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IA, NH, BOSTON PAPERS BACK MCCAIN, WE DO TOO
It’s no secret that The Palmetto Scoop supports Sen. John McCain’s candidacy as he seeks the Republican presidential nomination. He is the only candidate with the military experience necessary to lead America as we continue fighting the War on Terror. He’s an independent maverick who does what is right, whether it’s popular or not. He’s served his country for all of his adult life as both a prisoner of war and a public servant. And he’s by far the most electable Republican in the general election.
We were planning to make our official endorsement of Sen. McCain closer to Christmas, but a number of major newspapers are already stealing our thunder.
On Sunday, the largest newspaper in the key early voting state of Iowa, the Des Moines Register, officially endorsed Sen. McCain.
In an era of instant celebrity, we sometimes forget the real heroes in our midst. The defining chapter of McCain’s life came 40 years ago as a naval aviator, when he was shot down over Vietnam. The crash broke both arms and a leg. When first seeing him, a fellow prisoner recalls thinking he wouldn’t live the night. He was beaten and kept in solitary confinement, held 5 years. He could have talked. He did not. Son of a prominent Navy admiral, he could have gained early release. He refused. [...]
The force of John McCain’s moral authority could go a long way toward restoring Americans’ trust in government and inspiring new generations to believe in the goodness and greatness of America.
The Boston Globe also made their case for Sen. McCain on Sunday.
McCain is a conservative whose views differ from those of this editorial page in a variety of ways. He opposes abortion rights. At least in the current election cycle, he has shown no particular quarrel with his party’s knee-jerk view of tax cuts as the cure to the nation’s economic problems.
Also unlike this page, McCain has strongly supported the current war in Iraq, including the troop surge. Yet the Arizona senator has never been an uncritical booster of President Bush’s policies. Early on, he accurately predicted that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wasn’t sending enough troops to maintain order after Saddam Hussein fell. Today, he straightforwardly acknowledges the fragility of the Iraqi government and the corruption that pervades that country. He understands that US failures in Iraq, along with President Bush’s torpid response to Hurricane Katrina, have damaged the nation’s credibility abroad and at home. [...]
Yet Republican voters in New Hampshire would be wise to consider this: Of all the party’s candidates, McCain has the greatest potential appeal to independent voters.
The Arizona senator is running for president at a treacherous time. Iraq is in flames. The economy is weak. American voters are worried about their futures, and about their government’s ability to enforce its own laws. A general election campaign with John McCain in it is more likely to turn on substance, not demagoguery.
As a lawmaker and as a candidate, McCain has done more than his share to transcend partisanship and promote an honest discussion of the problems facing the United States. He deserves the opportunity to represent his party in November’s election.
And two Sunday’s ago, New Hampshire’s Union Leader was the first influential newspaper in the three early voting states to back Sen. McCain.
Competence, courage, and conviction are enormously important for our next President to possess. No one has a better understanding of U.S. interests and dangers right now than does McCain. He was right on the mistakes made by the Bush administration in prosecuting the Islamic terrorist war in Iraq and he is being proved right on the way forward both there and worldwide.
McCain is pro-life. Always has been. He fights against special-interest and pork-barrel spending, and high spending in general, which ticks off liberals and many in the GOP who have wallowed at the public trough. Yet he also has the proven ability, unique among the contenders, to work across the political divide that has led our government into petty bickering when important problems need to be solved.
Sen. McCain was one of the few politicians who vehemently backed the Iraq troop surge because he knew it would succeed. And now the editors of these papers recognize that, in such a fluid race, Sen. McCain’s primary surge is also poised for success.
So if we want to beat The State and other major South Carolina newspapers to the punch if or when they choose to throw their support behind Sen. McCain, then we must now officially endorse the man best suited to serve as the next President of the United States.
We agree that the Republican field is loaded with great choices and quality vice presidential candidates, but the future of America depends on Sen. McCain’s leadership.
There’s no question that Sen. McCain deserves to represent the Republican Party in the general election. The question is, do we deserve to have him?
We have 34 days before one of the most important votes we will ever cast. Let’s make the right choice. Let’s choose Sen. John McCain.
_______
Photo: Washington Post
I think that Senator McCain is the only choice when it comes to the presidency of the United States. This just shows that people are beginning to see all of Senator McCain’s attributes and it is about time. There is no other candidate that has the qualifications nor the experience that John McCain has or the exemplary record. Senator John McCain is “the total package” and the only candidate that is prepared(and I put emphasis on prepared) to take this nation forward. It would be a grave mistake to pass his offer of service to the country by.
How appropriate that the Establishment elites in Iowa, Boston, and South Carolina should support a no good amnesty giving sellout like John McCain. Whether it is insulting the heritage of the South, fighting to give amnesty to 12 million criminals, or handing the Democrats the fundraising advantage with McCain-Feingold I argue that John McCain has given more aid and comfort to the Left and the forces that would tear America apart more aid then any Republican besides Rudy Giuliani. I hope and pray that true South Carolina patriots will reject McCain and his little puppet Lindsey Graham come primary day in January and June.
If his campaign finances are any indication then the country would be bankrupt by March.
Can you be any more bankrupt than 9 trillion or whatever it is?
Well if you tag on social security shortfalls, medicare (especially drug prescription plan) shortfalls, and the dept it’s close to around $60 trillion in the hole. In a country with $2 trillion annual revenue, and $12.5 trillion GDP.
But i think you’re grossly underestimating Mr. McCain’s ability to waste money demonstrated via his campaign. Things could always be worse; *much* worse.
The Palmetto Scoop endorsed McCain? This must be the surprise of the century!!! (Hmmm, I wonder if the obvious connections to McCain’s paid SC political consultant had anything to do with PS’s decision.)
Greer,
I’ve made my “connections” clear:
http://blogs.thestate.com/bradwarthensblog/2007/09/adam-the-palmet.html
My only “connection” to McCain is that I work for Rick Quinn’s direct mail firm (in a completely different building from the McCain folks), and his father is an UNPAID advisor to McCain’s campaign. So if you’re going to come on here and be a little troll, at least get your hackery right.
Had I wanted to endorse a flip-flopping Stepford candidate, I would have done so and nobody would have told me not to. My blog is mine and I make all the calls on my own.
And while we’re on the subject of full disclosure, do you mind telling us who you are and where your paycheck comes from? Or do you like being a hypocritical anonymous troll?
That said, I certainly hope you go after other SC blogs with much, much, much closer “connections” to candidates than me with the same kind of veracity.
- A.F.
Headline: “Liberal Rags Endorse McCain”
If I were a conservative, or simply a moderate Republican like McCain, I wouldn’t want to be endorsed by those particular papers. But aside from that, the reasons to not vote for McCain are endless. Here are a few:
1) 80 years old when he takes office–I want to know who his VP is before I vote in a primary since he’s already pushing average life expectancy.
2) Bad temper–doesn’t play nice and when you piss everyone off, you get nothing done, and I want to send someone who will actually fix something.
3) McCain-Feingold. He may have fought valiantly for our country in Vietnam, yet he refuses to fight for the constitution as a Senator. You’d think you could trust him to at least do that.
4) Amnesty.
5) Did I mention he’s old. I’ll bet he doesn’t live the 9 more years required to fufill the two terms I expect the next republican to fill
6) Take away his “hero” status and he’s a shell of a politician. He’s already gotten more mileage than he deserves and there are a lot more heroes out there who deserve similar or more praise–but completely independent of political motives.
7) He guaranteed a win in New Hampshire. That in and of itself leads me to question his judgement or has dementia already set in?
All that being said, I wish him the best, but you’d have to look long and hard to find a politician on either side of the aisle who has done more damage to the Republican party. I’d say if Giuliani get’s the nomination, then he’d do more damage, but up to now, McCain takes the cake.
Here’s a crazy idea:
Let’s stop messing around with the “war on terror” and fix the problems we’re already faced with. Stop poking the hornet’s nest for a while and see what happens. Unless you feel safer taking off your shoes and belt at the airport.
As far as I’m concerned, Ron Paul ‘08. There is no other choice.
Chris
[...] political landscape, Former SC House Majority Leader turned professional blogger Rick Quinn has endorsed John McCain for President on his blog Palmetto Scoop. Quinn is a paid adviser to Senator [...]
[...] presidential nomination, The Palmetto Scoop became the first S.C.-based political website to offer its official “blogdorsement” on Sunday. In a move that was about as surprising as the sun coming up this morning, the site [...]
I do not think it would ever happen, but my two choices would be a McCain/Lieberman ticket or a Thompson/Hunter ticket.
The anonymous SC Conervative wishes to attack Senator McCain’s service to our country.
“Take away his “hero” status and he’s a shell of a politician. He’s already gotten more mileage than he deserves and there are a lot more heroes out there who deserve similar or more praise–but completely independent of political motives.”
Going out on a limb here…what the hell have you done for us? You don’t have the intestinal fortitude to put a name beside your inflamatory comments. I bet you’re backing some yellow-bellied draft dodging liar like Romney. Come on…you are aren’t you.
Rob,
Glad you noticed my post! I’m a little disappointed that such a patriot as yourself wouldn’t show a little more respect for someone else’s political speech. I’m assuming you fought for it by the tone of your comment. If so, a heartfelt thank you to you.
Beyond that, I would be interested in what you thought about the rest of my list. Grandstanding on the “hero” issue is one of the reasons I dislike McCain and you have reinforced that perception with your illogical tirade.
Most reasonable folks will look at my comment and realize that I didn’t attack his military service–I simply expressed that his military background has been his only political asset and takes away from others who are just as deserving of similar praise.
Did anybody on here see Glenn Beck last night? The only firecracker McCain has—I say firecracker, because he sho ain’t got no ‘thunder’—is the war on terror. So, while McCain continues to slowly fall in the polls, pretty much everybody else is right now, too. Romney’s slowing down, and doing some damage to Huckabee on the way. Giuliani is falling everywhere. Thompson sits in a pretty good position, but even he’s still slipping. Tancredo will probably withdraw. Hunter’s SC people resigned a long time ago. Brownback and Tommy Thompson are out. Who’s left? Anybody know? Because one candidate’s numbers are climbing, even if slowly, but they’ve never taken a hit; it’s been a constant steady upflow in the polls since fall last year.
What do you bloggers think of polling strategies right now anyway? Studies say 15% of voters no longer have home phone lines, due to cell phones. I’m guessing that number could be even higher among GOP voters. Internet polls show that the mystery candidate mentioned above wins in landslides. I’m guessing that the techno-wing of the GOP is going to skew the polls 6-8 points in favor of the mystery man. He’s also getting 5-7 points from people who’ve never voted before or never voted Republican before—both, voters who are not surveyed in GOP polls, which only call home telephones owned by people with a prior record of voting in GOP primaries.
CNN shows the mystery man at 11% in SC. With another 13%, which is a modestly conservative estimate, he’s a slam dunk since he’s the only one who has consistently been rising both in the polls and in fundraising. And has anybody noticed the total dominance of his presence in yard signs all around SC?
btw, he’s been a good friend to me personally for 9 years, via the Mises Institute in Alabama. If you really want to see what he’s all about, and why McCain is close but not quite right about the Middle East, check out last night’s Glenn Beck Show. Full hour interview of “Honest Questions”…
Okay Tim, take the tin foil off your head.
I’ll do that whenever the post office takes down my photo and the FBI wanted poster.
Those who love being a cog in an empire, and those who love forcing their social and political opinions on other people (and on other sovereign nations) and those who enjoy being a totalitarian power endorse McCain. Those who love freedom and liberty and the principles upon which the United States were founded support Ron Paul. This should tell you much about the lapdog media.
[...] the second well-read Palmetto Stater to officially back a presidential candidate — after our endorsement of John McCain, of course — when he announced on his Website that he was supporting former New York Mayor [...]
[...] backing Republican Mike Huckabee’s White House ambitions. The Palmetto Scoop was the first to endorse Sen. John McCain two weeks ago and Earl Capps announced his support for Rudy Giuliani a few days [...]