Since I agree with you that we are tearing ourselves apart over two relatively good men that are trying to get the nomination... I will clarify the position:
1.Some of us are Tired of McCain getting slammed by Sean and Rush and Romney getting a pass on his past liberal views.
2. McCain ran for President in 00 and his Conservative Credentials were never questioned.
3. Some of us want Romney to somehow beat McCain but not because we love Romney’s Conservative policies but because we are being told how out of touch McCain has become...
4. Why does McCain have to be torn down? Can’t Romney stand on his own Conservative principles and history?
The politics of personal destruction are part of the problem.
“4. Why does McCain have to be torn down?”
Ahh...Tomnbeverly, aren’t you the one that just said your wife said Mitt looks a little light in his $1000 loafers? Come on, who’s tearing down who?
Good points Tom. I do think McCain is getting maybe more venom than deserved. I don’t like some of what he has done, in particular the Gang of 14 is what I don’t like and also his Global Warming stance. But I have also heard Mitt mention GW in speeches to the degree that he also seems to be a believer. This is one item I am in lockstep with Dubya on, and that is Global Warming is an unproven hypothesis. Seems all our candidates unfortunately support some sort of GW fight. I will vote for McCain if he wins. To me, the alternative is inconceivable.
2. McCain ran for President in 00 and his Conservative Credentials were never questioned.
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During the past seven years, McCain has done his best to undermine everything that President Bush tried to accumplish, and I believe that he did it out of personal anger at losing the election to Bush. He may even be more conservative than Romney, if one does a side-by-side lifetime comparison, but his actions of the past seven years in the Senate were his choices to make and they comprise his current record.
That kind of personal animus is the main reason why I think he would be unsuitable for the Chief Executive position. However, I do not think he is a core conservative, but plays the game well. Just as the Mitt-detractors cannot get past Mitt working with dems in Massachusetts, I can’t get past McCain siding with dems so frequently in the Senate.
He was a different person then. This is how I see it: He is still bitter and vengeful about losing to Bush. I know CFR was introduced in the late 90's, but it didn't become LAW until after 2000. The gang of 14, McCain-Kennedy...the list goes on and on and on...
All of which happened *after* he lost the 2000 election.