Dear Editor,
With the withdrawal of Gov. Mitt Romney, it seems Sen. John McCain is the leading Republican candidate for president of the United States.
This leaves conservatives such as myself with quite a conundrum. Do I (1) vote for someone who is far from my ideal choice, (2) vote for a third party candidate or (3) sit this one out and start to stockpile canned goods in the basement?
On the upside, McCain is a proven war hero descended from a long line of war heroes. His grandfather and father were both four star admirals.
His sons now serve as well, John McCain IV is at Annapolis and James is a Marine deployed in Iraq.
His courage while in the Hanoi Hilton for over five and a half years proves his strength of character.
He had a chance to be released six months after being captured, but refused to go unless everyone captured before him were also returned.
He is solid on some conservative issues such as free trade, abortion and the prosecution of the war. I think I can trust him on future nominees to the Supreme Court and federal judges. I know he will go far in healing this rift between conservatives and liberals. But he voted against the Bush tax cut. Twice. The only positive thing is he did vote for the extension of the tax cuts later on.
Then there is McCain-Feingold and McCain-Kennedy, two horrendous pieces of legislation he actually put his name on.
The first brought about groups like MoveOn.org and added “Swiftboating” to the political language. The second used every word but amnesty for illegal emigrants.
There was a huge backlash from angry Americans calling and writing Congress in protest, which killed that bill. McCain says he got the message, but can I trust him?
And, lest we forget, he was touted to be John Kerry’s first choice for VP. The only hope I see is if the Democrats nominate Barack Obama and we can all move on from the politics of personal destruction that hallmarks the Clinton campaign machine.
I would much rather face a worthy opponent like Obama and perhaps lose than hand the keys to Air Force One back to the Clintons. Can I hear an amen?
– G. Michael Thomas

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