Why I Will Vote McCain

Can you believe it has been two years? For two years we have listened to candidates build platforms, argue their cases and tear down their opponents. Now we look at the final two candidates and the question that should be on everyone’s mind is this: who offers the best solutions for this country? My answer is John McCain.

The main issue of this campaign has been the economy for the last few months. While the temptation may be to simply target the guy associated with the incumbent president's party, what voters should ask is “who has the best plan to restore the economy?” This is particularly true since John McCain is not a normal Republican. If we ask that second question, the problems of the economy favor Sen. McCain.

Right now is not a good time to raise anyone’s taxes, rich or poor. If you raise taxes on companies, they will raise the prices everyone pays. Right now is not a good time to create new government mandates. Right now is certainly not a good time to “bankrupt” the coal industry, as Sen. Obama said he would do. Right now is the right time to lower everyone’s taxes and to help grow small and medium businesses. This is the way that we will escape the current economic situation, and this is the policy best put forward by Sen. John McCain. Sen. McCain supports the same sort of policies that brought the prosperity of the Reagan era — precisely the measures we need right now.

In national security, both candidates have pledged a tough fight. To be fair, both candidates desire a safe, secure America. Both want to try to prevent another 9/11. The question is who has the methods that will be best at accomplishing this task? Sen. McCain’s tough, decisive foreign policy positions seem best poised to insure that America’s enemies are on the run. Situations, such as the Georgian invasion by Russia, proved the point: McCain came out with a proper response quickly, Obama took several responses to hit the right tone.

Concerning Iraq, with the success currently being reaped in Iraq thanks to the surge, it is hard to imagine leaving now. Why snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory? Sen. McCain has shown a keen sense here, just as he did in responding to Georgia. The progress made in Iraq was allowed to happen largely in thanks to Sen. McCain’s willingness to put his career on the line for the cause. Now our troops are doing a tremendous job — they deserve a leader who will allow them to do that job. Though no one wants to be in Iraq right now, leaving now may simply allow a bigger war to brew in the Middle East, and if it does, we will necessarily return, only that time, we will experience far greater casualties. It is better to finish the task we started, and John McCain is the man who will do that.

Finally, a word must be said of character. Frankly, it surprises your humble writer that Sen. Obama has made it this far. It is not that he is a bad man, but that his associations are questionable enough that less charismatic candidates would have long been felled by them. I simply suspect he has poor judgment, but whatever the case may be, he intertwined himself with very troubling characters. Jeremiah Wright alone, Mr. “God Damn America,” ought to be enough to give us pause, given Obama's close, twenty year relationship with him. But, arguing from a negative is not much of a reason to vote for the other guy. The bigger principle is that, on the inverse, Sen. McCain is someone who has shown a strong, dependable character for decades. That speaks volumes concerning his capability to make proper decisions for the good of the country and not for his own political power over the coming years.

This country needs someone with experience, with character and with judgment. At this juncture, America needs Sen. John McCain.

Timothy R. Butler is editor-in-chief of Open for Business.