For president, Republicans: John McCain
Our economy is on the brink of a collapse into recession. A war in Iraq drags on, seemingly without end. Our tax burden grows heavier every day.
We wonder who understands that it is our special interests -- the happiness of our families, unbridled hope in a future filled with opportunity -- that are more important than the special interests of lobbyists who persuade politicians to favor their clients in exchange for campaign cash.
Is there room for us, anymore, in a political system that is seemingly more connected and committed to the elite than to the heavy hearts of average Americans? Are we to be dismissed as naïve for believing elected leaders have a duty to improve the quality of our lives in ways that we can't do ourselves?
Where are the true leaders? Where are men and women of strong character and integrity? Where are the public servants with independence and positive convictions and political courage?
We are asking these questions repeatedly in this presidential race.
And the answer, on the Republican side, is U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, whom we warmly endorse.
Character?
Survey the state of the Republican campaigns these days, and many of them have sunk recently into embarrassing negativity, one mean-spirited attack after the other.
McCain's campaign stands apart with messages focused on positive ideas. The contrast is striking and significant, the mark not just of a campaign but of the man.
As everyone knows, McCain demonstrated incredible courage and fortitude during his long imprisonment in a Vietnam prisoner of war camp, where he was tortured and subjected to other horrors. This is not a man who is going to be intimidated. McCain also is a man who has shown the capacity to forgive, a capacity to dwell on the positive, not on the negative.
He scores high marks on the tests of character and integrity, even his critics would have to acknowledge.
In the Senate, he has taken on the special interests and the too-mighty impact of the donated dollar. He was a leader in fashioning a campaign finance reform law that, while far from perfect, is so true in intention -- removing the corruptive influence of money in political campaigns.
McCain has fought hard to put a lid on the pork barrel full of wasteful projects funded by tax dollars from millions of Americans but benefiting only a select few with clout.
His economic ideas are shrewd and forward-thinking proposals to turn America back toward prosperity and to strengthen our edge in the global marketplace.
We disagree with McCain's endorsement of the war in Iraq, but his early criticism of its execution -- that the Bush administration failed to send in enough troops to complete the mission -- has been proven accurate. A year ago, he showed courage in correctly asserting that a surge of troops would tone down the violence that stands in the way of any hope for peace.
Who better to be at the helm when the next terrorist attack comes than a man who is tough enough to stand up to our enemies as a former distinguished military leader and strong enough to have beaten the odds against his very survival as a prisoner of a war?
We don't agree with some of McCain's positions, such as his opposition to a waiting period on the purchase of guns and other reasonable gun control measures. And legitimate questions have been raised about whether his temperament and age may be barriers to his electability.
But McCain has spent most of his 71 years serving this country with courage in war and with distinction as an independent leader in the halls of Congress.
There is no one more ready for the job of president among the GOP candidates than John McCain.