Republican John McCain holds the most promise of offering the type of sound leadership this nation needs. Instead of simply offering the country four more years of the policies of an unpopular president, McCain has both the independence and the intelligence to end the worst abuses of the administration of George W. Bush, without leading the nation in a radically differently — and even more irresponsible — direction.
Moreover, the long-time senator from Arizona has the experience that Democrat Sen. Barack Obama lacks.
We like Barack Obama. He has the ability to inspire Americans in a way that we have not seen since the two terms of Ronald Reagan and, before that, the all too brief presidency of John F. Kennedy. We first witnessed his considerable skills as a orator when his powerful and moving keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention thrust the then Illinois state senator into the national limelight. We also were inspired by his best-selling book, “The Audacity of Hope.”
But Obama’s resume is extremely thin. He has yet to reach the two-thirds mark of his first term in the U.S. Senate, and he has spent most of that time running for president. While he says the right words about being able to reach across party lines to get bipartisan support for important programs, there is little evidence of him having done so as a member of the U.S. Senate or, before that, as a member of the Illinois State Senate. With few exceptions, he has voted with his fellow Democrats on every key issue, and while he talks about “change,” his proposals mirror Democratic policies that have been around for decades.
In contrast, John McCain does have a record of reaching across party lines on key issues. He joined with Democrat Russ Feingold to gain approval of a far-reaching campaign finance law, and he joined with other senators from both parties in a failed attempt to reach a compromise on immigration reform. He has opposed his president by sharply criticizing the use of torture on prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a victim of torture while a prisoner of war in Vietnam, he knows better than any other senator that the U.S. should not engage in such cruel and barbaric actions.
While the sagging economy has replaced the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as the top issue among voters, we are confident that McCain is better able than Obama to bring these wars to a just end. To simply bring our soldiers home without a stable government in place in Iraq and Afghanistan would be a recipe for disaster. If either country soon returns to government by autocratic regimes like they were before our arrival, then the American soldiers who have sacrificed their lives in these conflicts will have died in vain. We think the United States was wrong to invade Iraq, but we can’t undo what’s been done. The key is to get out of Iraq with honor.
On the economy, we have to be honest: We don’t have a lot of confidence in either John McCain or Barack Obama righting a sinking economic ship. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats have shown much interest in bringing federal spending under control, and until it is, the health of our economy is vulnerable. We do know this: Both Obama and McCain have promised new programs the nation simply cannot afford to implement.
McCain has been rightly criticized for his selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. While in many ways we like Palin, she is woefully unprepared to be president. If McCain thought he needed a female as a running mate, there were far better candidates than Sarah Palin.
In comparison to the glib, outgoing Obama, John McCain is rather bland. But beyond the outward appearances comes substance, and in that area, John McCain is the better choice.
