Posted by
Rich on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 9:59:02 AM
Tom Tryon, of the liberal Sarasota Herald-Tribune, wrote an excellent editorial defending the record of Senator John McCain.
Titled, "
This election isn't just about what conservatives want"
Tom points out that, "The guy survived years in a prisoner of war camp
in Vietnam, was elected four times by Arizonans to the U.S. Senate and
overcame a rough and tumble campaign to all but lock up the Republican
nomination this year. Plus, he's fended off the attack dogmatics of the
Foxes and the right-wing radioheads, who cry that McCain's not
"conservative" enough because he:
Challenged the Bush
administration's chicken hawks, most of whom stayed stateside during
the Vietnam War, in opposition to torture and mistreatment of prisoners
of war and enemy combatants.
Opposed the president's tax cuts because they weren't accompanied by offsetting reductions in spending.
Sided with President Bush on a strict yet practical immigration-reform plan."
In his article "
Decision Time"
for Townhall.com Ollie North, a respected conservative, states, "My
'colleagues' in the so-called mainstream media gladly roll their
cameras and recorders for those who assert that "McCain is not a real
conservative" or who say, "I can never support him," and the ones
claiming, "I just won't vote this year." It is, for me, a disheartening
display because I have, as we say in the Marines, "been there -- done
that."
Ollie goes on to endorse Senator McCain because the War
on Terror trumps all, "Sen. McCain has pledged to win this war [on
Terror]. We must do so, for the consequences of failure would be
staggering. But as he has acknowledged, he cannot do that without the
support of conservatives who man the phone banks, raise the funds, walk
the precincts and turn out the vote on Election Day. I hope my fellow
conservatives will decide as I have: We need John McCain as commander
in chief."
We agree with liberal Tom Tryon, and conservative
Ollie North. We agree with the hundreds of conservatives, including
President Bush and most recently former Governor Jeb Bush, who have
called Senator McCain a "true conservative".
We believe that the
Reagan Revolution began with a coalition of fiscal, social, and foreign
policy conservatives uniting to make this nation great. This coalition
made America the leader in the world. Not everyone was all three, some
may have been only one but we all came together across party lines.
Together we won the Cold War, set the conditions for a great America
based upon strong families, less government, lower taxes and the
greatest military in the world.
Given the comments above from those on the left and the right, you can feel this coalition coming together again.
Now
is the time for all conservatives to call those friends who are
Independents and Democrats that hold many, but perhaps not all, of our
values and tell them about our candidate John McCain.
We all
need to fully support our presumptive nominee for President. We look
forward to proudly saying - "President elect John McCain".