Senator John McCain

Senator John McCain does some things I don't like. He takes a position on Iraq which, in my opinion, is doomed to failure. He sidles up to religious fundamentalists in a manner that suggests pandering on a street corner. I would expect 60 Minutes' Andy Rooney would summarize my feelings about McCain in the following manner; 'I like McCain about 80% of the time; the other 20% I can't stand him'. I have given a lot of thought about who should be the next president of the United States. In my opinion, George W. Bush has been the worst president ever. His smug superiority complex has badly damaged the institutional structure of our way of life and form of government and the next president needs to be a states person of the first order of magnitude to repair the damage both at home and abroad. Until this moment in time I have been lulled into the mind-think of polarization that the last fifteen years or so of Republican-Democrat politics has wrought. Under this group mind-think, a politician needs to agree 100% of the time with the voter or he/she is garbage. I am re-thinking my position in this regard. I cannot succumb to the general platitude politician (i.e. the one who carefully scripts a position which is only calculated to not offend) so prevalent in the current presidential crop of candidates. Give me someone with some meat on their bones. Now that McCain has formally announced his candidacy (big surprise) I am committed to taking a serious look at the man, particularly that 20% I don't like. Will I see something there that aligns him so closely with the Bushian style that would cause me to reject him out of hand? At this writing I don't know. I do sense one thing, however. I sense that millions of people in the United States are precisely at the same station as I am. We sense that a re-grip on the fundamental principles upon which this government was founded requires a first rate person who can move beyond platitudes. Is McCain that person? I don't know, but his five years at the Hanoi Hilton establishes a high bar in terms of life experiences that a 'states person to be' can bring to the table in contrast to, say for example, a four hundred dollar haircut candidate. My mind is open. I am listening.