McCain vs. Obama or Clinton
In
a few short months the American people will be asked to select the nation’s
leader for the next four years. This
time around, John McCain will be competing with either Barack Obama or Hillary
Clinton for the office of President of the United States.
So,
how does John McCain match up with the Democratic standard bearers?
In
general, Clinton and Obama are both rated by “OnTheIssues,”
a website that tracks the records of political candidates, as hard core liberals…
“Both are offering ‘the middle class’… a version of never-never-land – total
public protection from the traps and betrayals of the private sector, which has
been reduced to a kind of Grimm’s Fairy Tale abstraction, the wolves.” (“Hillary’s Close Up, by Daniel Henninger,”
The Wall Street Journal, February 28, 2008).
“OnTheIssues” rates John McCain as a populist-leaning
conservative.
There
are a multitude of important issues separating the Republican and Democratic
candidates: Iraq and Afghanistan, the War on Terror, the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, immigration, the economy, energy policy, the judges they would
appoint to the courts, keeping the Social Security and the Medicare programs
financially viable, education, tax policy, and balancing the federal budget,
among others. In general, Obama and
Clinton base their solutions on increased government involvement and spending,
whereas McCain relies more on individual or private sector initiative.
McCain,
at 71, is senior to Clinton by 11 years and is about 25 years older than
Obama. And, although McCain’s age is
likely to be raised as an issue, Ryan Cole cites many examples of important
elderly 20th Century leaders: Winston Churchill became prime minister of England
at age 65, was re-elected at age 76 and left office at 80; Konrad
Adenauer was 73 when he became chancellor of Germany; Charles de Gaulle became
president of France at age 68 and held office until he was 78; Golda Meir
became prime minister of Israel at 70 and served until age 76; Nelson Mandela,
after 27 years in prison, was elected president of South Africa when he was 75;
and Ronald Reagan was 69 when he became president and 77 when he left office
eight years later. (“Is McCain Too Old,” Wall Street Journal, February 27,
2008).
The
match-up between McCain and Clinton or Obama will not be a classic liberal vs.
conservative contest – because McCain’s record has not been strongly
conservative on many issues, immigration and campaign finance among others.
On
the question of who is best qualified to take an emergency call at 3:00 a.m.,
John McCain’s status as a war hero, together with his 23-year military career,
clearly make him the best choice for Commander-In-Chief. And, having let the genie out of the bottle
on this issue themselves, neither of the Democratic
candidates will be able to avoid it.
My
guess is that, absent some shocking disclosure, John McCain will defeat either
Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton in November.
Clinton’s “negatives,” coupled with a track record strewn with questionable
conduct and devoid of valid experience for the office of president, are too
much for her to overcome. And, in spite
of his charm and communication skills, Obama’s lack of experience and extreme
liberalism will make him vulnerable. His
rosy themes of “change” and “bringing people together” will ultimately be seen
as naïve or dishonest. Either way, I
don’t think he can sell hot air indefinitely, unless, of course, the
Republicans let him get away with it.