Does John McCain Still Want to Be President?

In John McCain’s History, we see a war hero who has devoted his career to serving the American people in the United States Congress. His efforts at following conscience over the dictates of political convenience have been respected in both political parties.

The Three Cornerstones of Senator McCain's Politics have been reform and deregulation and war.

As Regards Reform, he sponsored 2002’s McCain-Feingold Campaign Reform Act. He speaks firmly now in favor of regulating the greed that has taken the American economy to the brink of disaster. Senator McCain’s commitment to reform in Congress is clear.

But Has It Made Any Difference?

As Regards War, Senator McCain believes strongly in the conduct of the War in Iraq. He has supported the current president unwaveringly, saying that he would rather lose the presidency in order to win a war, than win the presidency and lose the war. Some people believe that the senator's commitment to the War in Iraq reflects a desire to re-fight the Vietnam War—and win this time. No more "domino effect," leading the Communist Chinese and Vietnamese hordes to make beach-landing attacks on our Pacific shores.

Not Like Last Time...

But on the Deregulation Front, it is the Republican Party’s relentless pursuit of deregulations that has led us to the current financial crisis.

The Result of Deregulation Is the Current Economic Fiasco. 1999’s Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act, which removed the Depression-era safeguards of 1933’s Glass-Steagall Act, was the precipitate cause of what we face today. (This act was sponsored by the same Phil Gramm who until recently was the senior economic advisor of the McCain campaign.)

More-Recently, the Demise of the Entire Republican Economic Premise was acknowledged by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. "Shocked disbelief" is how Mr. Greenspan put it, admitting that the underlying basis of Republican economic theory is as bankrupt as the nation on which the theory has been tested.

If John McCain’s Primary Focus as a Senator has been to move toward deregulation—as he has reiterated countless times during the lengthy presidential campaign—and it is the abject failure of such deregulations that has caused the current financial meltdown, what is left for John McCain to do?

Net Result: No Effective Reform, No Win in Iraq, an Economy in Crisis.

So What Would John McCain Do if he were elected as President? What more would he deregulate? What new wars would he choose to fight?

Does John McCain Really Still Want to Be President?

If So, Why?

NEWS FLASH! President Bush Announces Time-Horizon for Withdrawal

[A Hypothetical Media Encounter Somewhere in Iraq]


IRAQ—Speaking in Iraq Earlier Today, leading presidential contender Barack Obama spoke to the President’s decision to set a time-horizon for withdrawing American troops from Iraqi soil. Said Obama, “I congratulate George Bush for having the strength of character to change directions and show the Iraqi people the respect they deserve.”

“Furthermore,” Obama Continued, “on behalf of the American people, I would like to thank President Bush for giving us what we have wished for as a nation: an honorable conclusion to this unfortunate war, and for allowing us to redirect our attention to getting the perpetrators of September 11 and to seeing our brave men and women of the military safely home.”

Said Obama, “It is Time to Restore Faith and Trust in the American dollar and in the nation as a whole. It’s time to get back to the sound and humane fiscal policies that will help America face the many new challenges, to energy and the environment. Now we can move forward at last, so that the next time the world calls on America, America will again be in a position to answer.”

In Response to a Followup Question—Referring to Iraq Withdrawal-Deadlines, Iran negotiations, and acknowledgment of environmental changes—whether the President’s change of course constituted “flip-flopping,” Barack Obama said, “While some pundits will take the opportunity to label these decisions flip-flopping, I believe these changes represent President Bush’s growing understanding of America’s role in the future of the world, in terms of politics, in terms of the environment, in terms of the price of oil, and in terms of our challenged economy. These recent statements by George W. Bush show growth and change that he can be proud of. And for those Americans who have opposed the Administration’s policies for so long, President Bush’s correction of those policies is like the return of the prodigal son.”

The “Prodigal Son" refers to a parable in the New Testament, which mentions a young man who gathered his share of his father’s property and took “a journey into a far country,” where he “squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need.”

When the Son Decided to Return Home, “his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.” (from Luke 15:13-24, The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.)

Senator Obama Is Visiting Afghanistan and Iraq in connection with his duties as a United States Senator.