Stephen Moore on McCain
Interesting Stephen Moore recap of his meeting with Senator McCain. Interesting because it basically uncovers a few different areas which McCain is due to baffle the right as much as he baffles the left.
There's a lot to like about McCain ... at the same time that there's lots to dislike. Moore obviously approaches his view from the libertarian right and comes away with the following breakdown:
Good:
Bad:
And yet, even from my own side, that whole Phil Gramm thing is reason for a loud alarm. I'm far more comfortable with Dickey Flatt in charge of the Treasury. In fact, I think at some point, it's up to McCain to elaborate on the ways in which his economic views correllate with Gramm's.
A while back, it seemed about half the liberal side of the blogosphere went nuts over Matt Stoller's ever-so-revealing post on how "Liberals love John McCain" ... but shouldn't. For the longest time, I've found that to be a political hallucination. Why? Because I have yet to find one liberal who loves John McCain.
There are, however, numerous independents who see a straightfowardness in McCain that is a rarity in most other politicians. There are several Democrats, such as myself, who appreciate McCain's more honest brand of conservatism. Sometimes that just means we'll agree to disagree ... but sometimes it means we're fighting for the same things from a different starting point. If that frightens the living daylights out of anyone, it probably says more about the disingenuous partisanship of them than it does anyone else. I mean, if we were talking about just another Republican Senator who thought and voted the way McCain did, I don't think there'd be any concern on the part of liberals ... or even Democrats.
Oh, and for what it's worth, McCain will be in Texas in a couple of weeks: Austin on the 11th; Houston on the 12th. I'll be at the Houston book signing.
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Politics-20082 Comments
I am a liberal that loves John McCain. It has nothing to do with his views, but that as you said: we are both fighting for similar things, if from different angles.
I love John McCain because in this day and age of corruption, it is a rare yet joyous find when there is a highly influencial politician who takes his job as a lawmaker above his job as a politician.
I couldn't be sure, but if the Republicans really really want to guarantee themselves the 2008 presidency, then they would nominate John McCain. However, one has to wonder always if the Republicans want that guarantee, or want a dogfight by sending in a much more conservative man.
Yes, it would be good to have a Republican candidate that you can respect. :) True, when I first read about McCain's marriages, I didn't have a lot of personal respect for the guy, though I've since mollified on that point. But I think the guy has more integrity than most politicians. He's hard to dislike but easy to disagree with. I don't see how liberals could love McCain as a candidate because of his positions on several key issues. But he is the sort of Republican I'd like to have around--one who is capable of reasoning, of crossing party lines (though not as often as some might suggest).
The Phil Gramm nomination set off alarms for me as well. How any fiscal conservative can support Gramm is beyond me because Gramm has a long history of voting for pork. You like your politicians with interest-free loans from a convicted bank fraud? Votes for the supercollider and space station? (I love science and space exploration, but there was little compelling argument for either of these projects.)
On the face of McCain's good pub, he and Gramm seem like men of quite the different strokes.