John McCain is not my first choice for Republican nominee. Unfortunately, Winston Churchill decided not to run. Had Winnie run, he would have run into some of the same problems that McCain does. That is not to say that McCain is a Churchill. Without a Hitler to bounce him off of, there is no way to tell.
I do not know if McCain will be the Republican nominee. I do not plan to endorse anyone now or in the future (like my endorsement would matter!). But I do say that conservative Republicans should think long and hard before they reject him. Michael Medved, a conservative in good standing, has a list of Six Big Lies about John McCain, i.e., Republican objections to McCain that don't hold water. I will back him up on two of them.
LIE #1: John McCain isn’t a loyal Republican.
TRUTH: McCain has been a stalwart Reagan Republican since he first entered politics in 1981.
Yes. As Medved points out, McCain had been a reliable supporter of Republicans across the board. After 2000, he was understandably bitter. He recently remarked: "The night after I lost South Carolina, I slept like a baby. I would wake up and cry; sleep for an hour, wake up and cry ..." But McCain stepped up to provide strong support President Bush in 2004. That is a loyal Republican.
LIE #3: John McCain organized “The Gang of Fourteen” to Block the Confirmation of Conservative Judges.
TRUTH: John McCain organized “The Gang of Fourteen” to win- not to block -the Confirmation of Conservative Judges, and his efforts succeeded in the Senate.
Of course! The gang of 14 (half Democrats and half Republicans) saved the right to filibuster over judicial nominees, something that may soon come in handy for Republicans. It also won two conservative votes on the Supreme Court. Probably McCain was the only Republican senator who could have pulled that off.
I have lots of differences with McCain. McCain-Feingold was an atrociously bad bill, as Medved concedes.
McCain-Feingold was a piece of useless, misguided legislation but it’s done no serious damage to the country, the constitution or the conservative pro-life cause. After nearly seven years on the books, robust and impassioned discussion of political issues and candidates is more vibrant and free-wheeling than ever.
If conservatives want to pull for Romney, ok. But if its McCain who has the muscles, they will sooner or later have to step up behind him as he did for President Bush. Probably we want to keep that in mind in the meantime.
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