John McCain is a machine. Within 4 days, he had about 15 public campaign events. I got to see him at a country club in Atkinson, about 25 minutes south of me. It was early on a Friday morning, so it was not jammed with people and it even started on time. Yay! There was sooooo much less media (video, cameras, etc) in the media section compared to Clinton. Ooo, and they provided coffee! Go McCain organizers! I've only had refreshments at house parties before, so coffee was a welcome sight on a cold morning.
Before McCain arrived, they showed a video ad. It had POW's and him shaking Reagan's hand, had "endorsements" from the other Republicans running (as in, they all said things at various points about how if they weren't running they'd vote for him). Lots of humor.
Then McCain came up on stage, no suit, just a fleece jacket over his shirt. The senator started with many funny jokes about the weather in Pheonix (it was very cold with snow on the ground here), about CA taking Pheonix's water, and other things.
He paused to remember Pearl Harbor, and said we need a sound national security policy. Then he launched into Iraq. America is frustrated by Iraq, but we can't go into Protectionism. That's not a way to meet the challenge. We are faced with radical Islam and we have to defeat them there, not wait for them to get here. He is running because he's the best prepared to meet the challenge.
The radicals are making good use of cyberspace to recruit and motivate. He knows there's stereotypes of terrorists, but now we're seeing them in Denmark, Germany, elswhere.
He is qualified and he exhibits leadership without any need for on-the-job training.
Spending is out of control. And this totally started with "we Republicans", who had this happen. Then the Dems came in and of course they continued it. But money is a corrupting influence. He is proud to have worked with a Dem to pursue the Abramoff investigation. He wants to stop excessive spending and use a veto pen a lot as president.
He is honored to have many veterans in the audience. He reads a very interesting quote by George Washington that says people will sign up to defend the country based on how they see the veterans of earlier wars treated. But we're not caring for the vets. They're great at saving lives in the field of battle, but we need to take more care of people when they get home. He wants to give very vet a card that means they can get treatment anywhere.
Iraq: It was mishandled for four years. Early on he said it wouldn't work. It was just like Search and Destroy in Vietnam. But the new strategy has worked. He thinks we are blessed to have Gen. Petreus.
He feels it is most hard to fight people willing to take their own life in order to kill many. The Iraqi police aren't quite up yet, and the Malaki gov't isn't quite up yet, but things are getting better. Suicide bombers are coming from other places, not within Iraq. The war is not lost.
Dems wanted to set a date for withdrawal, but if we had done that a year ago, Iraq would be a mess today. He's guardedly optimistic about the future of Iraq. Will it be long and hard and tough? Yes. But he feels it's worth it, and he'd rather lose a campaign saying this than lose a war.
Questions and Answers
Q: I care about who can defeat Hillary. Why are you best qualified?
A: Well, it's actually becoming more competitive on that side, so I've heard. But I have 24 years of a conservative record and I feel this country is right of center. I also reach across the aisle to get things done. And then on healthcare, she wants mandates, and I want to get the cost down. On Iraq, she doesn't believe the surge is working and I know it is. But regardless, I want a respectful debate. I think that's what Americans want from the republicans and all of the politicians. Oh, and polls show I would win.
Q: What will you want from us?
A: Work together. Support the party. Call Americans to serve!
Q: It's a vet. He solutes McCain. Talks about terrible story of being treated poorly after Vietnam.
A: We learned a valuable lesson after Vietnam and I'm proud that this country knows to support the vets, even if they disagree with the war.
Q: Spending and social security trust fund
A: We've bankrupted the system. It's just broken and we need to fix it, we can't just pay it off.
Q: 9/11.... is Saudi Arabia a foe or ally?
A: SA has made a Faustian bargain. He's appalled by the treatment of women, worried about progress on human rights... they need to make more progress
Q: How do we reduce dependency on foreign oil?
A: Nuclear. Good for climate change, too. But we need to figure out what to do with the waste.
Q: (THIS IS ME!) Our country has some big problems besides terrorism. It's not just manufacturing going abroad... In high tech we're losing jobs to overseas partly because we're falling behind in Science and Math education. What would you do about it?
A: Take care of the teachers. Also scholarships for people going into tech, and making sure tech is paid well enough to attract folks. The numbers of grads in tech of US compared to India and China is disturbing, to be sure.
Q: McCain-Feingold, and Immigration
A: Who invited you? *lots of laughs* The 527's are messing up finance reform right now, so we need to crack down on them. Immigration... first secure the borders, then have certification for legals, and make sure employers only use legal workers. Then, the 12 million illegal... let's remember these people are god's children too. They have tough lives, they're not evil people, lets try to handle this without so much anger and emotions, and with compassion, and have a discussion about it.
Q: The national debt
A: Take away subsidies for ethanol and for cotton. We don't need that. And then stop wasteful spending on defense. It's ridiculous what there's contracts for. Defense is the largest non-fixed cost. Use the line-item veto.
So I felt my question got a stock answer, but he was somewhat excited to have me (as one of the few people under 35) participate, since he said he was coming to me next as soon as he saw my hand go up. In general, he really seemed to be a wonderful man. Unfortunately, much of his speech felt like the classic fear-mongering (Iraq and terrorism: rah rah rah). But I admire his willingness to say things that the mostly-republican audience wouldn't necessarily agree with (immigration). And of course he does have a history of working with the other side, so I always like that. I'm not going to be swayed to vote Republican for him, but think my Republican friends should consider him. Despite his slight fall to Bush's will a couple of years ago, I think he is a man of integrity and would probably be a good leader.
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