McCain: 'I am Legend - Here's the Truth and it Ain't Happy Talk!'

More Great Meghan McCain Photos!

In Iowa, concerned about the cost of the war on Islamist Terror, a voter asked Senator John McCain,'Are you going to cut student loans?" she asked. "Are you going to cut Social Security? Are you going to raise taxes?'

Expecting the usual Pious Pies and empty calorie Spin Salad, the voter was treated to classic McCain Straight Talk Steak and Spuds:

"It's going to be a heavy tax burden, but not nearly the burden we'd be paying in American blood had we surrendered in Iraq," McCain said. He added that he would not raise taxes but would eliminate wasteful spending.

Ron Paul's Video Rangers are choking web sites with all kinds of economic graphs and ledgers of Trillions of dollars not lining their pockets and lubricating their lifestyles; Rudy is working the 9/11 Greatest Generation's kids response, Mitt is Rope-a-Doping; Huckabee sings; and the Democrats play the Kos Cards.

John McCain proves that he is the only candidate of any Party with the character, experience, know-how, courage, and conviction to lead America in time of War on Islamist terror.

Ask John McCain questions! He'll give you the Straight Talk! You might not care for answer but his response is one you need to hear.


Click on post title for the answer to John McCain's continued surge in the confidence of the American People!

McCain Leads from out Front!

Meghan McCain's great photo of two Great Americans!


“It has very little to do with national security issues,” Mr. McCain said. “It has a lot to do with handling a post-crisis. As far as I know, Mayor Giuliani has never been to Iraq.”


The assassination of former Prime Minister Benizar Bhutto, a courageous and thoughtful woman, by Islamist Terrorists brought home to America the very real need for a leader steeped in awareness of global threats- A Leader who prepares for the threats to come and prepared to react to crises before they impact on American Interests and safety. John McCain has his Straight Talk to Iowa, where on weeks ago he had been written off.

Senator Joe Lieberman had this to say about John McCain's ability to the American People:

As President, John McCain will bring America together again. He will inspire a new American unity and a new American patriotism. He will push all of us to work together to solve our biggest problems, and defeat our most dangerous enemies.

Throughout our history, succeeding generations of brave Americans have risked their lives for the cause of freedom -- which is America's cause. Throughout his career, from the ranks of the military to halls of the Congress, John McCain has made freedom's cause his own. He learned the ideals of patriotism and service from his father, he taught them to his sons, and he will hold those ideals high as an inspiration for all Americans.

When others were silent, and it was thought politically unpopular, John had the courage and common sense to sound the alarm about the mistakes we were making in Iraq and to call for more troops and a new strategy there. And when others wavered, when others wanted to retreat from the field of battle, John had the courage and the common sense to stand against the tide of public opinion and support the surge in Iraq, where we are at last winning.

There are many fine people running for President. Many of them are good friends of mine. But I have concluded -- and I hope you will, as well -- that John McCain is the candidate who can best reunite our country and lead us to victory.

https://secure.donationreport.com/donation.html;jsessionid=0FBAEB2EB62135EE1A302BE1535D8C95
Every candidate is a public service Patriot. Every person in the mix for the votes of American People for the Office of President has the will to lead, but only John McCain has the qualifications to 'protect, preserve and defend' ur American Republic.

Click on my post title for the New York Times report the opening of John McCain's Iowa run.

Maverick McCain Pulling in the Chips in Iowa

The Maverick Brothers were all 'tall dark strangers there' but John McCain is one of the neighbors and he's pulling in piles of chips in the No Limit Game in Iowa!

I hope all of you had a Blessed and wonderful Christmas! John McCain appears to be pulling in numbers in Iowa.

Here in Illinois State Representative Jim Durkin is getting the McCain Team limbered up for a bi-partisan push that will stun the Daily Kososovans who continue to natter on about Gen. Petreaus and the cut-and-run strategy for Iraq.

Sorry kids, that dog won't bark, let alone get off the rug, or much less hunt.

It seems that the 'white shoes after Labor day' GOP are yet betrothed to Rudy and truly extreme are following Ron Paul's Blimp to the cliff. Fred gets a shout; Mitt has some loyal followers; Rev. Huckabee a loyal circle of disciples, but John McCain is recognized as the Real Deal.

The folks west of the Mississippi are waking up to John McCain's honest, tough and straight talking message! Click on my post title for the latest UPI story on McCain gains in Iowa!

Great photo from Meghan McCain!

Merry Christmas to All - From The Hickeys!

McCain Plants Himself in Townhall Meetings - Greets the Opposition with Candor!

HT -to Meghan McCain for her great photos of the McCain Campaign. Check out Meghan's great site at


http://www.mccainblogette.com/


While other candidates are planting shills in the audience or lighting up blimps, John McCain takes to the people. In a wondeful Boston Globe article John McCain reveals his true nature to those who would oppose him -'You might not like what I have to say but here it is!'

John McCain tells folks who detest his stand on immigration reform and other weighty issues to fa candidate to back - this is America!

"The McCain town-hall meeting sets the standard," said Fergus Cullen, the state Republican party chairman, who is remaining neutral in the primary. "Any candidate who wants to be successful in New Hampshire should do exactly what he does."

Other candidates would find the experience hard to replicate. The only certainty at a McCain event is that the candidate will begin with some familiar jokes - in Bedford, he began with a full seven minutes of comic material, touching on identity theft and drunk Irish twins - and end, sometimes as long as 90 minutes later, with the piano chords of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'."

In between, McCain does all he can to manufacture dramatic tension from what could become a prosaic exchange over policy. Even though most of the questions fall into predictable categories for which he has standard answers - Iraq, terrorism, immigration, the economy, global warming - McCain invites his interlocutors to follow up after he has answered their questions, elevating innocent queries into robust debates.Continued...

McCain appears to gain more strength from confronting attendees of these meetings than locating areas of agreement. When environmentally minded voters ask about climate change, McCain will usually go out of his way to tell them he supports the expanded use of nuclear power. After a young woman in Bedford cited a poll that said military families were unhappy with the direction of the war in Iraq, McCain disputed the question's premise and berated her for believing the survey's results.

It does not take much for McCain to tell voters who disagree with his positions that they should back another candidate. When a man rose in Raymond and contested the right of Mexican immigrants to receive emergency medical care, McCain said, "It's that option or let them die." This did not seem to move the man, who added that those who die crossing a border "take their chances."

"I guess that's one way of looking at it," McCain responded calmly. "And I understand why you wouldn't support me."

McCain tries to keep his act fresh, relying on opening remarks he adjusts to the news with an anchorman's sense of timing, from constitutional turmoil in Pakistan one day to the debate in Washington over torture the next.

"I think it's very important to be talking about the issue of the day," McCain explained. "The people would be badly served if I started a town hall meeting without talking about Pakistan."

Among McCain's Republican rivals, only Mitt Romney has done a large number of similar open-invitation meetings in New Hampshire, with Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson preferring quick visits to restaurants or friendly venues like house parties or businesses. "You're never going to be asked an awkward question at a house party because the guests all know the hosts and aren't going to embarrass their friend," said Cullen.

Where some other candidates steer clear of gadflies for organized causes, McCain preemptively calls on those wearing "I Am a Health Care Voter" or "Stop Global Warming" stickers to give them a platform. In Bedford, McCain pointed to Melissa Skinner, a volunteer for the One anti-poverty moment standing in the back of a crowded room in a black T-shirt with the group's logo. Skinner said afterward that she has attended many candidate events but that "McCain is the first to call on me."

"These are the kind of people we ought to recognize as the outstanding citizens in our community," McCain said in an interview, although his policy of offering the mike to anyone who shows up to an event in costume seems to promote theatrics as much as civics. McCain recently informed a snowman making a point about global warming that he resembled a "chicken" and a teenager wearing a Santa Claus hat that he looked "kind of dorky."

The composition of crowds - which are raised by phone and mail invitations to both Republicans and independents within driving distance - has shifted in recent months, from a concentration of McCain loyalists to a mix of supporters and undecided voters.

The events' unpredictability helps lure independents, a key McCain constituency, according to the campaign's media consultant Mark McKinnon. "People enjoy it because it's a high-wire act and because you never know what will happen. There's always a chance of a car wreck. That's why people go to the Indy 500," McKinnon said, citing such unscripted moments as McCain's notorious rendition of the Beach Boys song "Barbara Ann" with lyrics altered to "bomb Iran."

Indeed, McCain, too, is drawn to the spectacle, often retreating to his bus and reviewing a previous town hall with a theatre critic's focus on the moments of tension and unease.

"In politics, so much is just predictable, totally scripted," said Meghan McCain, the candidate's daughter. "That's why he loves the town hall, because anything can happen."

In Portsmouth, a veteran named Greg Majors rose to say that a motorcycle accident had left him living for the past 22 years with a traumatic brain injury. Majors, in halting speech, said he was "taking up valuable space" and found his existence "pointless."

Unlike other tales of personal despair candidates face - about a sick relative facing rising health-care costs, or from a worker laid off due to outsourcing - there was no policy corner where McCain could find refuge, just one man asking another why he should continue to live.

"Why don't I just pass it off to someone else and just exterminate my life?" Majors asked.

McCain turned away from Majors as he grasped for a response. "Greg, we want you and we love you and we need you, and you will be our inspiration with your courage," McCain told him.

"I've never seen anything like that," McCain said later on, lamenting the "inadequacy" he felt in being unable to comfort Majors, as well as a man at a town hall the previous evening who stood up to talk about his ongoing struggle with Alzheimer's disease.

"When everybody says, 'Oh, don't you get tired of it? Don't you dislike it? Isn't it a drag?' all that, you have experiences like the last two we had within the last sixteen hours," McCain said. "And it's incredible."

McCain appears to gain more strength from confronting attendees of these meetings than locating areas of agreement. When environmentally minded voters ask about climate change, McCain will usually go out of his way to tell them he supports the expanded use of nuclear power. After a young woman in Bedford cited a poll that said military families were unhappy with the direction of the war in Iraq, McCain disputed the question's premise and berated her for believing the survey's results.

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More coverage of Campaign '08 more stories like thisIt does not take much for McCain to tell voters who disagree with his positions that they should back another candidate. When a man rose in Raymond and contested the right of Mexican immigrants to receive emergency medical care, McCain said, "It's that option or let them die." This did not seem to move the man, who added that those who die crossing a border "take their chances."

"I guess that's one way of looking at it," McCain responded calmly. "And I understand why you wouldn't support me."

Boston Globe
Click on my post title for the great Boston Globe article - especially the poignant exchange between John McCain and the troubled Veteran. How someone could not understand that John McCain is the Real Deal is beyond me - but, so is the New York Times.

Last night, I participated in a national conference chat with McCain Bloggers orchestrated by Brad Marston. It was great to experience the energy and enthusiam Americans from all over the country in supporting the only candidate of any Party who can lead America in time of war with Islamist terror. Well done, Brad, Vicki, Michael, Jeff, Eric, Sheridan, and JM!

John McCain - The Dad of Our Country

Susan Estrich has a great article asking the question of 'Who is the Real John McCain?' Is John McCain too conservative; too liberal; too crabby; too impolitic; not smooth enough; too old? Click on my post title for the article itself.

Some months ago when 'John McCain is Toast' was the mantra of REDSTATE and Redstaters during the votes on immigration reform. I argued that John McCain was the only candidate of any Party capable of Leading America in Time of War on Islamist Terror. I had an exchange with some Redstaters and was summarily banned from posting there.

Here is the link of that exchange with some RedStater McCain Haters that got me the bum's rush.

http://www.redstate.com/blogs/pat_hickey/2007/jul/07/john_mccain_staright_talk_requires_no_subtitles

John McCain might not be the Father of Our Country - biologically, there can be only one father, but too many fathers hit the silk on their kids - leaving them to be raised by a Dad: The Man who sets the limits for behavior; provides the comfort and security of a Home; fixes what is broken; steps up for the children; and sets an example to emulate. He's the guy who makes you boil with anger, embarrasment and often envy when it seems that his behavior is too tough a pattern for us to follow. We think - 'how dare HE judge us?' Dad is often the very last person on earth we want to see or hear from - until we are in the jackpot and only he can get us out of it. Boy, I can hear the Progressive Pecksniffery snortin up - 'Are we Children, People ( pronounced Papal in Progressive)? My Baldwin! Relax, cupcakes. Everyone has a Father - no real trick to that - pure Darwinism. The very lucky have a Dad and they understand what it takes to be a good one.

George Washington metaphorically fathered our nation, but John McCain just might be the Dad. The economy, immigration, entitlements, political pork feasts, ox gorings and moral soap boxing are over-shadowed by a very real threat -Islamist terror. We have been at War with Islamist Terror the day that the Twin Towers went down. Everything else went by the board - rather it should have gone by the board.

John McCain is like a good Dad - in past posts I have argued that he is like all of our neighbors -

http://hickeysite.blogspot.com/2007/09/john-mccain-from-your-neighborhood.html

- but here I would answer Susan Estrich's question with John McCain is the Dad of Our Nation.

John McCain went to War. He wears his heart on his sleeve for his Country, Faith, Wife and Family. He learns from his mistakes and teaches us not to make the same mistakes. John McCain, like a good Dad, will not cut and run when things get too tough.

I was never more Proud of my Father than this moment in the late 1950's -

When I was about six or seven, my mother had severe renal failure after giving birth to my little sister. My Mom nearly died and was hospitalized for weeks. The Old Man worked three jobs and took care of two little guys and an infant; made the meals - He was always a better cook than Mom; did the laundry.

One day- Dad was out hanging the sheets in the yard and my brother and I heard the next door truck driver and the Peoples Gas executive on the other side of him giving out at the Old Man - 'Hey Prudence, when you're done with that how about having tea with the little girls too?' The Old Man took it and kept taking care of us.

John McCain and my Dad are very much alike.


Hat Tip to Meghan McCain's Great Blog ! Photos by Meghan McCain!

http://www.mccainblogette.com/

John McCain - Straight Talking Surge is Working!

The New York Times fed internet snitch Matt Drudge some political stink-bombs last week expecting John McCain to fold like a Stanford Math Major/Internet Poker Dweeb playing five card stud with Doyle Brunson.

Huge Hat Tip to John Rubery's Marathon Pundit! Way to go. Rubes!

http://haloscan.com/tb/marathonpundit/46896944299748457

NoTimes story this morning, Drudge-O, but John McCain took the leash off of National Pit-bull lawyer Bob Bennett and yesterday, got out in front of the allegations. Sounds like Michael Flatley v.The Serial Skank- No Contest, but another golden moment in American litigation legal legend. Could be straight talking stare down time for the New York Times but those ink-slingers have a history of getting their britches yanked down with the truth. No shame - No sales, I guess.

Anyway - The Straight Talking John McCain Campaign is Surging!


Even the Brits are getting it; check this out from The Telegraph:

A new poll published yesterday placed him equal with Mitt Romney in New Hampshire, the north-eastern state whose primary is held on Jan 8. Just weeks ago Mr McCain trailed his rival by more than 10 points.

He has also been endorsed this week by both of Mr Romney's hometown newspapers in Boston, a significant blow to the former Massachusetts governor.

The Boston Herald, a conservative tabloid which also circulates in neighbouring New Hampshire, said of Mr McCain: "There are times in this nation's history so perilous that they cry out for a steady, experienced leader, a person so trusted that we would put the fate of this country in his hands. This is one of those times, and Sen John McCain is that person."

At the age of 71 Mr McCain has been dubbed the "comeback kid". The phrase was coined by Bill Clinton in 1992 when he came second in New Hampshire and went on to sweep through the subsequent primaries.

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The same state could be the long-serving senator's base for victory. In 2000, Mr McCain beat George W Bush in New Hampshire by a wide margin only to be overtaken quickly in states further south.

Largely because of his strong performance then, the senator started out the primary campaign a year ago as the Republican front-runner only to appear washed up in the summer amid claims of mismanagement and a poor fundraising performance.

But his consistency on Iraq has paid off. From the outset of the war, Mr McCain opposed Donald Rumsfeld's strategy, arguing that more troops were needed. He supported the surge of 30,000 US troops when others were dismissing it as too little too late, and has made tackling Islamic extremism a central part of his platform.

He told the Wall Street Journal recently: "This is a seminal moment in American history. We've got a long way to go. Al-Qa'eda is on the run but they're not defeated."

Meanwhile his own wartime heroics - he was a North Vietnamese prisoner of war for five years - has continued to underpin his credibility as a national leader.

Mr McCain has also benefited from the lack of a clear favourite in the Republican field capable of attracting both the evangelical and economic branches of the party, as Mr Bush was able to do.

He has given up hope of winning Iowa, the conservative Midwestern state that votes on Jan 3. But a victory there for Mike Huckabee, the southern Baptist minister who is weak in New Hampshire, could enfeeble Mr Romney and open the door to Mr McCain.

"I really don't like that," he said this week of the "comeback kid" nickname. "But things are turning around."

The race in New Hampshire is particularly hard to predict as registered independents are allowed to vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary and form the largest bloc of voters. They are renowned for making up their mind at the last minute.

Therefore the endorsement this week of Joseph Lieberman, an independent senator who normally votes Democrat, gave another timely boost.

Mr Lieberman, who was Al Gore's vice-presidential candidate in 2000, said he chose his longtime Senate colleague because he had the best shot of breaking partisan gridlock in Washington.

"The status quo in Washington is not working," he said.

BTW - Just my south side Chicago Dinny Dimwit's opinion - but can the McCain crew get the press to LAY Off the 'The Comeback Kid' tag line? Bubba Clinton beat that one to death - along with the trust the American People vested in him.

I better put a call into Illinois McCain Chairman Jim Durkin and maybe he can apply a little of that Chicago Catholic League level of convincing to the pencil neck geek crowd from Medill School of Journalism here in the Midwest. Naw, They get all of their stories from The Chicago Reader ( a local free press) anyway.

Click my post title for the San Francisco Chronicle Story on The Straight Talk Surge - It's working!

McCain Takes Boston's Big Two - The Globe & the Herald

Here's more - Hard to improve upon or argue with this from the Boston Herald!

"There are times in this nation's history so perilous that they cry out for a steady, experienced leader, a person so trusted that we would put the fate of this country in his hands. This is one of those times, and Sen. John McCain is that person," the newspaper said.

Illinois State Representative James Durkin - a Fenwick Friar no less! - is leading the Illinois McCain Campaign and getting more weary citizens familar with straight talk and effective leadership. Illinois has been a 'Straight Talk Desert' for some time now and McCain is teaching people not to use the sides of their mouths to say what they mean.

Click on my post title for the fine USA Today coverage of John McCain's continued Victory for Straight Talk. Vlad Putin understands how John McCain feels about him.

Tales of Mike Quigley, Part III -Mike Quigley and the Crabs!

Nothing says the Holidays like the diet of ripping yarns and cautionary tales that gives all of us sinners lessons that might have been gleaned from good living - to supplement all of those artery clogging goodies that we tend to put away in this Season of Giving. Takers are historically good offal and fat to fire into the Plum Puddings - Scrooge, Mr. Potter, crabby little girls who don't buy the Santa Story. Reading the papers and watching the news on TV often undermines our common sense of decency and courtesy. Public figures often give us commoners the very meat upon which to build a banquet of wholesome and toothy truths. Today, I would like to offer another bite out of what I like to call my Mike Quigley pantry of knee-slappers - they are tastey but wholesome fare!

Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley, The Uriah Heep of Illinois Politics boarded an airplane in New Orleans, with a box
of crabs.

A lovely female crew member took the box and promised to put
it in the crew's refrigerator, which she did.

The Napoleon of Reform, pulled himself to his fullest height, stared directly into the Flight Attendant's knees and firmly advised her that he, Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley, was holding her personally responsible for the crabs staying frozen,and proceeded to rant and rave about what would happen if she let the crabs thaw out.

Shortly before landing at O'Hare, the thoughtful Flight Service Professional announced to the entire cabin, 'Would the gentleman who gave me the
crabs in New Orleans, please raise your hand?'

Not one hand went up. So she took them home and ate
them herself. Mike Quigley never learns but that never stops him.

I wish to thank the estimable Frank Nofsinger of Connecticut for the roue of this crab bisque.

Alaister McLean Studge - The Kankakee Naturalist

Alaister McLean Studge of Custer Park, Illinois could Texas Rig his line for Smallies on the Kankakee River within eight seconds, unless, as a matter of course, he had spent the morning at Park Package Liquors in Altorf, the 102 Tap ( Now T.J. Doolins in Bourbonnais), or had Peach Schappsed his breakfast.

This Kankakee River fisherman served as a River Guru for my pal Charlie Olson, cousin Willie Winters and me on our many forays to hook 'em in the mouth on the Mighty Kankakee. From the 102 Bridge and Warner Road to the Wilmington Dam we waded and night lined our way into gilled ecstasies with Zebcos, Shimanos and Shakespeares depending upon the landscape.

Alaister never changed with the times and practiced his drunk driving with an outlaw's disdain for the passing of ages, morals, Laws and sensibilities and finally had his license to drive in the State of Illinois Revoked.

That did not stop the plucky outdoors man from harrowing Nature's treasure trove. He continues to fish and hunt and trap along the North flowing Kankakee.

Recently Alaistar bagged a buck and brought his trophy home, strapped across the front of his vehicle. The Photo above shows the triumphant pioneer making his way home from the fields and forests around Papineau, Illinois wheeling the many miles to Custer Park with meat for his rustic locker on the west bank of the Kankakee River.

God speed Alaister and Happy Holidays! Do not Drive! Never Drive under the influence of Alcohol or any other Substance! All of Us! Road Loading has gone the way of the carburetor

You may see this River Ranger in and out about Kankakee County and if you are lucky he may impart the words so often related to Charlie Olson, Willie Winters and me as we learned the sylvan rites:

'Stay on the right; the water's wetter, but don't let them dang bugs up much for air'll the smallies will 'spect something. Wonder Bread's good alot , but Lord Clavert's better - Here Boy! - May The Lord ( Canadian Lord Calvert)be With You! Tug it up! What's your problem? Huh, You Better'n me? Smart Ass College Not Know Doodly? Huh? I love you Man. Think I wet myself.'


Photo of Alaister McLean Studge courtsey of Mike McQuade - California Naturalist, Tobbaconist, Jeweler's Eyed Judge of Toothsome Wenches and Hops Aficionado.

Mac is Back - The McCain/Lieberman Straight Talk toVictory Express!

Another Great AP Photo of the Straight Talkers on the Road for America!

Two guys who have no problem telling the truth to the American People are on the Road in New Hampshire where independent voters have great influence.

More Democrats, who feel left behind with the DNC canned agenda, will gravitate to straight talk:

On the first day of a two-day Straight Talk Express tour through New Hampshire — McCain's second bus tour of the state in two weeks, he said "I do" when asked if he senses upward momentum. His crowds are bigger and more enthusiastic, his Internet hits more frequent and his poll numbers are rising, McCain said.

"But I am not an unbiased observer," he said, adding some realism.

"We have a long way to go," McCain said, aware that opinion polls still show him trailing far behind fellow Republican Mitt Romney in New Hampshire.

Roberta Adams and George Merrill, both undecided voters who drove from nearby Antrim to check out McCain, came away impressed but uncommitted. Merrill, a registered Republican, said New Hampshire's independent spirit means the endorsement by Lieberman not only doesn't hurt McCain with Republicans but helps.

"We're not voting for the party, we're voting for the man," Merrill said.

McCain said the support from an "independent Democrat," as the Connecticut senator calls himself, will answer the people who invariably ask him in town hall meetings, "Why can't you all work together?"

Lieberman reinforced the message. He said he chose his longtime Senate colleague as the best candidate of either party because of his national security credentials and because McCain has the best shot of breaking through partisan gridlock.

"You may not agree with John McCain on everything — I don't," Lieberman told those gathered in the American Legion hall. "But you can always count on him to be honest with you about where he stands and to stand where he honestly thinks it's best for our country."

Lieberman said he had planned to wait until after the primaries to make a 2008 pick, but changed his mind when McCain called — the only candidate, including fellow Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd who is running for president on the Democratic side, to do so.

Lieberman won re-election to the Senate in 2006 as an independent, after losing the Democratic primary to upstart Ned Lamont, largely because of Lieberman's support for the war.

Lamont said Monday, "It is now clear that Joe Lieberman is the one working to defeat our hopes."

Said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.: "I have the greatest respect for Joe, but I simply have to disagree with his decision to endorse Senator McCain."

Click on my Post title for AP's Jennifer Loven great story on the Road Trip to a Stronger America!

John McCain gets Lieberman Endorsement today!

Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman will endorse Senator John McCain for President of the United States. Makes sense to me.

Joe Lieberman is a sure-footed American Statesman - someone the Democratic Party needs in armfuls - who fought back a primary loss from computer generated 'grassroots' for Lieberman's support of the Global War on Terror and Opposition to a policy of capitulation and Neville Chamberlain Diplomacy.

McCain and Lieberman are cut from some tough fabric that refuses to split when the pressure is on - they never speak out of the sides of their mouths.

Read Tom Curry's speculation on a McCain/Lieberman ticket. MSNBC obviously wants to get in a mud pie here - seems like it to me anyway. Hell, I love the idea! Click my post title for the article.

Well done Senator Lieberman! Keep on on them, Senator McCain, and keep them honest!

McCain Bests Polls and Snaps Two Huge Endorsements - Straight Talk, Boys and Girls!

John McCain hooked two Huge Endorsements out in New England and in Iowa. My pal Brian McGrory's Boston Globe was the whale! The Boston Globe sited straight talk and rock-solid integrity -

On McCain, the newspaper said in an editorial, "the iconoclastic senator from Arizona has earned his reputation for straight talk by actually leveling with voters, even at significant political expense."

The Des Moines Register was equally as impressed -

The newspaper said none of the Republican candidates could offer the "tested leadership in matters foreign and domestic" of McCain, an Arizona senator and former prisoner of war in Vietnam.

It cited his willingness to adopt contrarian views, including bucking his party to oppose President George W. Bush's tax cuts in 2001 and 2003, support Bush's decision to increase troop strength in Iraq and support comprehensive immigration reform.

"The force of John McCain's moral authority could go a long way toward restoring Americans' trust in government and inspiring new generations to believe in the goodness and greatness of America," the paper said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071216/pl_nm/usa_politics_newspaper_dc_3

Here in Illinois State Rep. Jim Durkin (R), John McCain Illinois Chairman, is reaching out to Democrats like me and my kids to support an American who can and will lead all citizens.


John McCain speaks to Americans and Americans respond to someone who shares their concerns and willingness to actually do something beyond words, blimps, gimmicks and spin. This Presidential Election just might signal a coming together of the wonderful people of this great country.