Anxiety Over McCain

After a strong win in Florida and a continued rise in the polls, John McCain has gone from maverick Republican to the front runner. However, McCain is not exactly an establishment candidate, nor is he inspiring the GOP base. McCain has long been a thorn in the side of conservatives on a variety of issues, barring foreign policy. The problem for many conservatives is not that McCain works with Democrats, its that he sides with them.

On campaign finance, McCain acted as though he was working with Senator Feingold to limit the contributions to political campaigns so that the super-rich and large corporations could not “decide” elections. However, unions (who almost always support Democrat candidates in every election) were exempt from campaign finance. Why? Not only that, McCain-Feingold has resulted in an explosion of 527s and/or PACs (Political Action Committees) used as attack dogs rather than agents of pluralism.

On taxes, McCain opposed the Bush tax cuts early on. When the GOP primary was going on in 2000, McCain admitted his plan even had a slight increase for the wealthiest bracket. While McCain did call for tax cuts in 2000, his plan was only half the size of Bush’s tax cut plan. But worst of all, McCain voted twice against the Bush tax cuts, which did a great deal to ensure economic growth throughout the Bush administration’s tenure despite 9/11 and the Enron/Worldcom fiascos.

On global warming, McCain has invoked Theodore Roosevelt – but has not been exactly clear on what he intends to do. He does believe that the U.S. should join Kyoto if Russia and China can be convinced to join in too (no mention of India). Unlike McCain, I do not believe that the “debate is over” on climate change. The fact that Mars and other planets are also warming provides ample evidence for me that sun’s intensity is, in fact, the primary cause of global warming, not human activity.

On immigration, McCain has proven completely unreliable as the conservative he claims to be. He was strongly in favor of granting amnesty to illegal aliens, evidenced by his close work with Ted Kennedy. Not only was the deal bad, the manner in which it was driven through the Senate verged on dictatorial. But not only was amnesty advocated by McCain, he has voted to give illegal aliens Social Security benefits. He also sponsored legislation to allow illegal aliens to qualify for in-state tuition (much like Mike Huckabee). McCain also voted against a measure that would have barred gang members, terrorists, and other criminals from the United States.(source) McCain has called those who say he supported amnesty “liars,” but his record speaks otherwise. It is no coincidence that the biggest pro-amnesty Republican, Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL), has endorsed McCain. McCain also voted to cancel the border fence, despite his rhetoric on national security.

To his credit, John McCain has been a consistent and unflinching supporter of Bush’s foreign policy in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has critiqued Bush’s policies, but his criticism was constructive and, looking retrospectively, very correct. He supported the surge, supported the mission in Afghanistan, supported being tough on Iran (and supports perhaps getting even tougher). The defense of the country is the most important job of the government, and probably the most important issue going forward into the next President’s term despite what the polls may indicate. In his opposition to Islamism, McCain has been right on.

However, his domestic policies leave a great deal to be desired. He has not only worked with Democrats and the Left, he has sided with them on every issue. I would not expect the GOP base to rally to McCain’s cause in the event of a tight race as they did for Bush in 2000 and 2006. While he depicts himself as a Reagan Republican, McCain’s record is quite the opposite of a Reagan-conservative. Thus, it is no surprise that conservatives are flocking to Mitt Romney rather than McCain. Who your friends are says a lot about who you are, and McCain’s endorsements from Arnold Schwarzenegger, Joe Lieberman, Martinez, Rudy Giuliani, the New York Times, Sen. Susan Collins, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, and other “moderates” speak volumes.

I strongly believe McCain would be a better president than Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, but I’m not sure he would be a good president for Republican/conservative voters. His tone in the recent debate with Mitt Romney was very distasteful to viewers. It may foreshadow a McCain that is closed to debate, cynical, denigrating, and intolerant of dissent. If McCain is worrying to Democrats vying for the presidency in 2008, he may cause more anxiety for conservatives.

This article is also available at Family Security Matters.