Except for a brief time before his exit when I decided to vote for Fred Thompson, this presidential contest marks the first time in my entire life I have been undecided in a GOP nomination fight.
Going into tonight’s debate at the Ronald Reagan Library, I was strongly considering voting for Sen. John McCain, in spite of McCain-Feingold and other heresies. After watching McCain in action tonight, he’d have to make a heckuva case in the next few days to keep me from voting for Romney.
There were a number of flash points tonight that pushed me away from going with McCain. First was his exchange with Mitt Romney over his charge that Romney supported fixed timetables for withdrawal. McCain was obviously misrepresenting what Romney said. Even Anderson Cooper pointed out that Romney had not called for publicly fixing deadlines for withdrawal.
Yet even after his misrepresentation was made plain to him, McCain stuck to his story and continued insisting that Romney had said something that Romney clearly had not — and at that point it just becomes a lie. And that’s significant for a man who has built his campaign on honor, straight talk and honesty.
Then there were a series of cheap shots that really ought to be beneath McCain. First, he talked about leading a naval squadron out of "patriotism, not profit."
Very nice coming from a guy who’s been on the government payroll his whole life, courtesy of those like me who are pursuing profits. I’ll keep that in mind next time I perform my quarterly rendering unto Caesar. I salute McCain’s military service, what’s with spitting out "profits" like it’s a dirty word. My politically astute shook her head and remarked that McCain sounded like a Democrat.
Then there was McCain’s cheap shot at Romney’s leadership of Bain Capital when he talked about Romney buying and selling companies and "people losing their jobs." Is Michael Moore on the McCain economic advisory team now? McCain seemed to exhibit an almost self-destructive impulse to remind people of his admission that he still needs educating in economics.
Finally, there was Anderson Cooper’s bizarre question "Would Ronald Reagan endorse you, and why?" That question, in the Reagan Library of all places, was the moment for all four candidates to observe Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment and talk positively about themselves. Yet, McCain fumbled the opportunity to rise above and be gracious, instead beginning his answer with a cheap shot at Mitt Romney for (presumably) his changed stance on abortion.
There remains much for conservatives to like about John McCain. Unfortunately, he spent the debate reminding this conservative about all the things I don’t like about McCain — to the benefit of Mitt Romney.
January 31st, 2008 at 12:00 am
While I appreciate your analysis, I think what America saw was a leader in John McCain. They saw someone who has served this country his entire life. More importantly, he underlined his conservative principles, like eliminating the Alternative Minimum tax, pointing out that a “fee” increase is akin to a tax increase–just like when Democrats call “bonds” revenue enhancements–when they’re taxes. He reminded voters that when conservatives needed him most, to win the war in Iraq, Senator McCain led the fight for the troop surge and put America on the track to victory. Senator McCain embraced the principles of federalism, while promoting an incentive based approach to fixing our problems.
So, while I appreciate your support of Governor Romney, it is readily apparent that John McCain painted himself as the consistent conservative who has never wavered and always told the truth. He has made it clear that he will rule in the mantra of Ronald Reagan–smaller government, lower taxes, strong national defense, and cutting wasteful spending.
January 31st, 2008 at 12:00 am
With all due respect, you write as if the debate existed in a vacuum. Romney has thus far run an incredibly negative campaign. He’s tried to contrast his multitude of attack ads with a can-do, sunny personality on the campaign trail, complete with plastered on fake smile, but there is simply no convincing me that Romney is a Reaganesque-optimist. Simply put, there is a reason why the most well known secret of the GOP primary is the fact that every candidate has a visceral dislike of Romney.