I believe John McCaine will indeed be the next president of the United States. Won't the CBC's already inflated victory balloon pop when that happens!
I live on the U.S. border. While there are hard-core Democrats and Republicans who literally hate each other (those who vote in primaries), the vast majority of Americans are, like Canadians, somewhere in the middle. They are swing voters and independents. I think they are sick to death of the vitriolic partisanship that monopolizes headlines, while real issues go unaddressed or are mishandled.
George Bush isn't running, and Americans understand that, so don't discount the entire Republican "brand" so swiftly. The Clintons evoke such negative feelings from such a wide range of America that it more than offsets the "Bush factor", should Hillary become the nominee.
In fact I believe that a Hillary candidacy would almost assure a McCaine win, she evokes such negative feelings, and she comes with the anchor of Bill tied around her neck.
Obama has not yet been scrutinized beyond his flowery rhetoric. So far, he's all style and no substance. "Change" and "Hope" and soaring oratory are not hard policy.
But tough scrutiny and criticism will rapidly descend if he wins the nomination, and there he will suffer mightily in comparison to John McCaine. He is a rookie senator with little experience at this level, let alone being considered for leader of the free world, the most powerful man on earth. In a showdown, world sharks like Vladimir Putin would eat him alive.
He has (reportedly) the most liberal voting record in the entire U.S. senate, and that does not reflect the values of the vast majority of mainstream middle America. Wait until the talk turns to big tax increases, as it must under an Obama administration, and see what happens.
Finally he is black, and leftist media adulation aside, do not under-estimate the undercurrent of racism that is still widespread in much of the U.S. There aren't enough Starbucks-sipping, BMW-driving Bostonian elites spread throughout the entire U.S. to offset the Joe Lunchbuckets who will put down their beer, give up a day of rabbit hunting or football watching, and quietly vote to ensure he doesn't win, no matter what they may think of John McCaine.
And finally there is John McCaine himself. He is clearly a principled individual who has upset even the right wing of his own Republican party for his principled non-partisan stances. I think that's a huge positive for the electorate at large. You can trust him to do what he says, and to listen to those who disagree.
He was a prisoner of war, and before that, a warrior who repeatedly put himself in harm's way. That gives him a thoughtful perspective that most people on earth, let alone world leaders, do not have. I believe it has to lead to an introspective and compassionate streak that transcends political dogma. It's probably the "independence" that ideologues like Rush Limbaugh so hate, and that's a good thing. The American electorate at large will respect and admire that.
He is also clearly in a superior position to understand world and U.S. security when emergencies arise, from his own first-hand experience. Military briefings from his advisors cannot be sugar-coated for a man who has been there. Obama wouldn't have a clue, and would be operating from a position of complete ignorance.
I think when push comes to shove, John McCaine will look very good to the majority of mainstream America when placed under the microscope next to an inexperienced "community organizer" from Chicago with an extremely liberal record, or the bitter, vindictive, partisan wife of a disgraced former president. The White House does not need 4-8 more years of the Clintons.
What it does need is 4-8 years of reasoned non-partisan stability, leadership and toned-down rhetoric. John McCaine is the man to do it.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
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