An Editorial Endorsement: John McCain for President

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.