Jan 25 2008
John McCain – A Mixed Bag
John McCain is stumping in Florida right now. Unlike the Democrats in this state who’s votes won’t count for anything because they will have not delegates seated in the convention, the Republicans are going to pay attention to the voters. With Florida’s enormous veteran population, second only to California, John McCain is counting on a large turn out and victory.
“From here to Key West, Florida is one of the most patriotic states in America and that is why I am very proud to be here,” McCain says as he courts a constituency critical to his chances in Florida’s GOP presidential primary Tuesday.
Consider the numbers: Florida is home to an estimated 1.7 million veterans, second only to California. And veterans are a key element in McCain’s political strategy. (Source: CNN)
John McCain may very well carry the coveted veteran’s vote in Florida. Everyone is aware of his service to this country during the Vietnam war. They also know about his time spent in the Hanoi Hilton. He has a military record that is hard to dispute. He is also the only major candidate with sons serving in the military.
The son of an admiral, McCain is the only leading candidate in either party to have children who have served in the military. In the senator’s case, one son is in Iraq, the other at the Naval Academy. They get a mention in virtually every introduction of the candidate by wife Cindy McCain.
“I want my sons back like everybody else,” she says in Fort Walton Beach. “But I want them back having done their duty and with honor and in dignity and most of all in victory.”
But Senator McCain has one major flaw. It is his stance on Illegal Immigration. He supports granting amnesty and legalizing the illegals. As odd as it sounds he is walking hand in hand with Senator Ted Kennedy on this one. Yet, this stand is costing him dearly. Many are now referring to him as “Amnesty John”.
In 2007, much of America’s political oxygen was consumed by the two I-words: Iraq and immigration. If the former was supposed to boost John McCain’s GOP primary campaign, the latter was supposed to torpedo it. Not only did the Arizona senator favor a relatively liberal immigration policy, he had cosponsored legislation with left-wing lion Ted Kennedy to establish a temporary worker program and offer millions of illegal immigrants a path to citizenship. In the summer of 2005, the cover of National Review had assailed McCain as “Amnesty John.” In the late spring and early summer of 2007, McCain supported a comprehensive immigration reform bill that provoked furious opposition from conservative talk radio and the Republican base. It nearly destroyed his presidential bid. (Source: CBS).
His position on this one issue alone is enough to make many of us look elsewhere for a candidate. A candidate who puts America and Americans first. We don’t need a bunch of people who broke our laws to get here going to the front of the line and being legalized in front of all those legal immigrants who followed the law.
Only a Washington insider wearing blinders could possibly take the position John and Ted have taken. They are out of touch with their constituents and what is happening in their own states.
