THE DAYTONA BEACH NEWS-JOURNAL ENDORSES JOHN MCCAIN FOR PRESIDENT
"Arizona Sen. John McCain's candidacy stands out on several grounds: experience, a record of bipartisanship, moderation on critical issues (immigration, energy, global warming) ... and more inclination to speak unpopular truths, even if it costs him votes." -- Daytona Beach News-Journal
McCain's Experience, Moderation Stand Out
Editorial
Daytona Beach News-Journal
January 13, 2008
Arizona Sen. John McCain's candidacy stands out on several grounds: experience, a record of bipartisanship, moderation on critical issues (immigration, energy, global warming), less inclination to exploit personal faith or forced folksiness to political advantage, and more inclination to speak unpopular truths, even if it costs him votes.
McCain is neither a newcomer -- he's been in the Senate 22 years and was in the House of Representatives for four -- nor a prototypical insider. The Republican establishment preferred to back George W. Bush in the 2000 election, due in part to McCain's independence. Going back to his days as a congressman during the Reagan administration, McCain has been unafraid to follow his conscience even when his vote went against the party line. One early, mostly forgotten example during McCain's first year in Congress: He voted in the minority and against extending President Reagan's deployment of U.S. Marines in Beirut in 1983. Twenty-five days later, a suicide bomber killed 241 Marines as they slept in their barracks. ...
Eight years ago, McCain easily won the New Hampshire Republican primary and looked ready to roll through subsequent primaries aboard his "Straight Talk Express," as he called his campaign bus. His appeal to independents and conservative Democrats was apparent until he was routed by Bush in South Carolina, following one of the ugliest primary campaigns in the nation's history. ... Today, he looks rejuvenated, determined and ready to lead Republicans in the November election.
