McCain Above the Fray
By Repair Man Jack Posted in 2008 — Comments (13) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
He’s a maverick, a divider who spits on uniters, and tough, old cuss who could care less about the base of his own party. Our friend Senator McCain was nobody’s first choice for the GOP nomination. I don’t particularly like the cantankerous son of a biscuit eater either. And, oh, by the way, his latest public approval rating hit 67%. That is as well as he has done in eight years.
Perhaps the American people like a little schadenfreude at their own expense. John McCain certainly doesn’t tell us things we want to hear. Or maybe the nation has gotten tired of being told it would all work out and not to worry about the surrounding temperature, or even the rate of descent; as long as that hand basket in which we ride is nice and comfy. McCain doesn’t offer much in the way of sugar-coating or varnish.
More likely, people are realizing that there will be a critical choice to be made next November, and that the number of options from which they will choose is rapidly shrinking. McCain may have been option number three at one point for me and many others, but primary season attrition took options one and two off the list. Confederate General Thomas Jonathan Jackson once described his favorite military strategy as “you do the best you can with what you have.” McCain, right now, is what we have.
Most likely of all, the American people are no longer seeing John McCain in a vacuum. They see him against the leafy, green background of hatred and petty skullduggery that goes by the misnomer of The Democratic Party. If John McCain can breathe in an honest fashion, he looks ethical in contrast to Elliot Spitzer. Whose successor; has also already started admitting to marital indiscretions.
McCain also doesn’t seem to personally have it in for anyone not employed by Boeing Inc. Hillary and Barack Obama seem to bear their grudges. Hillary hates the successful and seeks to take those profits. Anyone who hates the successful will ultimately convince them to seek victory elsewhere. People who seriously listen to Hillary can imagine her leading a mob of cretinous moorlocks on a rampage against anyone who earns or owns more than they do.
Barack Obama may have written a nice speech to explain away Reverend Wright, but it doesn’t carry much water. If I were a smart enough Cub Scout to have graduated from The Harvard Law School, I might not have required twenty years to figure out that something was wrong in the mind of a man who suggested that the US government invented the HIV virus to terrorize people of color.
So John McCain has basically done the best thing he could have done with the hand that he has been dealt. While the Democrats insisted on tearing one another down and succeeded admirably, he flew over to Iraq and shook hands with General David Petraeus.
This reminds us of two things. One, McCain supported the war in the teeth of intense opposition. Two, he supported a change in strategy despite President Bush's and Secretary Rumsfeld’s initial opposition.
This allows Senator McCain to draw studied contrasts with his flailing Democratic rivals. John McCain will do what he believes is right without the focus groups and without remaining a prisoner of his prior decisions. Hillary and Barack will do what the mob tells them to do in return for fleeting approval.
John McCain will actually serve as a Commander in Chief, and develop and stick by strategies in the teeth of difficulties on the ground. Hillary and Barack manage the crisis of the moment, with the fierce urgency of getting the negative story off the front page. Their “leadership” has nothing to do with actually trying to solve the underlying problems at hand.
Thus, people don’t have to agree with all of Senator McCain’s current positions to approve of the man. He has something there other than focus-group approved rhetoric. As an executive, he would actually run a directed operation. He would execute; not pander.
He is rarely compassionate and only sometimes conservative. Idealism seems to make the man cranky when it stands between him and his desired course of action. He is a problem-solving adult, not a philosophical thinker. He conquers challenges and does things. He doesn’t shift any paradigms.
His principals seem like a rule set to govern his conduct and his use of power. They are not a set of political philosophies upon which he could lead a movement. He may enjoy reading Barry Goldwater or William F. Buckley, but he is not the sort to emulate either. His mind works differently than either.
Thus, I’m left with two fundamental observations as to why a man as imminently unlikeable as John McCain has a 2/3 approval rating. He is somewhat less partial and considerably less compromised than his opponents. Since the time has come to choose sides, and the choices are laying there on the table, he is approved of in comparison to who we would find ourselves approving of instead.
But......
After watching Obama's speech, I have to say I'm a little worried about McCain's chances. I have this uneasy feeling that I just witnessed a turning point and a moment in history. I can't explain it. I can't put into words what it is.
I'm worried. I worry for McCain.
I just wish it was November already. I'm afraid a lot could happen between now and November. I am so restless.
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The revolution will not be televised. 1965
One, McCain supported the war in the teeth of intense opposition. Two, he supported a change in strategy despite President Bush's and Secretary Rumsfeld’s initial opposition.
This allows Senator McCain to draw studied contrasts with his flailing Democratic rivals. John McCain will do what he believes is right without the focus groups and without remaining a prisoner of his prior decisions. Hillary and Barack will do what the mob tells them to do in return for fleeting approval.
Emphasis added!
Neither Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama are!
But the wierd thing is, I never thought he was being deliberately dishonest. He always does what he thinks is the right thing. (Keating 5 being the exception that proves that rule.)
"I believe we must adjourn this meeting to some other place." - The last recorded words of Adam Smith.
I saw an interview on Hannity and Colmes last month with Robert Bennett, the brother of Bill Bennett, who was the Senate counsel on the Keating 5 scandal (and was, and/or is, a Democrat, as it was a Democratic Senate). He said that his investigation found no wrongdoing on the part of John McCain.
He said the Senate only included him (against his recommendation) because by doing so, they could make the scandal 'bi-partisan' and he was the Republican who came the closest.
At the time, the MSM filter was still at full strength, so I'm not sure that John McCain isn't being unfairly maligned by association with real D crooks.
He wrote a book about it, or at least it included it, but I can't remember the name of the book.
I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful 100 percent.
I'm not sure that this poll passes the smell test. the poll was taken over the past weekend when the Wright issue was unraveling on Obama. Yet, he too has the highest ratings he's ever had....how can that be? There was a poll in the Washington Times that said that a majority of voters for Rep, Dem and Indep were less likely to vote for him based on the Wright issue....something seems odd.
I'm Jewish, so I like this. But many of you won't:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/rosnerBlog.jhtml?itemNo=965556
Charlie Hall
I consider myself an evangelical and part of the "religious right" in many respects.
I have no problem with what he said.
He is not John McCain's pastor and he did not disparage an entire race of people. He simply stated that there are some issues that cause difficulty. I think the honest among us could agree that he was correct.
And for all the issues the religious right has with John Sidney McCain III, I highly doubt they will find solace for their grievances by voting for either one of the dems.
but this is a great blog with excellent points. Next to that nest of vipers that is the Dem party (I loved your description more, though), McC looks presidential and deserving of the Oval Office. Yep, I said it.
You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.
I was a Giuliani man because I thought he would be more electable than McCain, but after NH I became a McCain ace. Obviously many in the GOP feel the same way. If we all unite, we can then allow JMac to move to the center to pick up the independents sick of Obama.
This election is even more important than the one in 2004..
Obama is Jimmy Carter- only without the sweater.
"Our friend Senator McCain was nobody’s first choice for the GOP nomination."
But a good diary nonetheless, recommended.
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