According to Matt Welch of the Los Angeles Times, a President McCain would be another Teddy Roosevelt.? And that, says?Welch, would be a bad thing.
It’s an interesting piece, but I would keep in mind the following?three points while reading it.
1) It’s clear from the tone of the article that there’s no love lost between Welch and McCain.
2) We should be so lucky to have another TR as president.? Whether McCain deserves the label is another issue for another time.
3) Welch is clearly trying to force McCain’s many political maneuvers of the past few years into a comprehensive political philosophy that guides McCain.? The fit is poor, and it’s much less likely that McCain’s campaign against, say, steroids was part of an all-encompassing political philosophy and much more likely that such moves were simply based on individual political calculations.
That said, the article is intriguing, and probably worth reading.? Money quote:
Goldwater, a man who seemed to emanate from Arizona’s dust, was the paragon of limited government, believing to his core that the feds shouldn’t tell you how to run a business or whom you can sleep with. McCain, on the other hand, is a third-generation D.C. insider who carpetbagged his way into office, believing to his core that “national pride will not survive the people’s contempt for government.”
Heh.? Love the Goldwater imagery.? I would simply suggest?that?the?”people’s contempt for government” is a lot like government inefficiency — if it didn’t exist, we’d be slaves already.? Goldwater understood that.? Let’s hope that the man who?currently occupies?Goldwater’s Senate seat has at least some appreciation for the skeptical political psyche of the American people that has long kept the leviathan of the state at bay.
November 26th, 2006 at 5:23 pm
I’m considering using one of the black fields in the banner that I’ve been saving to feature a picture of Barry. Hopefully, it will serve as a reminder as to who brought the American Conservative Movement back from the grave, as well as paved the way for 8 years of a Reagan presidency, as well as the ’94 realignment.
Remember Barry in 2008Â my fellow Republicans!Â
November 26th, 2006 at 5:58 pm
I’m all about that idea, Kavon!
There’s a picture of Barry I like better though. It’s in color, and was taken back when he was in his prime. Andrew Sullivan regularly posts it. I can try and find it.
November 27th, 2006 at 12:41 am
In today’s The State, famed political reporter Lee Bandy is back for a article on John McCain’s fortunes in the SC primary.
It’s generally a rehashing of what most of us already knew, but it contains an amazing sentence.
Sorry, but excuse me?! McCain’s leading in South Carolina even after 2000? It seemed that based on many articles over the past few months, McCain still had a lot of enemies in the state so I was expecting that the best McCain could hope for is a strong second. But if he’s leading (give us some numbers, Lee!), given his name recognition and despite 2000, he’s in a far better position for the primary than I had thought.
So, McCain comes in 2nd in Iowa, wins in New Hampshire and takes SC, MI and AZ too. He’d have a nomination locked up by that point. Very, very interesting!
November 27th, 2006 at 1:00 am
I think that many people believe that McCain is ahead in SC right now. Some people believe that it is due mostly to name ID though.
November 27th, 2006 at 1:29 pm
I understand that, but considering the bad blood for McCain for 2000 and the fact that Rudy has equal name ID as McCain, I had always thought that Rudy would be number 1 there.