An Editorial Endorsement: John McCain for President
Published: October 26, 2008
It’s common for voters these days to say they vote for the person, not the party, that the character of the candidate matters more than the political principles the candidate espouses and represents.
Let there be no doubt that Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain are two men of upstanding character. No one should doubt that or attempt to cast aspersions on either man.
They represent the best of America and what this nation stands for in the world: the primacy of the individual over the state, the equality of the individual before the law, the chance for each person to succeed on his or her own merits.
Both McCain and Obama know, too, that America fallen short of the lofty goals of the Founding Fathers. Slavery. More than a century of legalized racial and ethnic discrimination. Justice denied to people simply because of their skin color or lack of money. Economic disparities nurtured by unfair government policies.
They’re both principled leaders whose personal stories inspire their supporters: McCain, the third generation of a family dedicated to serving this nation in the military and who survived more than five years in a North Vietnamese prison camp to become a U.S. senator; Obama, raised by a single mom and his grandparents and who went on to excel academically at the nation’s top universities, ultimately serving in the U.S. Senate.
There’s a lot to like about each man who would be president.
But this election is too important for its outcome to hinge on whom voters like more; it’s about the political principles that this nation chooses to embrace.
John McCain, a conservative Republican of the “old school” with a modern outlook for the future, is our choice for president in 2008.
Modern ‘old school’
When we say “old school,” we have a specific picture of the Republican Party in mind.
It is the Republican Party of Main Street America that John McCain represents: Main Street sensibilities, Main Street economic principles, Main Street common sense.
* True Main Street sensibilities such as leaving the individual alone to succeed or fail on his or her own merits, creating a fair and level playing field for all people to compete on but not stepping in to determine who wins, recognizing the proper and limited role of government in a multicultural society and protecting the individual’s rights and the minority’s rights under our Constitution.
* True Main Street economic principles of living within one’s means, of taxing citizens fairly for the basic services government is obligated to provide them, of recognizing that America’s two centuries of economic success has come not from central government planners but from millions of everyday people left to their initiative, of realizing that government does have a needed policeman’s role in regulation of various sectors of the economy and then efficiently carrying out those duties.
* True Main Street common sense to know that government can not be the answer to all of society’s ills, that government can not legislate one version of morality, that government can not determine good and evil but just right and wrong under our laws, that faith can guide our leaders’ actions but not determine our public policy.
This is what John McCain is about: smaller, more efficient, more modern government for the 21st century grounded in timeless American sensibilities.
Tested in crisis
John McCain’s character has been forged and hardened in crisis. His 5½ years in a communist prison camp solidified his belief in America’s special place on the world stage and in world history; his minor role as one of the Keating Five senators during the savings and loan scandal of the 1980s taught him that public servants have a special obligation to keep their reputations above reproach. Indeed, it was in the fires of scandal that McCain came to realize the dangers that money and special interests pose for democracy, leading him to work for bipartisan campaign finance reform.
With the economic and foreign policy crises looming in wait for the next occupant of the White House, it is McCain’s bipartisan, commonsense approach to problem-solving that this nation needs. Challenges such as Iraq, the global financial crisis and the war on terror demand a leader who has the ability to reach across the ideological divide in Washington.
Only John McCain has that track record as a national leader. His decades-long record as a U.S. senator and representative is replete with instances of his reaching across the aisle to devise common-sense solutions to problems; his Democrat opponent has no such track record in his three years as a U.S. senator.
Faith in the individual
Lastly, but most importantly, John McCain believes in the individual. It is the individual American who is responsible for himself, his family, his future … not government.
Government’s role, McCain believes, is to empower the individual to make decisions for himself, not to have decisions made for him by a paternalistic government.
Liberal government can issue all the directives it wants, formulate five-year plans to its heart’s desire, attempt to legislate outcomes across the social landscape.
That is definitely not the government of John McCain. His government — on a wide range of issues from tax policy to energy independence — would entrust the individual with all the tools he needs to look after himself, free from unnecessary government intrusion,
And that fundamental belief in the primacy of the individual is why we back John McCain for president of the United States.
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Reader Reactions
Way to go with the loser, Media General.
A great editorial endorsing a great American Hero!!
Please vote for John McCain for President on Nov 4th.
nonpc - since when does the Christians in this country NOT follow the Old Testament? Not all of it, not to the letter, just picking and choosing whatever “feels” good, like condeming homosexuals, or blaiming 9-11 on Pagans, or Katrina on the evils of New Orleans.
Christians are not terrorists? What about the abortion clinic SHOOTINGS? What about the gay kid they drug from the back of their truck until he was dead? I bet they all went home and sung gospel songs and read something from the Old Testament. What about the message from LU’s pulpit every time I accidently stop on the Liberty Channel? Terror is spread from that pulpit on a regular basis. We are doomed if we don’t elect a God fearing, (oh I mean a LU endorsed) political candidate. Scare tactics although not on the same level as flying planes into building are nevertheless, of the same ilk.
nonpc, what a ridicules statement; “Christians do not practice the Old Testament, they practice the New Testament, so any claims Christians do the same thing fails miserably”.
As the so called Christian leader of this nation attacked, lied, beyond most American’s belief, this President attacked Iraq with no justification.
I am sorry to have to insult you, but you have just topped yourself in stupid remarks.
Its pretty scary stuff, the Qur’an like the bible can be interpreted many different ways. I am not qualified to make these interpretations and sadly neither are most muslim leaders. The result is that as a whole we need to be very wary as a nation of the actions of all muslims. It is true that not all Muslims are terrorists, however the majority of Terrorists are Muslim.
A great place to start is the book Unveiling Islam: An Insider’s Look at Muslim Life and Beliefs. Ergun Mehmet Caner and Emir Fethi Caner.
Christians do not practice the Old Testament, they practice the New Testament, so any claims Christians do the same thing fails miserably.
nonpc, yes we have plenty to worry about jihad and the so called Christian Culture that is freely spread in Lynchburg by LU. Believing that the Pen is Mightier then the Sword, I just cannot get the question out of my mind which is more destructive jihad or LU.
jihad took about 3,000 lives on 911. Over the past hundred of years of this country, just how many lives have been lost because of the hate for certain groups does the type of hate that LU spreads, cost in lives. Or even this newspapers endorsement of McCain and his Boom Boom Boom Iran. Just how many jihad were created from those remarks?
I read your reply, (nonpc).
Here is a point of view worth considering. There are good Muslims everywhere, just as there are good Christians everywhere. There are also bad Muslims anywhere, just as there are bad Christians anywhere. Islam does not “train its followers to kill us”, but some radical Islamists do.
What should we do if radicals of any ilk commit terrorists acts in America again? We do exactly what we did the first time. We go after them with guns, planes, ships, tanks, and the incredible men and women in the armed forces and we kill the terrorists, destroy the buildings that shelter them, take the money that funded them, tear down the government that protected them.
But this time we don’t bungle it. We do not lose focus and split manpower by starting unjustified wars in other places. We do not torture. We do not use extraordinary rendition, which is just a way to let someone else do the torturing for us. We cross whatever border we need to cross and ask for forgiveness after we kill the terrorist slime who killed our people. If we don’t keep after them, hound them until we get them, we lose, because we leave them alive to try again and our failure emboldens others. We end up living in fear and waiting for the next attack, which is exactly where we are now.
We are in Iraq, whether or not it was ever justified. I will admit I am at a loss to know what our job is now and how we figure out when it is done. I don’t mean that sarcastically – I really don’t get it. I think the purpose of “The Surge” is to stabilize the country while we train Iraqi police and military. The Iraqi police/military then take over and maintain order. Meanwhile, the Iraqi government is supposed to settle the issue of dividing up the oil wealth between areas of the country and between Arabs and Kurds. My question is this: if these things get done, can we leave? (What more, oh Lord, can be asked of us after 4000 lives?) Well, we are still there and getting close to the point that we will not have to debate whether or not our withdrawal should have a time table – the Iraqi’s are about ready to set it for us. Then my confusion won’t matter.
It should be more than apparent who I support in this election.
Informative post AF, however the economy isn’t the only hard issue we face at this time. We also face an entire culture that has declared jihad against us, Islam trains its followers to kill us by any means at thier disposal. Should we hand the reins to a man who has absolutely no experience, known ties with radicals and terrorists and has always shown socialist tendendies? If the job goes to BHO, the economy will be the last thing our children and grandchildren will be concerned about. Every candidate leans towards the center when its campain time and then goes back to left or right after they win, how far back to the side will he go? The focus on the economy is causing us to forget we are a target of a ruthless depraved cult religion founded by a criminal pedophile. I’m sorry but to my mind the economy is secondary to keeping our freedom and very lives. The prospect of a liberal president and a liberal super majority is quite frankly the greatest threat we have ever faced as a nation.
I wonder how long it will be before BHO is installing foot baths in the white house and the A.T.F. is using hunting license records to identify “questionable” members of the new republic. Farewell Comrade.
What you describe is the old McCain. We have seen little of him in this campaign. What we have seen is not comforting.
McCain’s selection of Palin as his running mate is a mistake that has cost him support from dozens of Republican moderates. As the oldest person to seek a first term as President, and a cancer survivor, McCain chose to “shore up the base” rather than pick someone who could take over for him. He lost the right to argue Obama lacks experience by choosing someone so obviously not ready.
His flailing around during the economic meltdown is another picture of how this man acts under pressure. He would stop his campaign, he would not. He would not debate, he would. I think this is just how a “maverick” acts, shoot first and ask questions later.
His tax policies will continue the concentration of wealth that will ultimately destroy the economy. The effect of the reduced tax rates that began with Reagan and were excellerated by Bush is to create the largest concentration of wealth since 1929. 66% of income growth between 2002 and 2006 went to the top 10%. (Now that is wealth re-distribution!) As of 2007, there was virtually no growth in median incomes since 2000. Keep doing that and there won’t be a middle class left.
Raw capitalism is not a panacea for societies ills - it is an economic system that assumes each person acts in his own self interest. As we have seen in the current financial meltdown, markets do not self regulate and ultimately, greed overcomes common sense. It takes government regulation to limit abuses. It takes tax policy to balance against the over accumulation of wealth and keep the market functioning.
All American’s will rue in the future our unwillingness to be taxed in the present to pay for the War on Terror. President Bush’s (and before him, Reagan’s) belief that cutting taxes would ultimately lead to enough tax income to pay for their defense spending has not happened. I have no faith that it will happen under further tax cuts as McCain proposes. We have lived easier but our children and grand children will pay for it.
Neither candidate has really looked at the national debt and addressed the problem of the growing debt. Maybe now is not the time because broad tax increases during a recession are counter productive. But, when economic times improve, and they will despite McCain’s or Obama’s tax proposals, the time will come when we need to raise taxes broadly to pay for our security. I don’t think John McCain nor most Republicans will have the courage to actually increase taxes when we so desperately need to.
So, McCain, no, I don’t think so. And the next time you applaud all the national politicians who promise to cut your taxes, consider the debt you are leaving your children and grandchildren.
educator, when you researched the issues did you use the main stream media or one of the media outlets endorsed by the “National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA): The National Newspaper Publishers Association, also known as the Black Press of America”
You say your mind is free and I hope it is, perhaps it would be a constructive idea if as a society we could have less of a one sided battle to end racism by dissolving organizations like the N.N.P.A. and websites like blackpressusa. Your initial reply is very closely written to the editorial posted http://www.blackpressusa.com/Op-Ed/speaker.asp?SID=16&NewsID=16864
I shudder to think of the cries of foul that would result from the founding of an organization or website titled “white press of America” or perhaps “white entertainment television”
How can we as Americans end racism if all races don’t stop practicing separateism? I don’t see other ethnicities wearing thier heritage as a label such as “african americans”
Could someone please enlighten me as to why it is necessary to continue this if we ALL truly want to find “change we can believe in”
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