My Letter Endorsing John McCain For President - Public Use Encouraged

Saturday, October 4, 2008 | manofaiki

[manofaiki]

At the official John McCain website:

http://www.johnmccain.com/HomeLogged.aspx

You can transport your E-mail contacts and then send anyone you choose a personal e-mail explaining why you are endorsing John McCain on Nov. 4th and encouraging them to do so as well.

http://www.johnmccain.com/ActionCenter/ ... eWord.aspx

Here's the E-mail I just sent to about 30 different people I know - I'm making this public use, so you can put them into your own words if you wish and send the letter to all your friends.

I know some of you haven't heard from me lately, and I'm sorry about that.

I'm contacting you now because I've come to realize lately from the way things have been going in this country with $4 a gallon gas and now this $700 billion dollar bailout that's going to cost every man, woman and child in America that it's time for ordinary Americans to send a powerful message to Washington that their cozy little business as usual politics have to come to an end.

There's a Presidential election coming up in about 30 days. On November 4th we're all going to be asked to choose between two very different ideas about where this country should go from here.

On the one side we have Barack Obama, Harvard Law Grad, community activist, Senator from Illinois, still in his first term in Congress. Running with him is Joe Biden, Senator from Delaware and a 35 year Washington insider.

I know a lot of people are high on Obama right now. He does give a great speech. But I have looked at his resume and it is quite thin. He is campaigning as an advocate of change and reform.

Only as I study his past in the Senate and the Illinois State Legislature, I can't find any significant change or reform on this gentleman's back trail.

Instead, I find something that looks like a consummate Chicago Machine politician.

I would hope that a candidate who is running on a promise of change would have an actual record of change behind him, but it just doesn't seem to be there.

I've looked into Biden too, and he's an awfully likeable guy. But he also doesn't seem to have any record of change or reform behind him. 35 years in the Senate, if he were a reformer there would be some record of it.

Running against these gentleman we have John McCain and Sarah Palin.

The first thing I'd like you to remember about John McCain is that he's a genuine war hero. Doesn't that seem kind of strange now after the totally weird emphasis put on military experience during the 2004 election between Bush and Kerry? You know, the whole 'Hey there's a war on, let's see who'd be the best Commander In Chief by comparing war records!' schtick.

Whatever you may have thought about John Kerry's war service, the fact is it was brief (3 months) and it was controversial (almost 85% of the men who served with him in Vietnam made up the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth that insisted he wasn't fit to be Commander In Chief if he was basing his campaign on what he did in Vietnam - a sobering thought), and it was immediately followed by him launching a political career based on calling American troops war criminals.

I'm sure like many of you I rolled my eyes every time during the 2004 elections whenever John Kerry's war service came up. Then somehow, President Bush's own military service in the Texas Air National Guard became an issue, even though Bush hadn't brought it up and wasn't running based on his military service. Incredibly, most of the 2004 election coverage seemed locked into the past. You'd think they'd be arguing about what had happened over the previous four years, or what should happen over the next 4 years; instead, bizarrely, it revolved around what had or had not happened in Vietnam and in Texas 40 years past.

I think historians are gonna look back at that 2004 election as one of the most bizarre election cycles in American history.

You know Republicans don't make that big a deal of it when they run a real war hero. I'll prove it.

The Republicans ran 3 genuine dyed-in-the-wool war heroes for President in the last 16 years. Can you name them all? Take a minute to think about it.

Bob Dole? That's right. In 1996 Bob Dole ran against Clinton and lost. If you've ever seen Senator Dole from the front you'll notice he's always got his right arm tucked into his pocket. He lost the use of that arm in northern Italy in World War II when he was hit in the back by machine gun fire.

Now think about this for minute. When Bob Dole was running against Bill Clinton............yes, THAT Bill Clinton.......how many times on the campaign trail did Dole brag about being wounded in combat? If you remember a single time you have a better memory than me.

Let's move on to the second war hero the Republicans have run in the last 16 years. George H. W. Bush. That's right, our current President's father.

See, he was a pilot in the Pacific theater in WWII and he was shot down and narrowly escaped capture by the enemy in an area where other captured American flyers were tortured and killed by the Japanese. You can even read about that in the book Flyboys, written by the same guy who wrote Flag of Our Fathers.

Yet when running against Bill Clinton, I can't remember a single time Bush tried to draw a contrast between himself as a war hero and a man who had dodged the draft and wrote a letter in which he claimed he 'loathed the military'.

Why didn't they? Why didn't Bob Dole and George H.W. Bush emphasize their military service when running against a man who would defeat them both?

It's simple. In their mind they did their duty. What man of honor brags about doing his duty?

So Bob Dole and George H.W. Bush just focused on policy; they didn't spend any time at all during their campaigns trying to draw contrasts between themselves and Bill Clinton based on military service.

Now John McCain is running on the Republican ticket, the 3rd war hero in 16 years. Everybody's heard the story. Shot down over Hanoi, spent 5 1/2 years in captivity, tortured, refused early release, tortured some more, then broken, then found the courage to begin resisting again. They talked about it a lot at the Republican National Convention because it is indeed a compelling story.

But notice one thing. Even during the RNC McCain NEVER directly contrasted his military service and the sufferings he underwent for his country to Obama. Not even one time. And he certainly hasn't done it on the campaign trail. When he discusses his opponent in the race he talks about Obama's record, his statements, his plans for the country.

McCain could get some political mileage by reminding people he was a naval aviator for many years, he could dwell on his military service and pointedly contrasting that with a career political activist/politician. But he won't do that any more than Bob Dole or George H.W. Bush would have.

Just bear in mind that McCain as a real war hero REFUSES to run as one. (Maybe Kerry should have tried this?) He's running on something else.

What's he running on?

He's running on his record of 26 years in the United States Congress.

In his 26 years of being in Congress, John McCain has demonstrated 2 things about himself.

First, he's his own man. It's no accident that when people think of the words 'Maverick' and 'Senator', John McCain is the first name that comes to mind.

Is he a Conservative? Definitely. He has an 82.3 Lifetime Voting Rating from the American Conservative Union:

http://www.acuratings.org/2006senate.htm

But is he a guy that will march in lockstep with his party no matter which direction it's going in? Hardly.

McCain's made the news PLENTY of times the past 8 years in issues he's disagreed with President Bush and the GOP leadership. On taxes, on the Iraq War, on Immigration, on Global Warming, etc.

John McCain is a true maverick. He's going to do what he thinks is right and if he thinks his party is wrong, he's going to SAY so.

And believe me, he has a track record of doing exactly THAT since he's been in Congress.

John McCain actually took a stand against his hero, Ronald Reagan, when Reagan insisted on putting American Marines in Beirut. McCain thought that was a big mistake and he said so, publicly. Tragically, the bombing of the Marine Barracks that killed 240 American troops proved McCain to be right.

We can examine John McCain's record of standing up to his own party's leadership.

We can examine his running mate, Sarah Palin's record of standing up to her party's leadership. She actually got her start in politics by resigning from a key executive position in the Alaskan oil industry in protest after her whistleblowing on corruption was ignored. Corruption involving REPUBLICAN officials, her OWN party.

In fact, the guy she was blowing the whistle on was the Alaskan GOP PARTY CHAIRMAN. When the Republican Governor ignored her complaint, she ran for Governor of Alaska against him, and despite being heavily outspent, she beat him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

So what have we seen so far?

The Republican ticket has two people on it who are completely unafraid to TAKE ON THEIR OWN PARTY if that's what they have to do to get things done. Far from being Machine Politicians who will go along to get along and march in lockstep with whatever drumbeat the party leadership is dictating, they both march to their own inner beat.

What else do we know about about McCain? And Palin for that matter?

Secondly, not only are they both mavericks, they both have instituted real reform and change in their careers.

The first thing Palin did after becoming Governor of Alaska was break up a monopoly on Oil and Gas resources that the Big Oil companies had set up with the Good Ol' Boy Political Network that had ruled the roost in Alaska for decades.

McCain earned his stripes in the Congress as a staunch proponent against wasteful pork-barrel spending and earmarks. Many Senators try to ensure their re-election by 'earmarking' pork projects for their State - in effect buying themselves votes using tax payer's dollars.

Government watchdog groups like 'Citizens Against Government Waste' rate McCain as one of the best members of Congress when it comes to rejecting wasting the taxpayer's money:

http://councilfor.cagw.org/site/DocServ ... docID=3282

(You can find McCain's ratings on page 6)

McCain hasn't just railed against earmarks and pork-barrel projects, he's written legislation to try to eliminate them.

He has a 25 year legislative record of trying to get government spending under control:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=300071

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bi ... tes_Senate

So on the Republican ticket we have two mavericks who have records of reform behind them.

But wait a second.

What about the Democratic ticket?

Isn't the entire platform of the Obama/Biden ticket Reform and Change?

Wouldn't it then make sense to see just how much reform and change Obama has behind him in the years he's been in public service?

And here's where we hit a snag.

THERE ISN'T ANY RECORD OF CHANGE OR REFORM IN OBAMA'S PAST.

See, Obama has to run on a PROMISE of HOPE and CHANGE and REFORM to come if he's elected since he can't demonstrate any ACTUAL REFORM AND CHANGE that he personally did since entered Congress.

He's actually running on his POTENTIAL.

He's such an AMAZING PERSON that even though he has no record of reform or change behind him, once he's ushered into the Oval Office he's going to unleash reform on Washington that he somehow couldn't bring to Illinois in 7 years in the State Legislature and 2 1/2 years in the Senate.

Any change and reform brought to Washington by the next administration is going to have to do so through bipartisan support. It's going to have to be done by people who can demonstrate they CAN reach across the aisle to the other side and work out differences to move things forward.

McCain has done this repeatedly throughout his career. So has Palin; she actually appointed Democrats and Independents to positions of power in Alaskan government once she was elected.

One has to scour Obama's record in vain trying to find concrete examples of him reaching out to Republicans and demonstrating a knack for bipartisanship.

What it comes down to is a guy who claims he can POTENTIALLY be a reformer............even though he's never reformed anything........and that he can POTENTIALLY buck his own party leadership and reach across the aisle to get things done.......even though he has no record of ever having done it...........who claims he can POTENTIALLY change the political culture and spending habits of Washington when he has no record of having done so thus far in his political career.........

OR

a guy who has ACTUALLY been a reformer.......and has proved it many times in his career........who has ACTUALLY bucked his own party leadership to build bipartisan support.....and who has a record behind him of ACTUALLY speaking and acting out to try to change the culture and spending habits of Washington.

This election calls for us to choose between a guy who CLAIMS he can POTENTIALLY do all these things.........or a guy who has ACTUALLY done them.

I'll agree that Obama gives a great speech. He really does.

But before a person walks into the Oval Office and sits at that desk as the President of the United States, I think he or she must DEMONSTRATE something to the public, not just talk about it.

And so far, like it or not, all Obama is done is talk about what a great President he's going to make. Based on his POTENTIAL. He's got to focus you on the FUTURE because if you really look at his past, you're going to wonder why he's claiming he's going to deliver on all these promises of change and reform when he's never had to deliver in the past.

McCain doesn't just talk about it. He's done it.

That's the difference in this election as far as I'm concerned.

I'm voting for the real reformer, who really will change Washington if he's elected.

I hope you will too!

your fellow American,

manofaiki Somewhere in Texas

[manofaiki]

If you want to put the basic ideas into your own words and e-mail it to everyone you know, go for it!

Remember, the 2000 Election was decided by less than 500 votes!

[grey_whiskers]

It's good, but too long.

I just like to point out that Obama's church, where he went for 20 years, preached sermons like 'God DAMN America!' That's far worse than Sarah Palin's church.

Where they "pray for you" and not "prey ON you."

Besides, she's a hottie.

Which automatically defends any guy alive against charges of racism...

Cheers!