Rachel Alexander - John McCain is sort of like the guy who thinks if he says something enough, people will believe it even though he does the exact opposite. McCain's strategy is to use the phrase "straight talk" so much people forget that he has an extensive history of waffling.

If McCain becomes president, he will be the first president disliked by a majority of Republican columnists. Of course, he will be the first Republican president the liberal media covers favorably. It is too bad that most Republican voters don't watch presidential debates, because McCain's true colors came out in last night's California debate. Painfully overly confident from his Florida win, and looking unhealthy with an unnatural bulge on his jaw due to having melanomas removed, McCain did not hesitate to profess liberal viewpoints and dodged questions instead of answering them - so much for straight talk. He's sort of like the guy who thinks if he says something enough, people will believe it even though he does the exact opposite. McCain's strategy is to use the phrase "straight talk" so much people forget that he has an extensive history of waffling.

McCain talked aggressively about supporting tax cuts in order to disguise the fact that he was one of only two Republican Senators who opposed Bush's tax cuts twice in 2001 and 2003. When asked about it these days, McCain's defense is that they weren't accompanied with spending cuts so they were bad for the deficit. One of the interviewers, L.A. Times Janet Hook, confronted him with a statement he'd made at the time of the Bush tax cut bills, where he said he opposed them since they were too skewed toward the wealthy. She asked him to clarify whether that was the reason. Instead of answering, McCain dodged the question completely, changing the topic by saying he was part of the Reagan Revolution and spending restraints were included in the Reagan tax cuts. Based on this response, it appears that he must still have a problem with tax cuts favoring the wealthy.

McCain was asked if he would support his pro-amnesty illegal immigration bill, McCain-Kennedy, if it came up again now. McCain dodged the question, and dodged it again when it was repeated, saying "It will not come up again," claiming that since the American people want border enforcement first, the bill can't happen. This was a deceptive response that played with semantics, since we all know eventually a bill will be proposed again setting up an easy path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the country - which was the main objection most people had to the bill. Clearly, McCain still supports a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants and would implement it as president if the bill was sent to him. So much for straight talk.

The highlight of the debate was a heated exchange between McCain and Romney regarding McCain's accusation that Romney supports a timetable to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq. McCain lifted part of a statement Romney had made almost a year ago in an ABC interview and dropped it in the media right before last week's Florida primary, so Romney did not have time to respond. Romney's actual statement was that he believed President Bush and Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq should have "a series of timetables and milestones" that they discuss among themselves but do not announce.

"Well, there's no question but that the president and Prime Minister al-Maliki have to have a series of timetables and milestones that they speak about. But those shouldn't be for public pronouncement. You don't want the enemy to understand how long they have to wait in the weeds until you're going to be gone."

Later on in the interview, when asked whether he would veto a bill with a timetable as President, Romney said yes. Romney has consistently advocated for Bush to stay on course in Iraq, and he said last fall that the surge was working. Romney pointed out that if McCain really thought Romney was in favor of a timetable for withdrawing the troops from Iraq, he would have made it an issue before now, not brought it up on the eve of the Florida election with no time for him to respond.

McCain dodged the assertion, responding that he had brought the issue up before that Romney is "not qualified." Romney labeled McCain's tactic "an attempt at Washington old-style politics, where you say whatever, get it out there, whether it's true or not." McCain failed to deny this accusation, and instead blamed Romney for starting the negative tone in the race.

McCain's statement that the U.S. would remain in Iraq for 100 years if necessary was brought up, and McCain reminded everyone that he was the only candidate who had called for Rumsfeld to go. He also said that Iraq is a matter of casualties, not U.S. presence, which didn't make much sense.

Romney pointed out that the proposed McCain-Lieberman energy bill would raise taxes on gas by 50 cents per gallon, and since it wouldn't hold other nations like China accountable, it's essentially forcing the U.S. to pay for the world's global warming.

McCain gloated about getting the Boston Globe and Boston Herald's endorsement, since those newspapers are located in Romney's home state. But the value of these endorsements is dubious, since the Boston Globe is extremely liberal, not an endorsement a Republican wants. Then he went on to brag about getting the endorsement of his own home state newspaper, the Arizona Republic. This also isn't anything to brag about, because the Arizona Republic is a very left wing paper, referred to as the "Arizona Repugnant" and the "Arizona Repulsive" regularly by Republicans such as former Congressman J.D. Hayworth. The Republic endorses mostly Democrats and the most liberal Republicans.

When Romney listed off the liberal bills McCain has sponsored and supported, McCain didn't even attempt to deny or defend those positions, instead he said that he's "proud of reaching across the aisle and getting things done." Apparently McCain is proud to help the Democrats achieve their agenda. He then claimed that "strong conservatives are the ones supporting me," which was intellectually dishonest considering so many conservatives dislike him.

A blind adherent to the belief that it's an undebatable fact that humans are responsible for global warming, McCain defended California's attempt to require more strict emissions for vehicles than the rest of the country, saying that he "applauds those who try to eliminate greenhouse gases." Not surprisingly, he picked up the endorsement of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger immediately after the debate, who has sadly become almost as liberal as the previous Democrat governor who was recalled.

McCain has stated in the past that he doesn't understand economic issues very well saying he understands them a lot less than he does military and foreign policy issues. He limits most of his speeches to foreign policy. When asked what he thought of Bush's plan to give up to $800 in rebates to taxpayers to stimulate the economy, McCain blindly agreed, and said we may need to take further steps. Romney, who has spent 25 years in the private sector successfully managing businesses, said, "we need to have a president that understands the real economy."

The final question of the debate was whether the candidates thought that Ronald Reagan would endorse them. Romney said Reagan wouldn't endorse someone who advocated a 50 cent tax on a gallon of gas, McCain-Feingold campaign finance legislation, and opposed drilling in ANWAR.

McCain may be the only candidate who can beat Hillary or Obama, but is it worth it in the long run for the Republican Party to sacrifice its positions for a little short term gain? A McCain presidency moves the party to the left, and means the next Republican candidate for president will get away with being even more liberal. Long term, Republicans will look more like Tories.


Rachel Alexander ist praktizierende Anwältin für die Regierung in Phönix im U.S. Staat Arizona. Als ehemaliges Redaktionsmitglied und Kolumnistin des Arizona Daily Wildcat, gewann sie für ihre journalistischen Arbeiten drei Auszeichnungen und schreibt Kolumnen für IntellectualConservative.com