Posted on 11/11/2005 5:49:06 PM PST by blam
Straight-talking McCain reveals himself as a leader in waiting
By Alec Russell
(Filed: 12/11/2005)
Senator John McCain has all but launched a campaign to succeed President George W Bush, calling for a new approach to the war in Iraq and savaging the Pentagon's record there.
With the White House struggling to regain the initiative after a series of damaging blows and the Democrats lacking a leader, the maverick Republican has effectively taken charge of the political debate.
Sen John McCain: 'We should be ramping up'
In a hard-hitting speech, reminiscent of his 2000 bid for the White House when he ran as a candidate of candour and integrity, he criticised the administration for its trademark "happy talk" about Iraq. He also called on the Bush administration to level with the nation about the war's difficulties.
It was a terrible mistake to repeat the error of the Vietnam War, when officials kept saying there was "light at the end of the tunnel" when, in fact, "there was a train".
He was careful to defuse potential charges of disloyalty by focusing his fire on the Pentagon, not Mr Bush.
He also tore into the Democrats, making clear he was fully behind the war and did not believe pre-war intelligence had been hyped.
He called for the immediate dispatch of 10,000 more troops, even though, he conceded, that would lead to more casualties. With more than 2,000 Americans killed in Iraq, he accepted public opinion was turning against the war. But he argued that the Pentagon had sent too few troops.
"Instead of drawing down we should be ramping up," he told the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. "The stakes are higher than they were in Vietnam."
The Pentagon should focus on winning over communities rather than targeted raids on insurgents, he said, also criticising it for rotating out successful generals.
The speech was his second high profile move in as many weeks. Bolstered by his Vietnam vet past - he was imprisoned and tortured in Hanoi - he is leading a Senate campaign for more humane rules on interrogating prisoners, a move opposed by Vice- President Dick Cheney.
To stake out such discordant positions a year into a presidency would traditionally be foolhardy for an ambitious party man.
But with Mr Bush's fortunes at a low ebb and Republicans in Congress divided and mutinous, Washington feels leaderless and Mr McCain has decided to move centre stage.
He will be 72 on election day in 2008, three years older than Ronald Reagan was when he won the White House in 1980. He has repeatedly said he has not decided whether to stand for president.
But there is little doubt in Washington that the "Straight Talk" express, as his 2000 battle bus was known, is preparing to hit the road again. In that classic trick of presidential aspirants, he has just co-written a book called Character is Destiny, allowing him to tour the country ostensibly to market it, but in reality to market himself.
In 2000 he was the outsider. This time, however, he hopes to be both outsider and insider, "straight talking" while rallying the party's establishment with his reputation as a fiscal and foreign policy hawk.
John would be good in any role where he can hear himself talk and not do any damage. So Ambassador to France would be good.
I'm tellin' ya, I wouldn't put it past McCain to run as an independent or libertarian with a Dim as a running mate. That's how transparent he is regarding his desire to see himself throw what's right to the four winds in exchange for glory as someone that "can build bridges" blah, blah.
The biggest mistake that the Republican party could make would be to give him the nomination.
McCain overplayed his hand and he knows it, now that the Soros connection is out in the open he is toast.
I will never vote for McCain either. "Waiting in the wings" -- well, have a great wait. For nothing. He's a turn-coat as far as I can see.
Political campaigns soon will NEVER shut down and just continue right on uninterrupted the day after an election.
Me neither.
I too will never vote for that piece of slime traitor to America.
Straight talking my you know what. This guy is a liar and a thief of American liberty. He no longer and hasn't for a long time the only thing that everyone in the world is blessed with from birth and that is their credibility.
He'll be a presidential candidate again. Fear this man. Fear him mightily. He's hungry for power, and he'll step on anyone and say anything he needs to get it. He's a nasty-tempered, self-serving, vicious SOB.— Neal Boortz 5/16/01
Amen. I absolutely despise Hillary, but if McCain is the best the GOP can muster, I'll vote for her out spite.
They better get they're act together, and fast.
Me neither. F him.
McCain is a spokesperson for the anti-gunners. Strongly anti-2nd Amendment.
He first has to win the primaries, fat chance.
The only thing about a McCain candidacy that MIGHT (and it is a big might) sway me...would be who his running mate is.
John would be 72 when elected...so there is a chance he might not make it through a first term...let alone a second term.
What if he picks someone decent??? Wouldn't that be better than chancing 8 more years of Clinton???
Mc Pain may con the English press but here at home, everyone is on to this guy. An opportunist to the nth degree.
OK, if he gets the nomination, stand by your mastubatory 'principles', say hope, and help elect President Hillary.
A lot of people are completely unobjective when it comes to McCain. Sure, he's a loudmouth and he talks just like the media wants him to, but when it comes time to actually vote, he's with us 90% of the time. No sane, rational conservative would not vote for him over just about any dem if they really believe anything they say they do.
And, let us not forget, McCain is good on the WOT. As far as I'm concerned, anybody who doesn't help defeat Hillary in '08 is complicit in the murders of whomever the terrorist kill because of her obvious limp-wristedness on the issue.
Neither will I, and anybody who does vote for that crazy person is devoid of a brain.
Yah, sure.
Except for the fact that he'd win 40 states.
Naw, McCain is simply a lady in waiting.
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