Election Night HQ

By Election Night HQ’s Publisher 

In the previous post, I noted the endorsement of Senator McCain by the Manchester (NH) Union-Leader, traditionally an important, influential voice in GOP politics in the Granite State (and thus, the nation, due to NH’s historic role in selecting candidates during the nomination process.)

“Competence, Courage, Conviction”

In this post, I’m going to take some of the text which the Union-Leader published, and make some observations:

“Competence”

I would have placed “Competence” as the last of these, as it is not a great rallying cry.  I am reminded of the 1988 campaign, when Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis stated flatly that “this election is not about ideology, but competence.”  Competence is great, to be sure, but in order to fully engage supporters in a political campaign, it’s not the best word to use (or at least, not the one to lead off with).

It is clear, though, that Senator McCain has the experience needed to be commander-in-chief from Day One: 22 years in the Navy, long-time service on the Armed Services Committee, etc.  (In fact, when it comes to taking over as commander-in-chief, it could be argued that his naval service and tenure in both houses of Congress, make him better prepared to take over as commander-in-chief than any President, since Dwight Eisenhower was elected in 1952.)  Whatever one might think of him, even his most bitter enemies would concede that on national security issues, he has no peer.

“Courage” 

This strikes more at the heart of what the campaign is all about.  His well-documented heroism in Hanoi does not need to be recapitulated here.  But courage is something that was part of McCain’s makeup, long before Hanoi as well as long after.  During his career as a naval aviator, McCain was forced to eject from his plane twice, prior to being shot down over Hanoi.  He survived a horrific, high-casualty fire on the USS Forrestal, the aircraft carrier upon which he served prior to being transferred to the USS Oriskany (the carrier from which he launched when he was shot down).

Outside of his naval service, he has not been afraid to take on very difficult challenges in Congress.  Even when it meant upsetting a lot of people.  Which brings me to the final point-

“Conviction” 

He has gone his own way on the U.S. presence in Lebanon (back in the 1980s), tobacco, tax cuts, campaign finance reform, immigration, and Iraq (to cite just a partial list).  In doing so, he has angered an entire host of opponents from throughout the political spectrum.  And it takes a great deal of courage to risk a promising political career, by taking unpopular stands. But McCain has done so throughout his career.  In an age when many politicians figure out which way the political currents are blowing, and take stands accordingly, McCain does precisely the opposite.  He determines what his position shoud be, on principle, and then sticks to it, regardless of how many people disapprove.  It is a refreshing change to have the opportunity to reward a candidate who genuinely does believe in principle.  It’s all part of his strong sense of honor, which is not a word one hears bandied about much in politics.  He will not do anything which detracts from his sense of honor, whether the honor being maintained is his loyalty to a friend, his adherence to a set of deeply held beliefs, or his perpetual commitment to do what he believes is right for America.

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