Gregory D.

Lee

Read Greg's bio and previous columns here

February 18, 2008

McCain Would Be Reagan’s Choice

Like it or not, it appears that John McCain will be the de facto Republican nominee for president. His claim of being a foot soldier in the Reagan revolution has fallen on many deaf ears, and he may never convince some conservatives that the two have anything in common.

Based upon McCain’s legislative and voting record, who would Reagan vote for in the general election?

Sen. McCain once denounced the Christian right. He doesn’t believe that domestic drilling for oil in Alaska’s ANWR is a good idea, and called Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito “too conservative” during his confirmation hearing. He wrote legislation, co-authored with arguably one of the most liberal members of the senate, Russ Feingold, which limits free speech in political campaigns, an obvious violation of the First Amendment.  

Sen. McCain voted for federal funding of embryonic stem cell research and condemned the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth during the 2004 presidential campaign, even though they brought light on Sen. John Kerry’s true military record. He has said that he would like to see the Guantanamo Bay prison shut down and would not support a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as being between a man and woman. He also opposed the Bush tax cut proposal to end the marriage penalty. He helped create the “gang of 14,” that preserves filibusters in judicial hearings and is against waterboarding terrorists, which he has characterized as torture.

But in the minds of conservatives, the last straw was his co-authoring with Ted Kennedy, of all people, the comprehensive immigration reform bill that would have granted amnesty for 12 million illegal aliens. When he brought it up in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Committee conference on February 7, he was booed.

So, in light of all this evidence, who would Reagan vote for? McCain would be his obvious choice.

Conservatives may not like the choices they have this election cycle, but that’s how the system works, so get over it. Sitting out an election just because your party’s candidate isn’t as conservative as you would like him to be is a poor excuse. Voting for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama would be much worse.  

Conservatives need to ask themselves which candidate is more likely to vote for permanent tax cuts? Which candidate is more likely to lower taxes? Or, to put it another way, which candidate is guaranteed to raise taxes? According to his campaign web site, McCain now wants to make Bush’s tax cuts permanent and also believes it should require a three-fifth majority vote in Congress to raise taxes. Hillary wants to raise taxes on oil corporations that will ultimately be passed on to the consumer in the form of higher gas prices that will ultimately slow the economy.

Which candidate would lower spending? McCain has consistently said he will veto pork-laden bills that come across his desk. Hillary and Obama want to nationalize health care and have never seen a government program they didn’t like.

Which candidate will be stronger on national security and more committed to destroying Islamofascism?

Remember, there will possibly be up to three Supreme Court retirements in the next four years. Do you want a pure-bred liberal, like Obama, nominating 40-year-old ACLU members who could be there for over four decades? I don’t. Who is more likely to nominate federal judges who will make decisions based on the Constitution and not legislate from the bench?

McCain also has an 82.3 percent conservative voting record, according to the American Conservative Union. And, like Reagan, but not Hillary and Obama, McCain isn’t a lawyer. There’s a campaign slogan he can run with: “Vote for me, I’m not a lawyer!”

Sure, McCain isn’t Reagan reincarnated, but neither are Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama by a long shot. Reagan wouldn’t sulk because his guy didn’t get nominated. McCain is the clear choice over the Democratic opposition, and is someone conservatives can live with.

Gregory D. Lee writes for North Star Writers Group and can be contacted through his website: www.gregorydlee.com.  

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