John McCain has served our country in a most courageous and significant fashion and nobody can deny the courage he displayed during the five plus years he endured as a much-abused prisoner of the North Vietnamese. Is it any wonder that he regards even the most benign form of aggressive interrogation as leading to a slippery slope? I don’t agree with him, but I understand his reasoning completely.
That being said, what I cannot overcome is my antipathy to his all-out assault on our constitutionally guaranteed free speech in the form of the McCain/Feingold campaign finance law.
I also felt that the Florida primary campaign was waged in an unseemly fashion. Republicans are supposed to be better than that, or so I was raised to believe.
I also find his legendary temper a troublesome problem, as I’m not sure we want a president with anger management issues of that magnitude. And, last, there is his age. There are myriad citizens of this nation who are the same age as Senator McCain or older who are in roaring good health. But those citizens were not guests of the North Vietnamese for more than five years. So yes, I am concerned about residual effects from that experience.
I am 65 years old and while my health is excellent, there is no denying that my physical stamina and strength are not all that they were even 10 years ago. My mental acuity is far beyond that of the average citizen (and I thank my parents for that genetic windfall) – but again, it may not be what it once was, despite my excellent health.
I do not and will never suggest that conservative Republicans stay home if Senator McCain is nominated. Far better “Democrat Lite” than the real thing – particularly if the Dems’ candidate is Shrillery the Socialist Shrew. And I would remind them of how well sitting on their hands worked during the 2006 elections! But I would be a whole lot happier with a nominee named John McCain if I thought he would choose a true conservative as his running mate, preferably someone who is in extraordinary health and considerably (or even kind of) younger than Senator McCain, and that vice presidential nominee should be possessed of considerable spine and a discernable moral compass. Far beyond pacifying the conservative base, that kind of running mate would assure the nation that we would be in good hands, regardless.