He's also a media darling, loved by reporters because he gives good quote and will even, without hedging, criticize his own party.
But. never forget that he's a Republican. He's Republican by choice, as he's had numerous opportunities to either switch to the Democrats or to embrace a thirt party. He is, and has been from the start of his political career, a Republican and, even if he's been an iconoclast in his party, he's remained in that party and is, at his core, to the rifght of most Americans, on the majot issues.
McCain is lovable. I met him onae and can also call his charismatic and charming.
But... so what?
He might well run for president in 2008 and might seem like a Republican that Democrats can vote for. But, he isn't. He's really a conservative and he's really a right winger. It's great that he objects to torturing prisoners of war but that shouldn't be any sort of bench mark. Any reasonable person should object to our torturing our war prisoners.
McCain, beloved though he is and as much as I respect him, has never claimed to be anything but what he is -- a Republican senator from Arizona -- and that's what he really is.
A lot of Democrats who are on the fence will consider voting for McCain in 2008. But, we shouldn't forget that he's no Democrat, he's not even a moderate Democrat -- he might have some disagreements with Bushm, but he' s still of the same party and of the same mold.
Don't be fooled by his likability. McCain is a Republican and has been since his start, no matter what he's said or done, he's still closer to the Bush Administration than he is to the general public, Folks might call him "moderate" or "non-partisan" but when we get down to it, he's really a right-winger.
posted by Mike M. @ 2:16 AM
4 Comments
4 Comments:
So let me get this straight...What you're saying is that McCain is a Republican?
Not much chance that I'd vote for McCain, I have to admit. Amd if things continue more or less as they are, most Democrats wouldn't vote for McCain simply because he is a Republican, and Bush has soured so many moderate swing voters on the Republican party that McCain would have a lot of trouble attracting centrist Democrats. Which is a shame, in a way, because I suspect that as president McCain would be the sort of conservative President that Bush pretended he would be--principled, thoughtful, and consensus-building. I would probably have preferred a Kerry presidency to a McCain presidency, but I think almost everybody agrees that we'd have been better off over the last five years with McCain as President rather than Bush. (Not making easy joke.)
To me, the primary attraction of a McCain candidacy is the possibility that, if the Democrats run a decent candidate, there would be a chance for an actual debate about ideas rather than a flag-fest and mud bog. (I know, I know, we'll probably get the mud bog.)
Ouch, Sam. But, yeah, you're right. I wasted a lot of type on a pretty basic, self-evident point. It's just that so many Democrats seem all set to vote for him, despite his party affiliation. I don't mean to suggest that we should all vote party line, all of the time (I don't) I just worry that so many people like McCain as a person that they ignore the fact that he chose his party because, maverick though he might be, it suits him.
McCain's puppydog campaigning for W in 04 show what a tool of The Powers That Be he is. He was (obviously?) told that The Force would be with him in '08, if he paid his dues and supported W, for whom he could only fell contempt and bitterness, if Politics was (were?) not involved. I distrust the mutherfuckar. Make that "do not like at all" the mutherfuckar.
I keep thinking of how Kerry dropped that scathing commerical of McCain putting W down in the 00 primary debate for questioning his patriotism - dropped it at McCain's request. The more I think about that, and of the huge surplus of hard-earned bucks the Boston mortician is hording for Next Time, the more I think Kerry is more of a danger to us than McCain.
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