McCain: Garden variety politician

After two consecutive columns about Barack Obama, some folks wondered whether I would write about Sen. John McCain with the same intensity.

Well, the answer is I can't.

McCain simply doesn't merit the same level of scrutiny as Obama, because unlike Obama, he is a traditional candidate running a traditional campaign. Is he deceptive? Yes. Is he slippery? Yes. Is he manipulative? Yes. But you don't get elected to the Senate four times without those traits. Nonetheless, we do know where he stands on a variety of issues because he has a track record.

Obama, on the other hand, is running for president on the force of his personality, not on the power of his ideas. Yes, he has "position papers" available for review, but he didn't think this stuff up himself, and there is no guarantee his positions won't change after he's in office. Let's face it - Obama can do no wrong, and that is just as dangerous in a president as in an emperor. Can you say Waterloo?

The problem for those of us who fear Obama is that we don't have any viable alternative. On the left, Hillary Clinton would be acceptable in many ways, except she probably can't win. And on the right, we have McCain.

McCain, like Obama, is an outwardly affable person. He presents himself to the public as an avuncular straight-shooter, although in private some of his shots are laced with profanity and bile. But that's not the end of the world. Past presidents both Democratic and Republican have had potty mouths, and the nation survived without too much damage.

But with McCain the trouble doesn't come from what he says in private, nor even what he says in public, but from his votes as a senator and his career in Congress.

In looking at McCain's victory speech after the Potomac primaries on Feb. 13, there is much he says which a conservative can appreciate, and indeed little that anyone of any political persuasion can logically disagree with. Here are some examples:

. "We believe that Americans, not our detractors and certainly not our enemies, are on the right side of history. We trust in the strength, industry and goodness of the American people."

Translation: If you side with America's enemies, you are an enemy of America.

. "We don't believe that government has all the answers. We believe that government must respect the rights, property and opportunities of the people to whom we are accountable. We don't believe in growing the size of government to make it easier to serve our own ambitions. We believe that what government is expected to do, what we cannot do for ourselves individually, it must do with competence, resolve and wisdom."

Translation: Don't trust anyone who tells you that the federal government will solve all your problems.

. "The American people don't send us to Washington … to fight each other for our own political ambitions; but to fight together our real enemies. They don't send us to Washington to stroke our egos; but to help them keep this beautiful, bountiful, blessed country safe, prosperous, proud and free. They don't send us to Washington to take more of their money, and waste it on things that add not an ounce to America's strength and prosperity…"

Translation: Look beyond slogans and vote in your own self-interest. If you give a politician carte blanche, you are putting the cart before the horse.

. "To encourage a country with only rhetoric rather than sound and proven ideas that trust in the strength and courage of free people is not a promise of hope. It is a platitude."

Translation: If you vote for the hot air of "change," you may reap the whirlwind of financial ruin.

Of course, I can't belittle these sentiments because they are the same sentiments which I myself have tried to advance in my small way in this column - the greatness of America, the danger of large government, the wisdom of cautious growth.

But speeches do not tell the whole story. It's easy to string words together for public consumption, but McCain unlike Obama has a track record. He therefore must be judged not just on his words and rhetoric, but on his trustworthiness. And there, McCain comes up short.

Due to the crowded field in the Republican primaries this year, McCain was able to take advantage of crossover voters (Democrats and independents) to get a plurality of the vote in many of the early states. Conservatives tended to split their votes between Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Fred Thompson, leaving McCain with bragging rights (and a majority of the delegates thanks to winner-take-all voting in many states).

So far, McCain has been able to convince many conservatives to vote for him in November simply because he is not Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. For that reason, he currently leads in many head-to-head polls against either Democratic candidate.

But face it, there are still nine long months before the general election, and McCain's reputation for hot-headedness could show itself at any time. One ill-timed blowup and he could be toast.

In addition, McCain will have nine months to woo Democratic and independent voters and this is where he is most likely to get into trouble. It seems like McCain has rarely met a bipartisan bill he didn't like. Indeed, he has teamed up with the most liberal Democrats in the Senate on several occasions to promote dangerous ideas which no true conservative could tolerate. Let's run through a few of them:

McCain-Feingold - This bill was the dangerous "campaign finance reform" law which essentially took away many group's right to support a candidate of their choice with their own money. It has also empowered such moneyed interests as George Soros, who is reputed to be the liberal patron saint of campaign finance reform.

McCain-Kennedy - This early version of "comprehensive immigration reform" was an outright odious surrender to Mexico and would have resulted in legalizing millions of illegal immigrants. Just as President Bush felt the wrath of conservatives for his reform plan, so too McCain has violated what many consider a core principle of sovereignty. McCain today says he "gets it" that conservatives want border security first, but he refuses to say that legalization is a bad idea any time.

"The Gang of 14" - McCain was a leader in the Senate "solution" which stripped the president of his power to make court appointments which would then be voted on by the Senate. The "Gang" decided that only appointments they agreed on would get an up-or-down vote, thus effectively eliminating the president's power to use his election to advance his cause.

McCain-Lieberman - The Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act of 2005 promoted the liberal agenda of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by establishing a system to trade greenhouse gas allowances. There was hardly a conservative Republican anywhere clamoring for such a system, but that didn't stop McCain from "crossing the aisle" (as he likes to say) to cozy up with his "good friend (as he also likes to say) Joe Lieberman.

Bush tax cuts - McCain was one of the few Republican senators to oppose the Bush tax cuts in 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2005, including the increase child tax credit which directly benefits families. Now, of course, he says he will support keeping the tax cuts, but isn't that just a case of telling people what they want to hear?

Which brings us back to the question of politics as usual. If Barack Obama manages to win the Democratic nomination (as he is poised to do) then McCain won't have a leg to stand on in November.

Experience? Who cares. Obama will be able to spin McCain's experience in Congress for the past 26 years into a virtual indictment. Don't forget the Keating Five, and don't assume there aren't more skeletons in the closet.

If McCain is the last best hope of conservatives, then we had better get started saluting President Obama.