“Mr. McCain has proved himself a leader over decades, in the military and then in Congress. He has a strong grasp of public policy, especially national security and foreign affairs. But he has made a name for himself in his willingness to buck the powers that be in Washington, D.C. — including leaders in his own party and powerful special interests — for such causes as campaign-finance reform and responsible budgeting.
In this primary campaign, Mr. McCain has stuck by politically risky positions in favor of immigration reform and mandatory steps to fight global warming. His opposition to federal ethanol subsidies and support for phasing out all farm subsidies probably cost him any chance to win the Iowa caucuses.
Mr. McCain’s rejection of subsidies is rooted in his commitment to free trade, a key issue for Florida. Trade supports hundreds of thousands of jobs here and generates billions of dollars in sales for state companies and farmers.
As last week’s presidential debate in Boca Raton showed, Mr. McCain is not the most polished Republican candidate on the stump. That title goes to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. But Mr. Romney’s evolution in recent years from a moderate to a conservative better aligned with GOP presidential primary voters raises doubts about his core beliefs and commitment to principle.
Like Mr. Romney, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee have executive governing experience that Mr. McCain lacks. But none measures up to Mr. McCain’s level of leadership, political courage and integrity.”
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-ed28108jan28,0,4161101,print.story
First Posted at http://blogs4mccain.com/
Monday, January 28, 2008
The Orlando Sentinel: McCain Displays “Leadership, Political Courage And Integrity.”
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Volunteering in South Carolina
What a thrill! I was down in South Carolina for about a week volunteering for the McCain campaign and was upstate one county over from Bob Jones University. There were one to two dozen people volunteering many from around the country, and some locals too. If the saying is true that you can judge a person by who he surrounds himself with, then Senator McCain is in good shape. It's a good group of volunteers that donated their time and resources in the effort to get the Senator elected. I've been impressed with both New Hampshire and South Carolina volunteers, and there do seem to be a few similar traits McCain volunteers seem to share. They are smart, passionate, and have a good sense of humor. I don't think any other candidate has volunteers that are so amused by being chewed out, or flipped off by a Democrat or a Romney supporter.
The dedication is evident with volunteers roaming remote regions of South Carolina (areas that GPS systems never heard of) to put out a single yard sign in front of an abscure polling location at 2 to 3 o'clock in the morning the night before the primary. Volunteers spend hours on the phone either convincing people to support Senator McCain or convincing them to actually get dressed and go out to the polls. Honestly, one of the reasons it ended up being so much fun was that we won. The victory party was amazing. The Senator made a great speech, and the magnitude of the comeback was not lost on anyone. It's nice that the Senator and his staff are so appreciative of his volunteers. It probably isn't necessary because his supporters are loyal and dedicated, but it is nice to know that the effort of all volunteers, in state and out, is appreciated deeply.
So on to Florida, and lets finish these early primaries off right!
