Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

GEORGE WILL: McCain's ‘Maverick' Is Dems ‘Mainstream'
The Washington Post ^ | 1/20/08 | George Will

Posted on 01/20/2008 12:58:10 PM PST by Servant of the Cross

In 2004, one of John McCain's closest associates, John Weaver, spoke to John Kerry about the possibility of McCain running as Kerry's vice presidential running mate.

In "No Excuses," Bob Shrum's memoir of his role in numerous presidential campaigns, including Kerry's, Shrum writes that Weaver assured Kerry that "McCain was serious about the possibility of teaming up with him," and Kerry approached McCain. He, however, was more serious about seeking the 2008 Republican nomination.

But was it unreasonable for Kerry to think McCain might be comfortable on a Democratic ticket? Not really.

In ABC's New Hampshire debate, McCain said: "Why shouldn't we be able to reimport drugs from Canada?" A conservative's answer is:

That amounts to importing Canada's price controls, a large step toward a system in which some medicines would be inexpensive but many others — new pain-relieving, life-extending pharmaceuticals — would be unavailable. Setting drug prices by government fiat rather than market forces ... (snip)

There are decent, intelligent people who believe that equity or efficiency or both are often served by government setting prices. In America, such people are called Democrats.

Because McCain is a "maverick" — the media encomium reserved for Republicans who reject important Republican principles — he would be a conciliatory president. He has indeed worked with Ted Kennedy on immigration reform, with Russ Feingold on restricting political speech (McCain-Feingold) and with Kennedy and John Edwards — a trial lawyer drawn to an enlargement of opportunities for litigation — on the "patients' bill of rights."

(snip)

In the New Hampshire debate, McCain asserted that corruption is the reason drugs currently cannot be reimported from Canada. The reason is "the power of the pharmaceutical companies." When Mitt Romney interjected, "Don't turn the pharmaceutical companies into the big bad guys," McCain replied, "Well, they are."

(Excerpt) Read more at kitsapsun.com ...


TOPICS: Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: georgewill; maverick; mccain; sc2008
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-27 last
To: Onerom99
Is Rick Santorum being delusional when he says the following about McCain:

RS: Well, number one, John McCain will not get the base of the Republican Party. I mean, there was a reason John McCain collapsed last year, and it’s because he was the frontrunner, and everybody in the Republican Party got a chance to look at him. And when they looked at him, they wait well, wait a minute, he’s not with us on almost all of the core issues of…on the economic side, he was against the President’s tax cuts, he was bad on immigration. On the environment, he’s absolutely terrible. He buys into the complete left wing environmentalist movement in this country. He is for bigger government on a whole laundry list of issues. He was…I mean, on medical care, I mean, he was for re-importation of drugs. I mean, you can go on down the list. I mean, this is a guy who on a lot of the core economic issues, is not even close to being a moderate, in my opinion. And then on the issue of, on social conservative issues, you point to me one time John McCain every took the floor of the United States Senate to talk about a social conservative issue. It never happened. I mean, this is a guy who says he believes in these things, but I can tell you, inside the room, when we were in these meetings, there was nobody who fought harder not to have these votes before the United States Senate on some of the most important social conservative issues, whether it’s marriage or abortion or the like. He always fought against us to even bring them up, because he was uncomfortable voting for them. So I mean, this is just not a guy I think in the end that washes with the mainstream of the Republican Party.

21 posted on 01/20/2008 1:47:55 PM PST by vbmoneyspender
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: freekitty
The Manchurian Candidate, as some suggest?
22 posted on 01/20/2008 2:28:59 PM PST by Jane Austen
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Jane Austen

Yep


23 posted on 01/20/2008 3:09:43 PM PST by freekitty
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Servant of the Cross
Will's column is just the latest to point out the dangers of McCain. Romney increasingly becomes the clearest choice.

“Our guiding principle has always been to select the most conservative viable candidate. In our judgment, that candidate is Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts. Unlike some other candidates in the race, Romney is a full-spectrum conservative: a supporter of free-market economics and limited government, moral causes such as the right to life and the preservation of marriage, and a foreign policy based on the national interest…More than the other primary candidates, Romney has President Bush’s virtues and avoids his flaws. His moral positions, and his instincts on taxes and foreign policy, are the same. But he is less inclined to federal activism, less tolerant of overspending, better able to defend conservative positions in debate, and more likely to demand performance from his subordinates. A winning combination, by our lights. In this most fluid and unpredictable Republican field, we vote for Mitt Romney.”

-The Editors, National Review

24 posted on 01/21/2008 11:11:40 AM PST by americanophile
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: All; freekitty

.

NEVER FORGET

.

It gets worse.

.

With the Congressional support of friend Sen. JOHN McCAIN:

.

Sen. KERRY / Communist Vietnamese Killing Off Christians in Central Highlands...

http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/675016/posts

.

NEVER FORGET

.


25 posted on 01/21/2008 4:16:01 PM PST by ALOHA RONNIE ("ALOHA RONNIE" Guyer/Veteran-"WE WERE SOLDIERS" Battle of IA DRANG-1965 http://www.lzxray.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: ALOHA RONNIE

You should not worry about me forgetting.


26 posted on 01/21/2008 4:20:35 PM PST by freekitty
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: All; freekitty

.

In honor of your NEVER FORGETTING the difference between what’s real and what isn’t out there:

As my Vietnam War Commanding Officer Lt. Col. HAL G. MOORE kept telling his heroic SkyTroopers over and over again at the Battle of IA DRANG-1965...

..”That’s just Outstanding”..!!!

.


27 posted on 01/21/2008 5:05:42 PM PST by ALOHA RONNIE ("ALOHA RONNIE" Guyer/Veteran-"WE WERE SOLDIERS" Battle of IA DRANG-1965 http://www.lzxray.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-27 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson