RECENT POSTS
- This Flu Kills
August 29, 2009 - Serious Doubts on Healthcare
August 27, 2009 - Ted Kennedy Dies
August 26, 2009 - Two and a Half Men: The Return of the Sitcom
August 24, 2009 - MJ's FBI File
August 24, 2009 - How Youth Make a Difference
August 22, 2009 - Hurricane Katrina Four-Year Anniversary: Have We Done Enough?
August 21, 2009 - Bringing Guns to Obama Town Halls
August 19, 2009
E-mail a friendYOUNG VOICES
Backing the Mac
On the surface, it appears that Senator McCain and I have very little in common. He is relatively old, and I am relatively young. He has had an incredible political career, and I will just be entering the job market in June. So why is John McCain my man?
First, McCain has the experience in domestic and foreign relations to competently navigate through the dangerous and complex post 9-11 world. McCain served in the U.S. Navy, and is currently the ranking member of the Senate Committee on the Armed Services. In addition, McCain had the guts to say that the Bush-Rumsfeld strategy for the War in Iraq was failing, while other Republicans were too busy avoiding the press altogether. Moreover, he played a major role in forming the new, more successful surge strategy. I believe McCain will be able to forge stronger relationships with our allies, while staying on course to face the looming threat from terrorists.
Second, McCain is a fiscal conservative. Not only does he oppose raising taxes, he also proposes making it harder for Congress to tax by requiring a 3/5 majority vote for tax legislation. Moreover, McCain wants to permanently repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax as a way to help the middle class. At the same time, John McCain promotes fiscal discipline. While most people in America understand that you shouldn't spend more than you earn, our government recklessly spends money that it does not have. McCain has spoken out against such practices and was even named a "Taxpayer Hero" by the Citizens Against Government Waste.
Third, John McCain is a man of principle, not a man of party discipline. He has demonstrated this time and time again throughout his political career, starting in the House of Representatives in 1982. McCain believes that the best policy for dealing with illegal immigration needs to be comprehensive. While some call this approach "amnesty," I call it practical. You have to cut off the access of illegal aliens at the borders, but you cannot ignore the value of other reforms, such as guest-worker programs or additional paths to legal citizenship. We have to get to the root of the illegal immigration problem, and I think John McCain, the senator from a border state, will best be able to develop a solution that can get us there.
Lastly, McCain talks about global warming and the environment, while other Republicans sidestep the issue entirely. Don't get me wrong, McCain is not a full fledged tree-hugger. Rather, he realizes that even if global climate change isn't due to human activity, it makes sense to curb pollution anyway. We can leave this world a little better off than it was before, and maybe, just maybe, if global climate change is due to human activity, we will be able to prolong serious consequences.
No, Mr. McCain isn't perfect. He didn't support the Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003, he co-authored the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act (BCRA), and he's been known to hobnob with very liberal coworkers in the Senate. But for all his shortcomings, I believe John McCain can unite this nation, rather than divide it. Most of all, I believe John McCain has the capacity to inspire a new generation of Americans to believe that our country stands for something great and worthwhile. For these reasons, I support Senator John McCain as the Republican candidate for President of the United States of America.