Posted on 06/07/2008 6:33:28 AM PDT by K-oneTexas
Why McCain Would Make a Better President by Aaron Goldstein
McCain knows what government can and cannot do. More importantly, he knows what government should and should not do.
Should Barack Obama be elected President of the United States this November his chances for a successful term in office are slim to none.
As the candidate who extols the virtue of hope and change and whose audience chants in unison, "Yes we can!," Obama has set expectations so high that he is bound to fall short of lofty expectations.
After all, Obama has said this election is not so much about winning as it is about transforming the nation. This transformation would consist of (but would not be limited to) ending the War in Iraq; giving every American government health care, stopping lobbyists from running Washington and ending tax breaks to American companies that ship job overseas. It would come as no surprise to me if Obama told his adoring audiences they could eat all the ice cream they wanted without getting indigestion.
Levity aside, it does beg two questions. Can Obama transform this nation? Should Obama transform this nation?
If Obama can’t transform America then he is going to have a lot of explaining to supporters who will find themselves disenchanted and disappointed. They will come to view Obama as just another politician, a mere mortal. On the other hand, Obama could very well transform America but that doesn’t mean he should.
Sure we can leave Iraq. But what if Iran takes over Iraq? Sure Obama could meet with Ahmadinejad and try to reason with him. But what if Ahmadinejad laughs at Obama and decides to take Americans hostage? What if withdrawal from Iraq emboldens Islamic fundamentalists to carry out another attack on American soil on the scale of 9/11 or perhaps greater?
Sure we can give every American government health care. But will Obama tell Americans that their health care will be rationed? Health care for every American is nice as long as Americans don’t mind waiting two years for an MRI exam or for surgery. Heaven help those who don’t have two years to wait.
Sure we can stop lobbyists from running Washington and curtail their power. But tell me how you go about it without violating the First Amendment? And are some lobbyists more equal than others? I have a friend who tells me that only people who lobby for “bad things” should be reigned in. So would Obama exempt unions, environmentalists and anti-poverty organizations from lobby reform and only target those organizations that support lower taxes, veterans and Israel?
Sure we can stop giving tax breaks to American companies that ship jobs overseas. But how does whooping companies upside the head for investing overseas encourage them to invest at home? Besides, does Obama really want to stop American entrepreneurs from investing in places dear to him, such as Indonesia or Kenya, even if those entrepreneurs could have created those jobs here?
There are two lessons here. Don’t make promises you can’t keep and don’t make promises that aren’t worth keeping.
Conversely, not much is expected of John McCain. While liberals have swooned over Obama, many conservatives view McCain with suspicion. In fact, one of the pledges McCain has made is downright unpopular – staying in Iraq to win. But, of course, it takes a man of courage to do the right thing even if it isn’t the popular thing at the time. McCain supported the surge in Iraq when nearly no one else in Washington would. Yet because of his political clout that accompanied the brilliant strategy of General David Petraeus, the surge has worked. Of course, there is more to be done in Iraq. But if anyone can see this nation through what has become a very complicated war it is McCain.
Make no mistake. McCain isn’t trying to win a high school popularity contest with his position on Iraq. Why would McCain stick his neck out for President Bush, a man with whom he has had substantive differences, if he did not truly believe in winning the War in Iraq, let alone the surge? McCain is dead serious when he says that he would rather lose an election than lose a war. The same cannot be said for Obama.
Of course, McCain wants to win this election. But he doesn’t want to do it by telling people what he thinks they want to hear. Nor does he want to do it by telling people he is going to transform this nation. To do so would be an act of outright dishonesty. Besides, no one person, no matter how attractive and charismatic, should delude himself and others into thinking he can transform the nation with the stroke of a pen. McCain knows what government can and cannot do. More importantly, he knows what government should and should not do.
McCain’s proposals are modest but practical. They include an annual holiday on the Federal Gas Tax and Diesel Tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day; a repeal of the alternate minimum tax, a reduction in corporate taxes from 35 to 25%; a direct refundable tax credit for individuals and families looking for alternatives to employer-based health insurance; providing families resources to move their children from failing schools and an opportunity for homeowners to trade an onerous variable rate mortgage for a long-term fixed rate mortgage that better reflects the market value of the home. These proposals aren’t spoken of in grandiose language nor will they transform America. But they will help Americans who are in genuine need of it and help make day-to day-living a little more manageable.
I am not suggesting for a minute that McCain will implement these things with ease. After all, McCain has said he will veto any legislation that contains earmarks. A Democrat-controlled Congress isn’t likely to be inclined to go along with McCain’s proposals if he chooses to carry a veto stamp in his pocket. But McCain has also made a career of working with Democrats and if there is any Republican President who could get things done with a Democrat Congress, it is McCain. That might be an anathema to some conservatives but it will be music to the ears of the majority of Americans, liberal and conservative, who just want their government to work.
There is nothing wrong with Americans who are filled with hope and want change. But there is a difference between optimism and wishful thinking. Some promises aren’t attainable while other promises would do more harm than good. Barack Obama’s rhetoric might soar to the highest sky but in the real world his words are out of reach. John McCain’s rhetoric might not stir our collective imagination but in the real world his words rest on a foundation of solid ground. This is why I believe John McCain would make a better President of the United States.
Aaron Goldstein writes about the things that pique his insatiable curiosity. In addition to politics, he is an aficionado of baseball, poetry, music and ketchup flavored potato chips. Aaron satiates his various appetites in Boston. aargold24@hotmail.com http://www.poetsforthewar.org
Many see Obama as the Second Coming of JC.
Unfortunately, that is Jimmy Carter.
Word of the day/year = BETRAYAL.
This won’t be a McCain vs Obama race. It will be R vs D. The GOP needs to advance reasons to vote for Republicans instead of against Democrats. GOP’s ‘we have nothing to offer but fear itself’ is drawing dead.
McCain knows what government can and cannot do. More importantly, he knows what government should and should not do.
If anyone it's McCain who DOESN'T know "what government should and should not do".
'McCain Says "Clean Government" More Important Than First Amendment'
"He [Michael Graham] also mentioned my abridgement of First Amendment rights, i.e. talking about campaign finance reform.. I know that money corrupts.. I would rather have a clean government than one where quote First Amendment rights are being respected, that has become corrupt. If I had my choice, I’d rather have the clean government."
Next to Rooty, McInsane prolly has the least respect for the Constitution. And Juan McAmnesty ain't that crazy about the 2nd Amendment either.
McCain is the only one of the GOP candidates for whom I cannot hold my nose and vote. How can I vote for anyone who is eager to sell out this country - and that is what his amnesty and open borders plan will do? IMHO, he also has too severe mental problems and signs of a sociopathic personality.
Not voting for McCain will only help Obama, I would think that the protest votes of 2006 have sunk in by now.
Since I cannot prove McCain is a conservative and he really isn’t, let’s try another approach.
Which of the two is an American Patriot that has served this country all his life ever at the risk of his own life in the hands of our enemies and never lost his love for our nation?
And which one is a child of the world that has been indoctrinated by the very enemies we now face in the ways of their religious goals to destroy us?
Which one thinks our nations is the greatest in the world?
And which one has been told that it is the cause of all the world’s suffering and that it must be changed?
Who thinks of hope as an audacity and who has fought on when hope and a belief in this country was all he had to shield himself from the cruelest of tortures?
Who has served this nation bravely and who wants this nation to serve him?
Instead of allowing the destruction of our country because our Ideas are more important then the nation perhaps we go with a man who has literally endured the worst any American could suffer at the hands of our foes then the one that wants to embrace our foes and kowtow to their needs.
This election will prove to be a pivot point in our history but will conservatives be bold enough to admit if they may be equally guilty of being Republicans In Name Only.
“I don’t like it much either but it is my way of protesting all the hatred aimed at a man who may only serve this country for next Four Years as it’s president after serving it all of his adult life.”
Sen. McCain is a war hero. No one is going to argue with that. However, to state that he has served this country “all his adult life” is an exaggeration.
Sen. McCain serves Sen. McCain. He has sought to capitalize on his war hero status since he first ran for Congress in 1982.
Absolutly spot on. McCain is totally inept at addressing issues at home. The GOP has nothing to offer, but fear. While we need to fight Islamofacism overseas, he fails to address it here at home.
I appreciate his service to this country, but that is not going to beat Barry.
McCain will be unable to beat Barry because he shares Democrat policies, but comes off as war like.
Those Democrat votes he wants so much will not be adequate enough to propel him to the WH. Not to mention he is about the worst speaker I have ever tried to listen to. McCain is about to find out his adoration from the media that he has so loved, is about to end.
You would be better off if you left the country than vote for that sorry ass black Muslim bass turd America hater.
We understand perfectly. You are very clear. It could not be clearer.
In your perplexity at the bizarre/suicidal behavior of those on this site who insist on doing their country in, as well as themselves and their loved ones, because of their perceived lack of ideological purity in anyone but themselves...
You will accordingly vote, sir, for someone - Obama - who has declined to place even his hand over his heart during the National Anthem and Pledge.
You will vote for someone who sat approvingly for 20 years in a political hall euphemistically called a church where its leader vilified, slandered, and cursed America - the country defended and made free by millions of patriots with their blood from the American Revolution to the Present Day.
You will vote for someone who, to carry out the aim of his party, will bring about world defeat and derision of the U. S., beginning with Iraq and Afghanistan.
You will vote for someone who will lead his party in a smear campaign for the next four years to formally - through clever “committee findings” - denigrate and slander everything that George Bush and every Republican has ever accomplished.
You will vote for someone who, to carry out the specific wishes of financier, George Soros, will do everything he can to bring about a one-world government and a one-government world.
You will vote for someone who in his (brief) legislative career has demonstrated nothing but virulent animosity toward the Second Amendment.
You will vote for someone who will restore, and hugely expand, programs based on “minority rights” - including the abrogation of all judicial decisions forbidding reverse discrimination.
You will vote for someone who in every public vote in his lifetime has voted against any - any - restrictions on abortion including third-trimester abortions and partial-birth abortions.
The fact that this means millions - millions - of unborn children will be slain in the womb before they even see God's beautiful Earth - and the others slain the very moment they emerge upon it - is of no concern to us, is it?
Yes, it has come to this. Orwell knew it was coming: “Big Brother Obama...Big Brother Obama...Big Brother Obama...Take us...Take us...WE ARE YOURS!!!YOURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Obviously a work of fiction. Think I'll stop with this sentence.
Has he been a senator that long? I’d say that qualifies him as serving the country as one of it’s senators even if you don’t like what he has done he has served.
Obama on the other hand has only served not even a few years in the senate and thinks he is ready for the highest position in the land and those conservatives that will refuse to vote for McCain will give him that office by default.
Think about every agenda and plan that the democrats and Obama could ramrod through the congress and sign in to law and McCain for all his faults becomes an obstacle to their complete and total domination of this country.
To be sure McCain is going to do something we will not like but compared to Obama....... I would rather vote for Bill Clinton then Obama.
At least with Bill you knew what he wanted.
My, my, what a tantrum, if conservatives don’t bow and spread their cheeks for McCain, you are going to drink, smoke, and take you ball and go vote for Obama.
Nice. And you think we are bad.
I think the mug collectors need to man up and face their enemy rather than feeding the crocodile.
We already lost and have accepted it. They can call us babies, brats, or whatever, we’re just being honest and accepting the fight we have coming no matter who gets elected.
>>As the candidate who extols the virtue of hope and change and whose audience chants in unison, “Yes we can!,” Obama has set expectations so high that he is bound to fall short of lofty expectations.
Look at Barack Jr., Mass Gov Deval Patrick whose “Together
We Can” slogan was borrowed, slightly altered, by B.O. Recent poll shows huge unfavorables for Patrick. He hasn’t
accomplished the property tax decrease, “more cops on
the street”, etc., he promised. Businesses leave Taxachusetts frequently, and Deval’s constantly on the radio doing ads
to lure businesses—saying how great we are.
From RedMassGroup:
Deval Patrick’s 56% disapproval is his all-time worst showing
(a little schedenfreud for my fellow Red Mass Groupers... - promoted by Cool Cal)
Hey Republicans....
Why is it that up until now, everyone is focusing on Primary polling results????
Deval at 56% DISAPPROVAL is one more reason not to send him any Democrats back to Beacon Hill.
What is worse for him, he has made a 40 point negative swing in only 16 Months.
How about we unite over this?!
Expect the same from a President Obama. Yes! We! Can!
Not.
What all the knee-jerkers here fail to realize is, there are not enough Republican voters left in this country to get McNutcase elected. Why do you think he is going so far to the Left this early? Or promising his “ability” to “Reach across the isle to his Democrat friends and colleagues”?
Also his ridiculous “Cap and Trade” scam and total belief in Globull Warming.
This one will be worse than ‘06. It will be a Democrat Tsunami in all aspects of Government, so either prepare for that outcome and learn to accept it, or get yourself a Harri-Kari sword.
I only said I would vote for Obama to jab a sharp stick into the eyes of the so called conservative that are willing to allow Obama to win because they cannot stand John McCain.
Politics is a test of flexibility, how far are you willing to bend to achieve your goals.
It is better that we bend on our own to avoid what we fear then be bent over a fence of our own making, and receive what we have allowed to happen.
McCain may shut down Gitmo, But Obama will give it back to the Communists.
McCain may limit political advertising but Obama will use the Fairness doctrine to silence political talk radio.
McCain may think Green but Obama will force green down our throats until this nation collapses.
McCain May stay in Iraq until we are done there, but Obama will surrender to those we have beaten and make deals with them.
I can go on and on but I’d like to leave you all with this one last thought....
“President Obama calls for reparations to be paid.”
It could happen sooner then you think.
Your anti McCain speeches are pure unadultraded hate based drivel.
You are like Bill Clinton, a constant spew of lies lies lies.
You are the definition of Bitcon
Amen Bro..... (a little eubonic lingo to get in practice for when Hussein is elected by default)
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