Conservative Politics Today

My name is Virginia Shanahan and I would like to share with you why I will be voting for John McCain for President.

McCain was not my first choice to represent the Republican ticket. Heck, he wasn’t even my second or third. It took some time before I decided I would even show up at the polls much less cast my vote for him.

It was just a few short years ago that it was rumored John McCain was being considered as the running mate of Democrat Presidential hopeful John Kerry.

I have not forgotten nor forgiven McCain’s participation in the Gang of 14 or his stance on issues such as illegal immigration and campaign-finance reform. His recent support of the bailout bill had me banging my head on bricks.I cannot stress how much I vehemently disagree with McCain on these issues.

McCain seems to enjoy publicly fighting with his own party. Maybe in his mind it proves to people that he is truly a moderate. I don’t know.
Needless to say, John McCain is an imperfect Republican on a good day.

That being said, he does have some good qualities. John McCain is a fiscal conservative that has never asked for one penny of pork barrel spending in all his years in the U.S. Senate.

Due to our current economic uncertainty he has called for a freeze on spending with the exception of vital programs such as defense and veterans affairs and no increased taxes.

I can see him actually balancing this budget that has grown out of control due to lack of discipline on both sides of the political isle. They are all spending like drunken sailors; No offense to drunken sailors.

John McCain is very knowledgeable, experienced and strong on foreign affairs and would insure that Iraq is stable and secure before pulling out our troops.

Currently the Supreme Court is split with 4 conservatives, 4 liberals and 1 moderate. Justice John Paul Stevens is 87 years old and Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 74. What are the chances that these two liberals will make the next 4 years without retiring? McCain will choose strict constructionist judges.

This scares many who believe a pro-life McCain will put together a court that will overturn Roe v. wade. McCain has made clear he doesn’t believe in any kind of litmus test for judges other than they base their decisions on the Constitution as opposed to the court of world opinion.

Though John McCain is in a rush to give illegal immigrants in this country citizenship he has pledged to first secure our borders. I will have to take his word on this.

However, these positives I listed are not what motivated me to vote for John McCain. No, that came during his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.

John McCain is known for many things but being a great speaker isn’t one of them. He has never done well reading off of a teleprompter and that night was no exception. His delivery was atrocious.

The speech itself was too long. He lost many viewers before he got to the point in the speech that gave me a respect for and understanding of John McCain, the man, I did not previously have.

Most everyone has heard the story of McCain’s POW years. I had read about it and heard it mention it on more than one occasion. Some even claimed he was milking it. But as I listened to him that night, share this experience, I learned a few things I did not know and I garnered a new appreciation for all he endured.

Though I have always respected his service, and his time as a POW, I realized I had no respect for the man himself and that was based on my lack of understanding of who he is and what made him that way.

As John McCain began telling us his story I was transported in time. I could see the arrogant, selfish, self-serving, obstinate, hard-headed, trouble making, self-absorbed, spoiled, ingrate –I think you get the picture- that was an admirals son chasing women and flying recklessly by the seat of his pants with no regard for others or loyalty to anyone but himself.

I saw that same horrid young beast brought to his knees and remade into the humble, strong, loyal, grateful servant of this country that he is today.

He still enrages me. He hasn’t lost that rabble-rousing obstinate part of self. However, that night as I listened to John McCain, raw and as honest as I have ever seen a man- much less a politician- I began to understand that John McCain is truly a humble man doing his best fighting for a country and a people that he loves.

After hearing this speech, I knew I would be supporting Senator John McCain for President of the United States.
I already knew John McCain the politician but now I know John McCain the man and I will be a bit more understanding, though no less disagreeable.

John McCain will continue to outrage me but I know that know matter what he will fight to protect our Country, our Constitution, our individual freedoms and liberties- all of the things that make America great and serve as a beacon of light and hope to millions around the world.

How do I know this? Because he already has. And this is why I will be casting my vote for John McCain.

It was the following part of his speech that hit the depths of my soul. Here is John McCain in his own words.

I’ve been an imperfect servant of my country for many years. But I have been her servant first, last and always. And I’ve never lived a day, in good times or bad, that I didn’t thank God for the privilege. Long ago, something unusual happened to me that taught me the most valuable lesson of my life. I was blessed by misfortune. I mean that sincerely. I was blessed because I served in the company of heroes, and I witnessed a thousand acts of courage, compassion and love.

On an October morning, in the Gulf Of Tonkin, I prepared for my 23rd mission over North Vietnam. I hadn’t any worry I wouldn’t come back safe and sound. I thought I was tougher than anyone. I was pretty independent then, too. I liked to bend a few rules, and pick a few fights for the fun of it. But I did it for my own pleasure; my own pride. I didn’t think there was a cause more important than me.

Then I found myself falling toward the middle of a small lake in the city of
Hanoi, with two broken arms, a broken leg, and an angry crowd waiting to greet me. I was dumped in a dark cell, and left to die. I didn’t feel so tough anymore. When they discovered my father was an admiral, they took me to a hospital. They couldn’t set my bones properly, so they just slapped a cast on me. When I didn’t get better, and was down to about a hundred pounds, they put me in a cell with two other Americans. I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t even feed myself. They did it for me. I was beginning to learn the limits of my selfish independence.

Those men saved my life. I was in solitary confinement when my captors offered to release me. I knew why. If I went home, they would use it as propaganda to demoralize my fellow prisoners. Our Code said we could only go home in the order of our capture, and there were men who had been shot down before me. I thought about it, though. I wasn’t in great shape, and I missed everything about
America. But I turned it down.

A lot of prisoners had it worse than I did. I’d been mistreated before, but not as badly as others. I always liked to strut a little after I’d been roughed up to show the other guys I was tough enough to take it. But after I turned down their offer, they worked me over harder than they ever had before. For a long time. And they broke me.

When they brought me back to my cell, I was hurt and ashamed, and I didn’t know how I could face my fellow prisoners. The good man in the cell next door, my friend, Bob Craner, saved me. Through taps on a wall he told me I had fought as hard as I could. No man can always stand alone. And then he told me to get back up and fight again for our country and for the men I had the honor to serve with. Because every day they fought for me.

I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else’s. I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here. I loved it for its decency; for its faith in the wisdom, justice and goodness of its people. I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again. I wasn’t my own man anymore. I was my country’s.

I’m not running for president because I think I’m blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need. My country saved me. My country saved me, and I cannot forget it. And I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help me God.