Why I'm endorsing John McCain
Though I'm still busy being eaten alive by report cards, I think it's critical to add my voice to the many in this discussion over who should be the next POTUS. (I just like saying "POTUS".)As an unenrolled voter in tomorrow's Massachusetts primary, I can choose which primary - Democrat or Republican - to participate in. Though I've occasionally laughed at my in-laws' urging to "vote in the primary where you can do the most damage" my choice is predicated on which one I care more about.
I've watched both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama speak. I've read a bit about both of their platforms. I don't think they're that different. Though the election sometimes feels like a third-grade popularity contest, I've vowed never to stoop that low, given how much hangs in the balance. (More on this tomorrow if I finally manage to finish my "lessons from the 1800 election" blog post.) Hillary? Barack? Whatever. I don't like either, but I could live with both.
Mitt Romney, on the other hand, is not someone I could live with as president. If he ran against Hillary (someone I used to say I hated), I'd probably vote for her. Mitt Romney smacks of opportunism. He rejects John McCain's claims that he's a flip-flopper and says it's natural and normal and even a sign of enlightened thinking to change your position on issues. That's true - if you transition from 4th grade to 5th or from college to the real world. That's not the case here. Mitt Romney has changed his positions because it's politically convenient. Huckabee, a man I respectfully think is nuts, spoke yesterday about Romney trying to buy him and buy the election*. I have to say, I worry that Romney's just a big overgrown kid who wants a newer and bigger train set to play with, and will spend what he has to and say what he has to to do so. I don't think Romney is a qualified enough engineer to drive this great American train set. I might be a Republican, but that doesn't mean that I think a country should be run with the same principles as a business. I don't trust Romney on Iraq, and I don't like him on illegal immigration. He says such inane things like "America doesn't need more work visas" when businesses on Cape Cod and other touristy places are begging for them.
McCain, on the other hand, has integrity. He's compassionate but firm on illegal immigrants, he's realistic on the war in Iraq and he understands that government spending has to be cut. I don't like the situation in Iraq, but you break it, you bought it. We can't just walk out and leave them to destroy each other. I think it's almost disingenuous for Obama and Clinton to suggest this because it won't be fully their decision not to.
John McCain seems to be a man of integrity whose positions on foreign policy and the economy are not too far from mine. I am confident that the electorate will be similarly clearheaded. Or as his devotees would chant pithily, "Mac is back."
Postscript:
Oh, and my husband, also unenrolled, **might** vote for Obama. That would make us Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwartzenegger. What do I have in common with the Governator, you ask? Well, neither of us can ever run for president - we're not born in the USA.
*Source: NPR
posted by Aliza @ 6:52 a.m.
1 Comments:
Actually you might be able to run for president as you were born a US citizen. The constitution is a little fuzzy on it. John Mccain was actually not born in the US but in Panama Canal Zone though it was controlled by the US at the time. In this day and age I think that the supreme court would probably rule in favor of letting a person born as a US citizen outside the US run, as the constitution doesn't define what a "natural born citizen" is.
P.S. write me in for republican town committee member! You get to vote for 35 and there are only 22 on the ballot. I like my odds.
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