Game over: McCain crushes Hayworth

No, Allahpundit and other anti-McCain posters here, the Arizona GOP voters spoke distinctly and correctly. John McCain was the vastly superior candidate. The anti-McCain sentiment stated here is simply unwarranted. John McCain is no RINO and did not dramatically move to the right in 2010 to win the GOP primary.

McCain, throughout his career, has been a pro-life fiscal conservative who has gotten into heated argument over his opposition to earmarked and out of control federal spending; McCain, quite consistently, voted AGAINST Obama’s multi-trillion dollar deficit spending. McCain had the most free market approach to health care in 2008 of all the candidates and had always been adamantly opposed to national health care; quite consistently, McCain voted AGAINST ObamaCare. McCain also voted AGAINST every Obama bailout bill and even voted against the second release of TARP monies when Bush was still President in late 2008. McCain’s historical commitment ot he appointment of strict constructionist judges caused him to vote AGAINST the confirmation of Sotomayer and Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court. McCain also, in 2009, voted AGAINST the confirmation of radical pro-abortionist Sibellius and tax cheat Giethner to their respective positions in the Obama Administration.

Few people have the experience and knowledge concerning foreign policy, military matters and national security that John McCain has. He was right about the Iraq War when even many Republicans went wobbly and fought off Democrat led efforts to cut off funding our troops in the field in Iraq. McCain was right to attack Obama for dithering about committing the proper resources for our efforts in Afghanistan and for not supporting the Iranian dissidents. McCain could be right because he knows his stuff when it comes to Commander in Chief decisions. In the years ahead, we are going to be facing tough foreign policy problems; the Republicans needs McCain’s voice on those matters. On top of it all, McCain was a combat naval aviator, the son and grandson of U.S. Navy Admirals and a genuine war hero; his campaign theme of “Country First” reflected a family tradition of military service continuing with one son who is a Marine who has served several tours of duty in Iraq and another son who is a Naval Academy graduate and serves in the Navy; John McCain’s discussion of serving with a servant’s heart was and is genuine.

On immigration, John McCain deserves more credit than he is often given. In 2007, he did sponsor what Newt Gingrich has called a serious effort at comprehensive immigration reform that had tough law enforcement provisions in it, which McCain would point out when responding to claims that the proposed law’s effect would be amnesty. The reaction of a good portion of the American people, however, was that law enforcement must come first, as the last effort at comprehensive reform — which was during the Reagan Administration — did not work well stemming from the lack of law enforcement. McCain accepted that judgment, and in 2008, law enforcement first was the position of the GOP. In 2009, McCain called for the deployment of troops along the southern border because of the drug cartels taking over northern Mexico and the resulting violence spilling over the border in the United States — a situation that has worsened in 2010. The fact that Phoenix became the kidnaping capital in the United States and the murder of the Arizona rancher made border security an imperative; that imperative is even greater given intelligence that the drug cartels are linking up with radical Islamists. McCain, a military man who knows national security, is responding as a someone who does see what is a very serious national security issue. The snide remarks here about amnesty are just way off the mark.

I think it is high time for certain conservatives to get over their McCain derangement syndrome and keep their focus on beating Obama and other socialist Democrats.

Phil Byler on August 25, 2010 at 11:03 PM