I also noticed in the list someone posted of those supporting McCain, that Sam Johnson was not on that list. Who is Sam Johnson? Well, he just happens to another Vietnam vet who was also a POW. Why is his opinion of John McCain left off the table?
John McCain already moves to mollify the GOP right
Former Sen. Bob Dole, who knows a thing or three about losing elections to the Clintons, has some advice for conservative radio talk show impresario Rush Limbaugh, who’s been loudly complaining about John McCain for weeks.
Dole, the GOP candidate who got erased in the 1996 election by Bill Clinton, is trying to calm down the prominent conservative who’s threatening party unity with his outspoken on-air opposition to the not-so-conservative McCain, as he appears to zero in on the Republican nomination, which could be decided as early as today.
In a personal letter to Limbaugh released by the McCain campaign, Dole wisely first stroked the conservative broadcaster’s broad ego, then proceeded ...
to support McCain as a true conservative. “I have not seen you in a long time,” Dole wrote, “but I do hear you frequently and I know that you have serious reservations about Senator McCain.”
“I worked closely with Senator McCain when he came to the Senate in 1987,” Dole wrote, “until I departed (in 1996). I cannot recall a single instance when he did not support the Party on critical votes. (At my age, I cannot be entirely certain but here are a few key conservative examples:)”
Dole then lists nine major issues McCain supported. He provides some statistics showing McCain sometimes actually supported Republican presidents more and opposed Bill Clinton more than even Sen. Jesse Helms.
“I disagree with his votes against the Bush tax cuts,” Dole adds, “but I believe his pledge to make them permanent and I do not agree that Governor Romney ever suggested a timetable for troop withdrawals in Iraq.”
Dole notes that he wore a bracelet with McCain’s name during the Arizonan’s POW years. And he closes with, “Whoever wins the Republican nomination will need your enthusiastic support. Two terms for the Clintons are enough.”
The problem for the GOP’s conservative wing represented vocally by Limbaugh is that it dithered throughout 2007 awaiting the Second Coming of a Ronald Reagan, who would embody a perfect conservative fiscal, social and economic candidate. Fred Thompson flamed out with his four-hour workdays. Sam Brownback, Tommy Thompson and Jim Gilmore had the collective charisma of a corpse and got no political traction.
Rudy Giuliani, the hero of 9/11, waited too long to show his stuff and then didn’t have any. And Mitt Romney sounds like a genuine conservative convert now but the images of those liberal-looking YouTube videos from the 1990s linger.
Certainly, part of the blame for the party’s situation falls on President Bush, who didn’t help prepare a successor. He was comfortable sticking with Dick Cheney as his vice president for the second term, when he could have picked a new one in 2004 and given that VP four years to become the obvious inheritor.
Last summer there seemed no hurry for the conservatives to line up behind a favorite. McCain was clearly dead and nearly buried. But the oldest major candidate, the one who had the grit to endure some 2,000 days of solitary POW confinement and then did exactly what he said he could, he out-campaigned everyone else. Suddenly, McCain won New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida.
“Does what you did 35 years ago give you a pass for the rest of your life? If so, then lets free that one Rep who went to prison, the guy who was a Vietnam Ace. Isn’t he a hero? “
Have you even read my posts???? My original statement was in response to another poster who said McCain was not a hero. My response to that person was that he indeed was a hero while a POW in Viet Nam and I outlined why. I then went on to say that there are plenty of things to attack McCain on starting with his assualt on the first amendment. The bravery he displayed as a fighter pilot and POW has been documented and should not be taken away from him. I never said I was giving him a pass. I was a Fred Thompson supporter and will not vote for McCain unless he has a very conservative VP candidate. I’m not happy with either Romney or McCain as a choice but I’ll take Romney over McCain.
Before responding, you should make sure you understand everything that has been said.
Oh, and the Vietnam Ace you were referring to was Duke Cunningham and I agree. He got what he deserved.