I though McCain lacked energy tonight, but he did get off a few great lines – and this one was a one of the best:
Our choice wasn’t between a benign status quo and the bloodshed of war.
It was between war and a graver threat. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Not our critics abroad. Not our political opponents.
And certainly not a disingenuous film maker who would have us believe that Saddam’s Iraq was an oasis of peace when in fact it was a place of indescribable cruelty, torture chambers, mass graves and prisons that destroyed the lives of the small children held inside their walls.
I may not always agree with John McCain on all the issues, but damn am I glad he’s on our side.
Ditto to my comments on Guiliani. Too bad the Republican Party will never be on John McCain’s side because he could keep you guys riding a wave of political sovereignty for years. But it’s not…so he won’t.
If John McCain were a Democrat, you’d never of heard of him. Well, okay, maybe you would Jay, but most of America wouldn’t. He’s famous because he has a habit of attacking his own party, and the press just loves it. If McCain weren’t on “our side”, he wouldn’t be a weapon to use against the GOP. We also very well might still have a First Amendment in this country, as it was his personal populartiy, combined with the President’s weakness, that was most responsible for CFR. I totally agree with you that McCain did a really good job with his convention speech. However, do I think we’re even remotely better off with him “on our side?” Not by a long shot.
And Mark, if the GOP “were on McCain’s side,” it wouldn’t particularly help them. Again, McCain’s popularity depends on his status as an iconoclast. Hell, if the Republican Party did move to agree with McCain (whatever that means), McCain wouldh ave to move in order to preserve the disagreement. Besides, McCain’s strongly and unapologetically pro-life. That’s never going to be a popular position in this country (even if it’s the right one).
You are correct that McCain’s power comes from being an unpredictable maverick whose loyalties don’t fall within party lines. Of course, Congress used to be full of such creatures. The fact that McCain dares to dissent within a small minority of the Republican Party platform in the year 2004 makes him an extremely rare and endangered species….and the public and media are far more likely to be enamored of McCain’s “panda bear exhibit” than they would have been 25 years ago when the Washington jungle was full of panda bears.
As for McCain’s pro-life positions, most political moderates are pro-choice, but largely apathetic and non-political. They’ve been effectively conned into this notion that McCain is a centrist Rockefeller Republican, and will vote for him regardless of the fact that he stands on the conservative flank of most issues. I also don’t believe the pro-life position hurts the Republicans. On the contrary, I think it’s the only issue that keeps them from becoming a permanent minority party. Just as McCain achieves political power by being a maverick in his party, the Republican Party achieves political power by convincing people to vote outside their personal interests based on conservative positions on a number of social issues, with abortion at the top of that list. If not for the GOP’s stance on abortion, they would have no chance at scoring the votes of $6 an hour Wal-Mart clerks in Columbia, Missouri and Columbus, Ohio.
If not for the GOP’s stance on abortion, they would have no chance at scoring the votes of $6 an hour Wal-Mart clerks in Columbia, Missouri and Columbus, Ohio.
Funny coincidence, but I live in Columbia, Missouri.