Jamie

Weinstein

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November 3, 2008

In Times Like These, John McCain

Every generation has its leaders. Every era has its heroes. When we are lucky, they are one and the same. 

At 72 years old, John McCain could very well have sailed off into the sunset and lived out the rest of his days in luxury in one of his seven houses. After the terrible libels that were spread about him in the 2000 election, he had every right to. He certainly had no obligation to subject himself to the personal attacks and exhaustion that are staples of a presidential campaign.

But this is not the kind of man John McCain is. With America and the world engulfed in the midst of trying times, it is only natural for a man of McCain's caliber to offer his services to the American people. It is only natural for a man of his lineage to want to be given the opportunity to set America right and put it on course to claim yet another American century before he exits the stage.

When it comes to character, the Arizona senator has few equals, at least in politics. His character was forged in fire. His story is one of legend and hardly needs to be repeated. But when McCain refused early release from his POW prison camp in North Vietnam in 1968 because it was against his code of honor, he unknowingly opened a window into his soul. By saying no to freedom and consequently yes to many more years of sadistic torture, McCain showed us that he is a man who has few equals, a man of almost unimaginable valor.

This means something. Remember, John McCain is a politician. There are plenty of fine politicians, but the nature of the business is often one of false appearances. It is hard to tell sometimes the mettle of a man during a national campaign. We hardly know anything about Barack Obama. Yet we know all we need to know about John McCain's character by a decision he made 40 years ago. All character assassinations hurled at him ring hollow knowing what we know, having looked into his soul through our glass window.

But just because McCain acted heroically 40 years ago does not mean he should be president.  You can be a man of tremendous character and be tremendously misguided when it comes to policy. Fortunately, in John McCain, you get a man who even while imperfect (see Campaign Finance Reform, for instance), has consistently staked out the right stance on the most important policy issues and a man who has been willing to fight for the causes he believes in, even if it meant defying his own party and imperiling his political ambitions.

Unfortunately, McCain's campaign comes at a time when the public has lost confidence in the Bush Administration and by extension the Republican Party. To add to his troubles, McCain faces a man who sings a siren song. The words are beautiful, nearly irresistible, but if America makes the collective decision to follow this siren singer, it will end up dashed up against the rocks.

We don't have to let that happen. Hope and change are nice words, and if these amorphous concepts are something you long for why not vote for the man whose career has defined them. John McCain gives us the hope that can only be inspired by great men with bold courage. He provides the change that can only be accomplished by a man who has spent a career fighting for it against entrenched powers. The only change his opponent brings is a superficial kind which, while momentarily exhilarating, brings us nothing substantively.

We could delve into the policy matters. We could discuss how John McCain stands for free trade and lower taxes, how he will support strict constructionist justices to the Supreme Court, how he has the backbone to finally push through entitlement reform or his bold policy in support of immigration reform. All is impressive and, much more importantly, correct in terms of the policy debate. But what concerns me most is foreign policy in this all-too-dangerous world.

I want you to imagine something before you go into the voting booth. Take a second and close your eyes. Imagine it is March 2009.

Yes, somewhere next year, maybe March, maybe April, but sometime soon after our next president is inaugurated there will be some type of summit or gathering of world leaders. Maybe in New York, maybe in Davos, Switzerland, but somewhere assuredly.

At this summit our president may sit down with Vladimir Putin (still effectively the Russian head of state) or Hu Jintao or someone of the like. So close your eyes and imagine this scene. See it.  Imagine the American president going off with one of these leaders. Let's say Putin. They are together alone without advisors. Putin, a seasoned ruffian, is talking tough and making demands and sizing up our new commander in chief. He is an intimidating force.

Do you have this image in your mind, yet? These two men are close. They are chair to chair. Now that you have this image in your head ask yourself who you want staring back at Putin, directly into his eyes? Do you want Barack Obama, who only four years ago was in the Illinois state Senate, and who seems to have a naïve concept of the way the world works? Or would you rather have the steely gaze of John McCain, the warrior with scars to prove it, the guy who has been thinking about foreign policy strategy his entire adult life? Who do you think will project a greater aura of strength?

The question, I think, answers itself.

© 2008 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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