Earlier last week, U.S. Senator John McCain campaigned in Santa Barbara as part of a swing through the Golden State. We asked longtime FR friend Mike Stoker, a former Santa Barbara County Supervisor, if he would be our "eyes on the ground" and pen something for us. Unfortunately some personal issues came up, but despite that Mike was able to rise to the challenge..
A Birds-Eye Account of Senator McCain’s Santa Barbara Swing
By The Honorable Mike Stoker
Senator McCain by all accounts, hit it out of the park on his recent trip to Santa Barbara. The campaign, wanting to help hold State Senator Tom McClintock’s seat, arranged to have former Assemblyman Tony Strickland greet the Senator as he deboarded from his plane after arrival in SB. (Tony Strickland is running against Hanna Beth Jackson in a race that all political pundits agree will be the hottest state senate election in the state.) The Senator and staff then headed off for an hour downtown at their hotel, the Fess Parker Doubletree before heading to a fundraiser at the home of Bill & Carol Foley. I was joking at the event with Bill that he has a 1000% batting average on hosting Presidential nominees who are successful in winning the General Election…the last fundraiser being around the same time of year in 2000 for then Governor George W. Bush. My inside intelligence tells me the fundraiser, which had been targeted for raising $500,000, may end up ultimately hitting the 1 million mark.
The next day showcased a Energy/Environment Forum with Governor Schwarzenegger and former Director of the CIA, James Woolsey, headlining with the Senator. The Senator made it very clear where the country needs to head to deal with our pending energy crisis. We need to give states the right to develop offshore oil. We need through tax credits and rebates to significantly speed up the process for rolling out the next fleet of automobiles that will be hybrid, flex and/or electric. And we need to significantly expand electrical production through nuclear energy. When local SB activist/environmentalist Mike Feeney questioned the use of nuclear McCain retorted that the technology is there, the French generating 80% of their electrical needs through nuclear have proved the feasibility and viability and that it is time that America provide our nation’s electrical needs through one of the cleanest forms of energy production…nuclear. The crowd cheered and Feeney, to the crowd’s delight admitted he knew very little about the subject. (The point to me underscored how the opposition often supports policies and initiatives that they haven’t done their homework and know very little about! Upon leaving the event, this point was further underscored to me as I asked one of the protesters outside the venue who was holding a "No Offshore Oil" sign what his solution was and he responded, "I don’t know but its not oil." So there you have it!!!)
In any event two observations that have nothing to do with the forum but are definitely worth mentioning. First, the fact that Feeney was even invited to be on the panel demonstrates that McCain does not "stack the deck" and welcomes, and in fact invites, the opposition to be part of these policy discussions showing the Senator has no fear to debate these issues anytime, anywhere with anybody. His performance clearly underscored why Obama would never, under any circumstances, agree to McCain’s offer to do 12 Townhall forums. McCain would clearly run circles around him in this kind of setting which really brings out the substance and not the form of a candidate for office. Second, the audience was not by personal invite. It was open to the public. Anyone could and did attend. And this is Santa Barbara. One would have thought that the audience would clearly be skeptical at best, in regards to Senator McCain and what he was saying. (Keep in mind that Santa Barbara even voted for Dukakis over Bush!) And yet as McCain demonstrated his depth of knowledge of the subject matter, the crowd who many would have been opposed to these policies a year or two ago, actually cheered and applauded as though many for the first time through the Senator’s rhetoric were understanding these are "…different times calling for different solutions and the urgency of the day will no longer justify business as usual."
And then as the motorcade left with some waves to the protesters at hand and it was off to the airport and on to Riverside. As he left I had two thoughts. First, what I had seen in McCain in Santa Barbara, and anyone else who saw it, would quickly conclude that age is not a factor in this race. I know 25 year olds who could not come close to keeping up with the Senator. I guarantee if you ever view him from a distance, in person, you will conclude the same thing. Second, if he can win over Santa Barbara independents and some old fashion Reagan Democrats, as he clearly did on his recent visit, he is capable of winning votes that a Republican nominee for President hasn’t done since my favorite President, Ronald Reagan, won the Presidency.
And for my fellow conservative friends who understandably have been skeptical, I assure you he will not let us down with his appointment of Supreme Court judges, his consistent opposition to unnecessary federal spending, his commitment to winning the war against terrorism, his support of 10th Amendment and States Rights and the 5th Amendment and property rights and the 2nd Amendment and the Right to Bear Arms (..as I write this the Supreme Court has ruled the D.C gun ban unconstitutional which McCain for months has been saying while Obama supported the ban) It is different times calling for different solutions!
Biographical Sketch of Mike Stoker
Mr. Stoker is an attorney whose law practice emphasizes federal & state legislation, land use, regulatory and governmental matters. Mr. Stoker formerly served on the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, formerly served as Deputy Secretary of State, formerly served as Majority Counsel to Republican Party in Congress and formerly served as Chairman of the California ALRB.)
Care to read comments, or make your own about today’s Daily Commentary?
Just click here to go to the FR Weblog, where this Commentary has its own blog post, and where you can read and make comments.