Organizing for America | For My Federalist AncestorsBlog: McCAIN- THE SPEECH

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McCAIN- THE SPEECH

By Kaye - Sep 5th, 2008 at 3:54 am EDT

Also listed in: Obama San Mateo County

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Tags: 2008 Election, democrats, economy, election, foreign affairs, McCain, Obama, palin, Republican Convention, rnc

As we all know, Sen. McCain is not a charismatic person, particularly on camera. Otherwise, Bush would not have won their last Presidential competition. McCain doesn’t come off as the guy next door whom you want to invite to your backyard barbeque the way Bush did for his party. That’s unfortunate: McCain would have been a much better Commander-In-Chief. However, their appeals are vastly different.

How did he do?

I have to admit I don’t have a laptop so I couldn’t watch him on the TV while putting my online comments together. I kept running up and down the stairs, attempting to get his broadcast on my computer. Damn, I hate all the many different apps necessary to listen to and watch broadcast videos on a Mac!

Nevertheless, I have a few cogent comments:

First, Cindy McCain’s comments about Sarah Palin made Sarah sound like a redneck caricature rather than a real human being. As a female, I was quite offended by that characterization. She’s hardly a cartoon. She may not be my ideal for a VP based on her views, beliefs, and knowledge base, but she’s certainly no redneck cartoon.

Second, when John McCain talked about his domestic policy plans I got the distinct impression that he usurped his ideas from Barack Obama. Sure, they were packaged differently, but the essential message was the same. The problem is that McCain’s voting record in the Senate belies what he said tonight.

Third, the portion of his speech having to do with foreign affairs spoke of being strong and standing by our allies. The problem is that his own foreign policy position paper illuminates his ideology of vastly increasing the military (and military spending) and sending them everywhere in the world. His idea of a strong America is having American military forces deployed everywhere…in virtually every country. His position is not to use Foreign Service staff to discuss and negotiate and build relations with the people, but to expand the military to take on the many roles previously dedicated to the Foreign Service. Furthermore, when he spoke about Georgia, he failed to mention that Georgia started the conflict and that one of his main advisers is a lobbyist for the Georgian government.

So my conclusion?

I was not impressed either by his domestic policy agenda which seems stolen from Obama and repackaged for his audience or his foreign policy agenda. His foreign policies appear to be taken directly from Cold War “Reagan” politics regarding Russia (which today is definitely not the old Soviet Union ) and expanded to include Islamists who really are a major and definable threat. For example, McCain has advocated that Russia be excluded from the G8. Fareed Zakaria, internationally renowned foreign affairs specialist, author, and host of Sunday morning’s CNN’s GPS, explains very clearly why eliminating Russia’s G8 membership would be a major mistake.

One of McCain’s main foreign policy advisers, Ralph Peters, stated on C-SPAN Book Notes that the over-riding challenge of the 21st Century is radical Islamism. How many times have we heard McCain parrot those words? While I don’t doubt that radical Islamism potentially may be the greatest challenge we face in the 21st Century (reminder: the 21st century is still very young), my guess is that McCain has taken much of his ideology from that retired Marine Lt. Colonel and his other neo-con advisers, and added his own Cold War ideology. What everyone must remember about McCain is that, above and beyond everything else, McCain is a warrior. His real interest is not in fiscal matters or in making the country economically strong or in adding jobs for the middle class or in building new industries. His real interest is not in economics. His overriding interest is in foreign policy as it relates to the military. He is, above all else, still, foremost, a Naval Officer. Unlike Eisenhower when he presided in the White House, McCain sees a world dominated by the US…and in particular dominated by the US military.

My Dad was career Air Force. He flew bombers over Africa during WWII and was a life long Republican from Missouri. I suspect, were he still living, he would be appalled by McCain’s foreign policy plans and his position paper as posted on Foreign Affairs (http://www.foreignaffairs.org). Dad was a tough, very smart military guy.

Pardon me, but what?

Lastly, shortly after McCain began to speak, he praised Palin. The problem with what he said was that it sounded like he was running for VP and she the President.

Huh?

I guess she’s going to be responsible for all domestic policy issues while McCain sticks to foreign policy/military issues. But what is her real background in domestic policy? Does she know how to negotiate with a Chinese government that has a 5,000 year history of winning on trade policies? Does she know enough about green technology to advocate for its growth, investment credits, and R & D tax credits? Does she know enough to really lend intelligence to America’s new growth and manufacturing industries that could put all manufacturing workers back to work? Does she know enough to discuss long term energy policies with Silicon Valley CEO’s who are demanding a long term, modern, upgraded Marshall-style, Manhattan-project energy plan. Does she know enough about fiscal policies to discuss finances with Wall Street and the Fed?

So why should I vote for him?

All in all, I thought his speech lacked a whole lot in originality. In researching his life and political ideas, though, I’ve reached the conclusion that McCain does not hold many original views on US economics and that his foreign policy views are defined by the Cold War and his military experience. At heart, McCain is a Naval Officer…that is what defines and interests him.

But is that enough to become the next President of the United States?

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