John McCain's threat to the Republican establishment

Periodically we will be posting about the US Presidential election, which is a big story worldwide. I thought I'd chime in with thoughts about John McCain below.

It is with bemused smiles that I've watched leading Republicans squirm as John McCain begins to secure the party's nomination for President.

Glenn Beck on CNN proudly proclaimed that he'd hold his nose and vote for Hillary in a general election, called a "suicide vote" in the New York Post. On Super Tuesday coverage on Fox News, Brit Hume seemed so dejected you'd think the Democrats had just swept to power, leaving the GOP in tatters.

Perhaps that is what he, and many others in the Republican establishment think: electing John McCain as the party's nominee is tantamount to destroying the party as we know it.

Laura Ingraham made a comment on Fox saying that she'd stick with McCain in a general election, but she's hoping he'd be open to "influence" from the conservative establishment. Herein lies most Republicans' problem with McCain: he's not easily influenced.

Make no mistake, McCain is a profoundly conservative man. As a Senator with 20 years of experience, he has a long record to pore over. Many voters who have heard questions about John McCain's conservative credentials are surprised to learn that he's a pro-life Christian, opposes strict gun control laws many feel would infringe on their civil liberties, supports the continuation of the war in Iraq until a definitive American victory is won, and voted to make Bush's tax cuts permanent. So what's his party's problem with him?

For starters, McCain is not a partisan Republican. The GOP has an old-boys network that supports one another, even if the policies they introduce and support are self-serving and hurt the American people. Campaign finance reform is Exhibit A. Republicans, the party which draws the most "soft money" donations, steadfastly opposed the McCain-Feingold legislation. McCain knew the legislation would hurt the Republicans more than the Democrats, but that didn't mean introducing the bill was the wrong thing to do. He saw beyond his own party's interests to do something that most Americans would agree with: reign in the influence of money from third-party organizations on America's democratic process. But today, he continues to pay a price for going against the establishment.

Secondly, he voted against Bush's tax cuts. McCain has been adamant during the campaign that he supported the tax cuts, but only if the bill also included reductions in spending. It didn't, so he voted against it. Like McCain's early support of General Petraeus' surge, his support for spending cuts may also have been right; with no reduction in spending accompanying a huge billion tax cut, America is running itself into the ground financially, with an expected $410 trillion deficit this year and $407 projected in 2009.

Despite his occasional disagreements with the party establishment, McCain is a steadfast Republican who has served his party well. But unlike most other candidates in the past several decades, McCain is an American first, a Republican second. He's a classic conviction politician who knows the issues well and sticks to his principles. What riles his critics in the party is that he won't kowtow to their partisan demands.

The Rush Limbaughs, Sean Hannitys, and James Dobsons of the world are clinging to their last vestiges of influence, and can't bear to see a Republican in the White House who not only won't listen to them, but won't even acknowledge them. The battles of the last 15 years, pitting extremists on the left with zealots on the right, has hurt and divided America. It's time to move on, and John McCain is as good a choice as any to get the process started.

I don't blame establishment Republicans for fretting over a John McCain presidency. Anybody who is about to see their influence and stature diminished will surely begin hitting the panic button. McCain is his own man, and does what he believes to be right. It's ironic that the GOP's best hope for a new generation of ideas and stronger spirit of bipartisanship lies with a 71 year old patriot who has served his country honourably for his entire life.

As McCain has said repeatedly on the campaign trail, he cannot ask for your vote until he has earned your respect. And any man who does what he says, and sticks to his principles, is a man deserving of at least that much.