Who Is John McCain?
He's a four-term Republican senator from Arizona, a naval aviator in the Vietnam war, a five and a half year prisoner of war, a 2000 presidential Republican candidate, a 2008 presidential Republican candidate, and now the Republican party's new front runner; he's opposed by many conservatives, endorsed by many conservatives, and has been frequently called a political "maverick."
Whatever he may be or may be called, with John McCain's much needed win in the Florida Primary he has pushed ahead of the pack as the new Republican front-runner. All eyes are now heavily focused on McCain, and if all things go in his favor from now on he could very well be the Republican party's next nomination for president.
The primary concern the Republican party has with McCain, the very reason he's receiving opposition from a number of conservatives, is his record on supporting liberal legislation opposed by his party. In 2002 McCain authored the McCain-Feingold Act, which called for a regulation in financing of political campaigns. Through this act, one noticeable impact was in candidates' ads and commercials where candidates had to appear on-screen to state their approval of the ad.
McCain's liberal stance on illegal immigration also brings much opposition to his candidacy. In 2007 McCain and senator Kennedy stepped forward to introduce a plan to overhaul the nation's immigration laws. It included to allow most of the twelve million illegal immigrants to earn legalized citizenship, going against the nation's "get-tough" stance on illegal immigration.
Thus McCain's conservative critics include such people as Tom Delay and Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh has expressed his opposition to McCain many times, stating his nomination could "destroy the Republican party." Delay, who has criticized McCain for years, stated that McCain "has no principles" and if McCain gets nominated that he will not endorse McCain if he won the GOP primary.
McCain however also has many endorsements from the Republican party, ranging from Rudy Giuliani, to the Governor of Florida Charlie Crist, to Arnold Schwarzenegger.
But what in fact makes this man a Republican? McCain has a strong conservative voting record in free trade issues, and he opposes socialized health care. He also is in favor of welfare reform and capital punishment.
Many view McCain as a candidate best fit for national security. He has been an advocate of the United State's military, ensuring that through a McCain presidency he would keep our military ahead of competitors such as China and Russia, respond to any crisis that endangers America's security, and protect our homeland. McCain also fought for the creation of the 9/11 Commission, the Department of Homeland Security, and the creation of the U.S. Northern Command.
However, unlike President Bush, McCain opposes this administration's use of "enhanced interrogation techniques," which includes the use of waterboarding, a form of interrogation (which McCain refers to as torture) that involves laying the victim on his back and pouring water over his face to simulate a person drowning.
Indeed Senator McCain is a controversial figure to many conservatives. Regardless, he is pulling ahead of the other Republican candidates and has been catching much of the moderate votes, as seen in the South Carolina primary. If McCain is truly the candidate to beat the Democrat nominee, as stated numerous times in McCain's presidential ad campaign, then perhaps conservative leaders will be content in knowing that our 44th president won't be a Democrat.
Article written by Jeremy A., the owner of the blog Young Political. The site is dedicated for the younger population that is interested in politics, world news & events, and more.
Source: www.articletrader.com
