John McCain's Acceptance Speech: Where Will He Take the Country?

John McCain accepted the nomination of the Republican Party last evening and now, as Sherlock Holmes might have said, “The Game’s afoot.”  The voters of this nation have 61 days to make up their minds about who will lead America through the next four years.  

McCain told us a bit about his experience as a prisoner of the North Vietnamese.  What a compelling story!  John McCain is without doubt a man of character.  His experience in the Vietnam War demonstrates that fact most vividly.  We Americans owe a massive debt of gratitude to John McCain has his comrades for the suffering they endured in the service of their nation.  However, that debt of gratitude does not include an automatic pass to be the President of the United States.  That he must ear anew.   

            Now, let me offer a few words about McCain’s speech.  It was ordinary at best.  When it comes to speechmaking, McCain is certainly no Barack Obama.  Indeed, with respect to speechmaking skill, McCain is no Sarah Palin.  I thought, as I listened to his acceptance speech, that if one had to judge the McCain’s speech and Palin’s speech side by side, without knowing the speaker, Palin’s speech would win hands down.  

            Nevertheless, McCain is the presidential candidate, what he said carries a great deal more weight than what Palin had to say.  In my point of view, McCain said a number to things I liked a great deal.  He spoke of his willingness and ability to work across parties in order to solve problems.  Personally, I like that very much.  It is time for our government to stop the partisan backbiting and backstabbing that began following the Watergate scandal and continues to this day.  So, any candidate who was really willing to try to put party aside and end the cross party fighting, would go along way toward getting my vote.  McCain did not say how he would reach across party differences.  On what issues would he be willing to compromise?  As I listen to his campaign stump speeches, I don’t hear much about compromise.  

            McCain said, as President, he would veto every bill that comes to his desk containing an earmark.  This is another thing that I would like very much to see happen.  However, I know this is impossible and so does John McCain.  Congress loves earmarks and if there is to be bills at all passed into law they will come with some earmarks.  What I suspect will happen is that bills with earmarks from primarily Democratic legislators will get vetoed while those from Republicans might get through.  

            McCain says he will end the influence of “special interests” on American politics.  This is still another issue on which I would agree with him.  However, every politician says he is not influenced by special interests.  The problem here is that one legislator’s legitimate constituency is another’s special interest.  A “special interest,” in our political affairs, is the interests of those who disagree with you.  Neither McCain nor Obama will end the influence of special interests.  I know it, you know it, and they both know it. 

            He says he wants to change the way Washington does business.  I would hope he really wanted to do that.  However, the proposals he has been offering, seem to me to be a lot more of what we have experienced for the past eight years.  He also failed to mention that he has been a part of that Washington establishment (a leader in the Senate) for the past 26 years.  He has done little to change the way things work.      

            What frightens me about McCain is his promise to appoint strict constructionist judges to the federal courts.  In doing so, his administration could set American civil rights, women’s rights, and reproductive choice back to the 1960s. 

            Although, he offered no specifics, McCain indicated a willingness (and this point has come through in his stump presentations, as well) to work closely with America’s major corporations, (particularly oil companies) offering them tax breaks despite their willingness to take jobs overseas and their making of exorbitant profits, at the expense of middle-class Americans.  He says this is the way to bring prosperity back to America.  That’s just wrong. 

            Finally, there is the differences I have with John McCain on the war in Iraq.  We have argued and discussed this issue over and over.  I won’t repeat those arguments here, but I believe McCain is dead wrong in his willingness to keep out troops in Iraq when Iraqis want us out and most Americans want us out.  This is another issue on which I personally believe McCain is just flat wrong. 

            So, while I liked a good bit of what John McCain had to say in his speech, these three issues (federal judges, big business corporations, and the war in Iraq) are, for me personally, deal breakers.  I will continue to listen to both candidates, but unless McCain modifies his views on some of these issues, he cannot earn my vote.