Dear John McCain,
I want you to know that I support you and Sarah Palin wholeheartedly. In two short months you’re going to win the election, and any fool can see this is going to be a landslide. It may be hard to believe, but this margin of victory is going to make me a bit unhappy. I’d like to tell you why, and to give you a little warning from the trenches.
The problem with any victory of five or more points (and yours will be higher still) is that the newly-elected begin thinking they’ve got some kind of “mandate”. They have a tendency to assume their new office as though their wide margin grants them some kind of extra power. They take into their first days a feeling of invincibility and all too often they forget that they were sent to Washington with an “understanding”…that we, the electorate, expect them to do what they said they were going to do.
It’s far too common for us to just accept when our politicians don’t follow through on their promises. We call that “politics as usual” and we’re so accustomed to it that we just shake our heads when nothing gets done. You and Sarah are running on a promise to change all of that. It will take strong leadership–the kind of which I am certain you’re capable. It will take backbone–the kind of which I’m certain you possess. It will take COMMON SENSE and a true “Country First” attitude. I believe wholeheartedly that you carry both of these traits. Please don’t let your time in Washington, at the highest levels of power, push them to the side. I’m imploring you–DO NOT LET THAT HAPPEN.
You and I both know that the majority of Democrats join that party because, while they share our base Republican ideals, the Dems tell a better “we are just like you” story. You and I also both know that the only reason Barack Obama was even in this race is because Republicans, when given the chance to prove that we are better than (and different than) our tax-and-spend brethren across the aisle, utterly botched the job. We are the party of FISCAL and INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY. We understand that men and women must take charge of their own lives, must take responsibility for their own decisions, must accept both the credit and the blame for their own activities. We understand that good ideas and hard work lead to success, and that those who achieve these pinnacles deserve to be respected, not robbed. We believe that America offers the same opportunities to everyone, and everyone has the same chance to have a piece of the pie if they’re willing to put forth the effort to grow and thrive. We are NOT the party of handouts, giveaways, or poor financial management. We are NOT the party of waste. We are not the party of regulation and intrusion into business, or people’s private lives. We are the party that understands the need for limited government, and it is our responsibility as Republicans–and your responsibility as President–to do whatever is necessary to achieve that ultimate goal.
I know I don’t need to lecture you on what your job is, or how to go about doing it. What I am cautioning, though, is that America has given the Republicans a second chance to prove that we can lead, and can make of government what it’s meant to be. We have given YOU not a mandate, but an opportunity. It’s up to you now to fulfill the promises you’ve made, to reform a broken system and dismantle a network of corruption, waste and mismanagement. This is why we’ve pulled together to put you, a man of character and honor, in the White House. I’m asking you to please keep your word, and don’t let us down.
I’d like to also point out exactly what is at stake here. This election was nearly won by a junior Senator with absolutely no relevant experience who is so liberal as to be compared to some of the most heinous socialists in history. Combined with his nearly-equal liberals in Congress, the election of Barack Obama could have easily spelled disaster on a massive scale for this nation. Despite his nefarious associations, his pronounced lack of experience, his suspect judgement and his record as the most liberal and inexperienced person to have ever sought the office, BARACK OBAMA MADE A RACE OUT OF THIS for a time. Many people believed he would actually win the election. The mere thought that it could have happened scares the bejabbers out of me, and most Americans…as I’m sure it does you. Understand, the only reason this was even possible is because America nearly lost faith in our party. You have a huge responsibility now, but no small part of that is going to be restoring the integrity for which our party was once known.
You have a mandate, sir, but it is not to ride into Washington on a “more of the same” horse. Your explicit direction from the American people is this–fix it. Fix our government, fix our party, fix America. It is up to you to make sure that no threat as grave as Barack Obama has any chance of ever being foisted upon America again. You have the strength, the wisdom and the character to do this. Please don’t let us down because next time there may not be a next time.
Regards,
oldageandtreachery
September 9, 2008 at 1:56 am
Very good points.
September 9, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Stated with precision and clarity. If only we could make sure he reads it.
September 9, 2008 at 8:12 pm
I’m just curious, you are calling for McCain to follow through with changing Washington, as if this has been his championing cry, yet he only started even talking about it a week ago.
Based on your post on Politico, I understand that you are a McCain supporter, and don’t like Barack Obama, and based on the way you write, I can tell you are an intelligent individual. How can you write a piece like this on someone who didn’t champion the idea of change until he realized that his other policy wasn’t working?
This is what I don’t get about Republicans. You get so upset when Obama says something like “Lipstick on a pig” when McCain said the exact same thing about Hillary. You get outraged when Obama starts to fight back, yet McCain and Palin continue to lie, make extremely crude and offensive remarks, and distort reality.
I can totally understand being supportive and passionate, in particular about politics, but at what point do you start putting your self respect aside for your candidate? Take the latest McCain ad, insinuating that Obama advocates teaching kindergartners about sex, when he had passed a bill trying to reach children about inappropriate touching to prevent child predators. If you and I were friends, and you told me that you taught your kids about that subject, and I told everyone I knew that you were a pedophile and you molested your children, how would you feel about that? Yet that’s ok for McCain, but when Obama makes a statement that McCain has as well, you go nuts.
I’d love to hear your response, but I probably won’t. I just assumed that people in America were better than this.
September 9, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Respond? I’ll be happy to. The question is, where to begin?
The reason this race was less of a race a few weeks ago is because the Republicans just weren’t going to get behind John McCain. Why? Because they consider him too centrist. They have been, and still are, smarting over the fact that he so often fights the Party. They don’t like that he disagrees with most of them about things like Global Warming, for instance. They call him a RINO (Republican In Name Only). I should know…I’ve been a McCain “apologist” for years.
Now, regarding the “Pig In Lipstick” bit, anyone with half a brain knows what the phrase means, and anyone with half a brain tied behind their back knows that McCain was referring to policy, not person (as was Obama). THAT IS NOT THE POINT. The point is that, firstly, Obama knew he was making a crack TOWARD (not about, but that matters not) Palin and a play on her famous “lipstick” line. He had to know. He also had to know that the “fish in newspaper” reference could, and probably would, be interpreted as a cut against Palin of the disrespectful locker-room type. HIS INTENT WAS IMMATERIAL. What he may or may not have been referring to was immaterial. IN HIS POSITION IN THE POLLS, PARTICULARLY LOSING WOMEN AS QUICKLY AS HE IS, he simply could not in any way risk a line so FOOLISH as that. Who cares what he meant? He knew he was delivering a line WITH PURPOSE, and he should have known there would be a huge backlash against it…ESPECIALLY from the very demographic he’s trying so desperately to win (or keep from losing, as the case may be). It was piss-poor judgement from a guy running for President.
McCain’s “distored” ad? First, what politician in the last, say, HALF CENTURY hasn’t used adds that tell only half the truth on television? The answer is none of them. In fact, even before television the practice was common. A race in Florida a hundred years ago was decided when the opponent who was losing released a flyer that “informed” the public that the sister of his opponent was a THESPIAN, his brother was a PUGILIST and he himself was an admitted PHILATALIST! Naturally he was depending on the public to not bother looking those words up and, of course, he was right. That candidate won the election.
Want to talk about distortions? How about the “Bridge to Nowhere” distortion–on the part of the leftists. How about the complete bunk of “book banning”. Seven lobbyists? Obama himself could be labeled a lobbyist, and so could McCain himself if someone wanted to make the case. Is it right that we don’t get politicians who just sit down and answer questions from their heart, of their own free will, free of spin or “distortion”? Of course it isn’t. But this is the system we have.
That said, we as Americans must do the very thing the Left is so upset about…we must judge based on our gut feeling and the record we can uncover for ourselves.
The FACT–and nobody wants to say this on the Left, but it’s nevertheless true–is that not only was the selection of Palin NOT a poor judgement, it was a BRILLIANT MOVE. It has completely reversed the election and has handed the reigns to McCain. That’s GOOD JUDGEMENT.
And the other FACT is that, no matter what he meant or how common the phrase is, using the expression “Pig In Lipstick” at this time, in this manner, with this environment, is colossaly stupid. That’s BAD JUDGEMENT, and it proves the point of guys like me that Barack Obama is not ready to lead. If John McCain uttered the phrase “let’s call a spade a spade”–ALSO a common phrase that is used every day and has NOTHING to do with racism–he’d be front-page news on every station within minutes and you know it. It would probably cost him the election, and rightfully so because it would just be a STUPID thing to say at this time, in this race, with this opponent. Who would care what his intent was? It wouldn’t matter…and it shouldn’t. You can’t make stupid mistakes like this if you expect to win a major election. Hell, these days you couldn’t be elected dog catcher if you did something that ridiculous.
Neither side has a corner on the “distortion” claim. But to whine that McCain/Palin is making “rude and offensive” remarks is firstly, a joke, and secondly, immaterial. The American people will decide what constitutes rude and offensive to them (just like you and I will). But to make a poor JUDGEMENT, and utter a phrase that can only be interpreted that way, in this race–that just suicide. You and I won’t have a chance to decide that, though, because the millions of people who WILL take offense at this mistake will decide for us.
That’s reality. Unfortunately reality and the Left are frequently at odds with one another.
September 10, 2008 at 10:15 am
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Ummm … you really haven’t been following McCain’s career over the last decade+, have you Steve?
September 10, 2008 at 11:04 am
I whole heartedly agree with everything that oldageandtreachery has said thus far on this page. We need more TRUE Americans like this that Aren’t afraid to stand up for what they believe and not try to be an international celeb as obama is trying to do. Although I would prefer Ron Paul or Mike Huckabee over McCain, I do like the fact that McCain seems to stick with what he believes, something that is very rare these days