My mother's hometown newspaper "The Herald" in Rock Hill, SC, is endorsing Arizona Sen. John McCain in the state's Republican Primary tomorrow. The Democratic Primary will be held in South Carolina on Jan. 26.
It may surprise some of you who know the politics of this blog that I have a great deal of respect and admiration for McCain. I even crossed party lines to vote for him over George W. Bush in 2000 during the Virginia Republican Primary on the assumption that the then-Texas governor would be a disastorous president. Needless to say, I was right.
But, like conservative columnist David Brook of The New York Times, I think McCain is a man of virtue and integrity in an occupation where both can be liabilities. This was made evident by the fact that a literal 'billion dollar lie' by McCain's rival Mitt Romney in Michigan propelled the later to victory.
Romney promised Michigan residents that he would somehow ressurect the state's auto industry. In my view, an endorsement by the very liberal filmmaker Michael Moore may have been slightly more credible.
In its endorsement of McCain, "The Herald" said his wllingness to go with what he believes makes him a candidate of moral integrity:
""While some regard McCain's maverick stands as traitorous , others see them as evidence of an inquistive mind, a willingness to stand on principle, a desire to find consensus amid contentiousness and a compelling need to put his country's interest over partisan concerns."
McCain has many things going against him. Conservatives disdain his pragmatic immigration stand. Independents and liberals wonder how such an intelligent figure can believe that we need to stay in Iraq for '100 years.' And, then there is the dreaded age question which made him the butt of some late-night talk show jokes, but like the expeirence question that looms over Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in his own quest for The White House, McCain seems determined to overcome it.
The Washington Post talked to a crusty Republican voter in Charleston, SC, who said that McCain's bipartisan work with the likes of Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wisc.) were signs that the maverick Arizona senator was some kind of Benedict Arnold reflect some of ridicilous things that McCain will need to overcome in the Palmetto State which made the dubious arch-conservative Strom Thurmond a life-long senator in Washington, DC.
But, like much of America, South Carolina seems to be changing. And, despite my own political allegiance to the Democratic Party, I would like to see the state which helped Bush win The White House eight years ago, turn around and choose McCain over some other Republicans, mainly Romney and Mike Huckabee, who would clearly be worse for the nation as a whole.
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