Posted by
Rich on Saturday, June 14, 2008 12:11:05 PM
Recently
Senator John McCain at a town hall meeting talked about the need to put
the "Country before Party". This phrase has drawn scorn from both the
left and the right.
The left calls this statement a shallow and
meaningless "mantra". The right sees it as further proof that Senator
McCain does not care about conservatives. As a conservative I look at
it differently. I believe that the country is tired of partisan
bickering and wants the "needs" of the country to take center stage.
Politics is about compromise.
I believe that putting "Country before Party" is the essence of John McCain.
As
Senator Joe Lieberman said in a letter to McCain supporters, "Time and
time again John McCain has put his country first. He refused early
release when he was held captive in Vietnam. He continued to put his
country first as a national leader in the U.S. Senate. He put country
before party when he fought to pass campaign finance reform, sought a
bi-partisan solution to the immigration problem, and consistently
supported pro-environment policies. His courage to stand up to the
failed Iraq war plan of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and lead
the fight for a new strategy in Iraq will go down in history, and it
saved American lives. These were not always the easy things to do. In
fact, they were usually very difficult, and often threatened his
political career. But John McCain did what was right."
While I
disagree with Senator McCain on several issues, I believe it is time
for America to have a leader that truly has stood for our country
before party in actions and deeds, not just words.