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All-In [31855]
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Hey CA...I found my speech from 2008 re McCain....
Nov 19, 2020, 11:17 AM
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I know you love this.
For others...I was asked to give a speech to Columbia County (GA) GOP by local GOP head supporting McCain in 2008 primary. I shared it here and I think it made a mark with CA...who was a big Ron Paul supporter and though McCain was the debil. Looking back, had some things right and had some things wrong.
Thank you Mike for asking me to speak and share with everyone why I will be supporting and voting for John McCain in the upcoming primary.
I thought I would take a few minutes and outline my reasons for supporting John McCain and my thought process at arriving at this decision.
As most of you know, I’ve been an outspoken critic of Senator McCain on certain issues over the past many years. In fact, I was a bit surprised Mike asked me to speak given some of the debates we’ve had here in the past. Mike made a good point when he pointed out to me that for Senator McCain to win the primary and the general election, he was going to have to have support from republicans who haven’t always agreed with him in the past.
So...why and how did I decide to support John McCain:
I’ve never agreed with any candidate on every single issue. I think the best way to evaluate candidates is to prioritize the issues and balance that with perceived personal characteristics (some might call this character) and, in the case of primaries, factor in electability.
The single most important role for the President of the United States is that of the Commander and Chief of our military. To me, it is clear that in the current field of candidates, John McCain is unmatched in qualifications and ability for this role. He’s served with distinction in the military, been a prisoner of war, and has served on the Senate Armed Services Committee for many years. We only have to look to the Iraq war for some insight into his abilities.
When we initially went into Iraq and moved into the occupation phase, he called loudly for higher troop levels. He was not listened to, but ultimately proven right. He was a critic of Secretary Rumsfeld and called for a change of direction in Iraq. He pressured the administration to make a change. He pushed for the ‘Surge’. With new Secretary Gates in place and the Surge working in Iraq….John McCain was right.
Running a very close second to the role of Commander in Chief and in many cases fitting hand in hand with it, is the role of being the Head of State. I share Senator McCain’s views on almost every aspect of foreign policy. Given the state of the world we live in, it is paramount that we have a President that is willing to take up the fight against radical Islam. I trust John McCain to fight and lead on our behalf. He will fight and win in Afghanistan…he will fight and win in Iraq….and perhaps just as importantly…I trust him to handle the issue that will certainly arise that we don’t know about yet. All the candidates can state positions on current conflicts and foreign policy issues. However, history teaches us that the world in 4 years will likely be different. Who can you honestly trust to handle, not only what we know today, but more importantly, what we don’t know today. When a tough and time sensitive decision on national security arises, whom can you trust to make the right call? John McCain is the clear choice.
Now….let’s get down to some issues where many of us have criticized Senator McCain.
Is he a fiscal conservative? I firmly believe the answer is YES. When we think of John McCain and fiscal issues, you probably all first think of his initial opposition to the Bush tax cuts…I know I do. I think he was wrong to oppose the tax cuts. They were the right move at the right time. However, when you think back to the debate at the time, McCain wasn’t opposed to tax cuts specifically, rather he called for spending cuts first. Taking a look at our current debt level and budget deficits, was he so wrong? In a recent interview, McCain had this to say when asked if he had it to do over again, would he have voted for the Bush tax cuts:
“No, because I had significant tax cuts, and there was restraint of
spending included in my proposal. I saw no restraint in spending. We
presided over the greatest increase in the size of government since the
Great Society. Spending went completely out of control. It’s still out
of control. Wasteful earmark spending is a disgrace, and it caused us
to alienate our Republican base.”
Looking back, that sounds about right to me.
McCain has said that he will push to make the current tax levels permanent while fighting to cut wasteful spending.
He has a long record of aggressively going after waste. As much as we don’t want to believe it, it is likely that the Democrats will keep control of one or both houses of Congress. Ask yourself…whom do you trust to fight the Democrats on spending? Who do you believe would be the fastest to pull out the veto stamp to stop waste? The answer is clear to me and it’s John McCain.
The next most important domestic issue to me is stopping the flow of illegal immigration and this is perhaps the issue that I’ve disagreed most with Senator McCain on in the past. McCain pushed for the comprehensive plan, which offered work permits first and then called for the border to be sealed. Most of us were not willing to believe that the border would be sealed. We wanted to see the border sealed FIRST and then talk about how to handle people that are here illegally.
John McCain has indicated that he has heard us and that he will now support the sealing of the borders first. I believe him. On the issue of what to do with the illegals that are here now, I don’t completely agree with his position. However, I don’t completely agree with any position. Part of me wants to round everyone that is here illegally and ship them all back to their homes. The other part of me knows that such action is not only unfeasible, but would also push up inflation and put a serious damper on our economy. Sometimes, we have to make concessions on ideology in an effort not to shoot ourselves in the collective foot. This is one of those times in my opinion. While I don’t completely see eye-to-eye with McCain on his plans, I can hold my nose and tolerate it. I’ve honestly yet to hear a better plan.
John McCain has pledged to support conservative judges. His record in the Senate supports this.
John McCain is pro-life. His record in the Senate supports this.
He’s been strong on fighting crime, strong on strict sentencing, strong on protecting 2nd Amendment rights, and he supports and voted for the Patriot Act.
He opposes affirmative action. He supports social security reform in the way of partial privatization. And, he supports school vouchers.
And one last point. John McCain can beat Hillary Clinton and he can beat Barack Obama in the general election. I have to tell you…3 months ago I felt pretty bad about the chances of our party to hold on to the White House. As the primary season has started and I’ve watched more debates on both sides, I feel better. In fact, I feel good about our chances in November.
John McCain can win in November. He is conservative in my book and he is who we need to lead this nation right now.
I ask that you give strong consideration to supporting John McCain in the upcoming primary to become our next President.
Thank you.
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All-In [40656]
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Source check?
Nov 19, 2020, 11:19 AM
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spooneye®
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All-In [34100]
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Lot o points [155648]
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hey, paragraph 3....
Nov 19, 2020, 11:23 AM
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you didn't capitalize "Republicans".
Just trying to help before this thing goes live.
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All-In [31855]
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Good lawd...it wasn't for print...
Nov 19, 2020, 11:25 AM
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if you want to proof-read my typing, it's going to be a long day!
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Lot o points [155648]
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I was joking man. :-)***
Nov 19, 2020, 11:26 AM
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All-In [31855]
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Oh, I know...me too...hence the self deprecating...
Nov 19, 2020, 11:27 AM
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I can't type of sheet line.
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All-In [31855]
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SEE....*for sheet****
Nov 19, 2020, 11:28 AM
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Lot o points [155648]
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I do that two.***
Nov 19, 2020, 11:30 AM
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Rock Defender [53]
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Too***. Dumass***
Nov 20, 2020, 11:05 AM
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All-TigerNet [13016]
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Re: Hey CA...I found my speech from 2008 re McCain....
Nov 19, 2020, 11:34 AM
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I prioritize issues as well:
1) economy
2) nothing else matters
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All-In [47795]
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ah yes. brings back memories you old neocon***
Nov 19, 2020, 1:10 PM
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All-In [31855]
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Brought back memories of your support for Ron Paul...
Nov 20, 2020, 9:27 AM
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and how you thought he was going to do so much better than he actually did in every primary. Was entertaining!
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CU Medallion [59974]
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Ron Paul had a lot of things right
Nov 20, 2020, 9:34 AM
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just wasn't electable.
You know who I liked that got absolutely no where? Big ol' Governor Fred Thompson.
He was too lazy to campaign, but I loved him.
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All-In [31855]
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I agreed with him on a lot of domestic issues...
Nov 20, 2020, 10:05 AM
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but not so much on the foreign relations side.
Plus I think he may have been nutz.
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All-In [48809]
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My dad knows him pretty well...
Nov 20, 2020, 10:21 AM
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I don't think he was nutz, at last back then. And small world story, Fred was my wife's sister's (from another mother) lawyer when she got busted driving a car underage in Tennessee.
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All-In [31855]
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Hmm...I'm not sure I knew he was a lawyer IRL***
Nov 20, 2020, 10:37 AM
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Hall of Famer [22935]
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TLDR
Nov 19, 2020, 4:27 PM
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