Today I heard of the salacious stories about John McCain and some lobbyist named Iseman. She looks good, for an old guy like him, but she's not much different than his trophy wife. Putting aside the obvious target of a candidate fooling around on the campaign trail, and focusing on the ethics issues, it seems awfully suspicious that Mr. McCain was close to a lobbyist when he is trying to build and maintain this image of a good, clean incorruptible guy.
Now as a guy, I know how easy it is to be influenced by pretty women. They are all over, and if one is not careful, he could be attracted to, and therefore make foolish decisions because of one of those women. I have to stay away from women like that, as I have higher goals in mind than just fulfilling my flesh. I don't think that many guys will honestly say that they can hang around with attractive women and not be attracted to them, so this was a foolish move on Mr. McCain's part. So let's be clear about that: The appearance of impropriety is a big thing when one is trying to be the clean candidate, and it casts a bad light on his judgment. As President, judgment is the key quality that is required.
With good judgment, I would trust almost anyone as President. I say "almost anyone" because "good judgment" implies that the person will defend and protect the country above fulfilling their person desires and maintaining their personal image. Such a person with good judgment would protect our borders first, and protect our people from foreign invaders, whether they are invading through cracks in the fence, or just overstaying their welcome (9/11 anybody?). A person with good judgment would help people to achieve their best, and encourage them to provide for themselves and help their fellow man. A person with good judgment would also protect the most innocent among us, such as unborn babies, while letting those who have been found dangerous to society face the consequences of their proven actions.
So just because the New York Times is attacking John McCain does not change my position on his judgment. It also does not change the positions that drove me to not want to vote for Mr. McCain. While I do believe that the enemy of my enemy may be my friend, Mr. McCain has not proven that he is a friend to me. He is simply facing the heat that would come on any enemy of the liberal establishment, as voiced by the NYT. A moderate Republican is too conservative for the NYT, but not conservative enough for a true conservative like me. They endorsed John McCain in the primaries, but had no intention of supporting him in the general election. Why should anyone follow the suggestions of a hostile group of people when picking their candidate? Yet the media pointed to his endorsement by the NYT, his victories in "blue states", and people started talking about electing the candidate who can win "broad support". When poles of the Big Tent are liberal, the tent tends to collapse to the left.
I know not one person who is excited about John McCain for President. Not one. And I know a lot of people, from various parts of the country. Groups like the NYT believe that we will like or dislike a group for personal reasons. To a small extent, that is true, but the main reason conservatives like a candidate is that they like his positions on the issues, and trust that he will give every effort to getting those positions enacted into our laws or at least into our culture. Sometimes a position can be influential by just repeating it from the bully pulpit, while there are clearly those that need to be enacted into law. This explains why the Border enforcement and the Fair Tax were not enough to propel Mike Huckabee into the top position in the campaign. Not enough people believed he would really do those things, and not enough people really believed he was conservative enough that they could really trust him to get the job done in a conservative way. He had a record of running as a conservative, but then backing down to a Democrat legislature. He also has a class warfare streak that comes out in speeches and in debates, and that rubs a lot of conservatives the wrong way. But that's a whole nother subject.
These primaries were without the two main candidates we would have liked to see, and so we had to choose between five people who were not our first choices for President. Probably the best would have been George Allen or Jeb Bush, if they would have run. However, Macaca and Bush derangement syndrome along with Bush fatigue shot those guys out of the water. We are now down to the lesser of five lessers, and Mr. McCain is less than we want. No matter what the NYT says or does, John McCain is not the kind of guy I can get behind with any enthusiasm, even if I feel compelled to defend him on some issues they raise. I almost cannot vote for him, which some might see as a softening of my position.
This leaves me wanting to tell you about how the Gang of 14 ruined my chances of voting for McCain, and how the Mexican border positions Mr. McCain takes are hardening me in my opposition to Mr. McCain, but that will have to wait. I have to go to bed, to stop complaining about McCain, because I have a job to attend in the morning. I work my butt off all day to support my family and pay my taxes, so I need my sleep. By the way: when do Candidates sleep? They seem to always be up, or on their way somewhere, leading a press junket on aq plane. Oh well... Good night!
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