Let us now talk about John

The Democratic race has been so much more exciting I feel we’ve been a little like the media in general in that John McCain has gotten too little attention. Since he is my horse in this race, let me try to make the case for him and I’ll be interested, as always, in your responses.

I won’t dwell overly on his personal story, but it is worth stating in the beginning that few people who have ever run for President have given as much to their country, or shown a degree of personal courage that even approaches Senator McCain’s. I do not fault Senators Clinton or Obama for having given less – each of us lives our own lives – nor does this difference make them unqualified for this office. But we will have a choice and McCain’s character is clearly the most tested, and proven worthy, of those choices.

What problems loom most ominously ahead of us? In my view the greatest is the international political turmoil of terrorism and the shift in power to countries like China and an oil-rich Russia. Here again, McCain’s military and international experience dwarfs Clinton and Obama’s, and he is the only one of the three unwilling to promise the fairy tale ending of immediate and total withdrawal to the Iraq mess, which could only lead to a horror show for the Iraqi people and complete chaos in the middle east.

Second, we have America’s looming status as a second-rate economic power, as our Congress (and current President) continues to spend money we don’t have by borrowing it from China and middle eastern potentates who will use the debt as political leverage against us for decades to come. McCain may have questionable credentials as a social conservative, but no one doubts his status as a fiscal conservative. McCain is a vocal and determined foe of pork barrel earmarking, in which our elected representatives appropriate our money under the cover of darkness to advance their own pet political projects.

Social Security begins to go upside down in 2017; by 2030 it will run a half trillion dollar annual deficit unless something is done, and done soon. Who of the three still in the race is most likely to tackle this problem, I ask rhetorically?

Sen. Obama has made a great case for abandoning the old partisan politics, and perhaps he will, but who has actually done so? McCain had a real bipartisan success with campaign reform; he worked closely with Ted Kennedy on education reforms, and was an ally and mentor to Mrs. Clinton on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

You may remember that there was even serious consideration given by Sen. Kerry to making McCain his Vice Presidential running mate in 2004. Maybe he should have done it. Neither Obama nor Clinton have any real crossover appeal in the world of political governance. One might even call them polarizing.

And since the Democrats seem to be a lock to control both houses for at least another two years, I would feel a lot less need to hold on to my wallet if John McCain was in a position to veto Congress’ natural proclivity to hock our futures and spend our money without regard for the consequences.

Finally, while he is a politician, and all politicians say and do things for the sake of expediency at least occasionally, there have been few politicians of stature in our lifetimes willing to say the hard truths – to tell unemployed auto workers in Michigan that their jobs may never come back, to say it is impossible to deport 12 million illegal aliens, to call Donald Rumsfeld the worst defense secretary ever – and more. A little more truth is what we need.

So there it is, my case for John McCain. Another old white man, I know. But are you going to buy the packaging or the substance this time?