John McCain Has Adjusted His Strategy

by George Kocan

           Republican pundits, like radio personality Rush Limbaugh and writer Ann Coulter, have blasted candidate for president John McCain (www.JohnMcCain.com) in recent weeks for his many failures to uphold conservative principles. Their criticism has grown to such an extent, as to undermine his viability as a contender who can beat a Democrat candidate like Barak Hussein Obama.
            This critical development has impelled Pat Brady to come to TAPROOT’s monthly breakfast meeting Saturday (Feb. 16) to turn the political discussion to a more “fair and balanced” direction. An attorney, Brady has known and respected the Senator from Arizona for more than 20 years. He presently serves on the McCain 2008 National Finance Committee and as a delegate to the Republican National Convention.
            According to Brady, McCain did well in Illinois on Super Tuesday. He picked up 70 delegates, even though the campaign spent little money here. This indicates that voters are taking him more seriously and that his campaign is gaining momentum. He has adjusted his strategy to calm conservative fears and inject more enthusiasm for his candidacy. He made a special appearance at the Republican Lincoln Day celebration in DuPage County. He is also scheduled to appear at a fund-raiser for Jim Oberweis, who won his primacy race to represent the 14th Congressional District and replace Dennis Hastert. Oberweis will likely have a tough time against the Democrat Bill Foster, who brings big bucks to the contest.
            In some ways, the coming election for president resembles 1980, Brady explained. Ronald Reagan (“The Gipper”) won then and “cleaned it all up,” referring to Democrat Pres. Jimmy Carter’s lackluster years in office. He expects McCain to play a similar role, probably mostly because of his personal qualities, his history in the Navy as a POW and because of his family’s history of military service going back several generations. “The man is made of steel,” Brady declared.
            McCain has accumulated a conservative record in three important areas. Regarding economic policy, he favors low taxes and opposes laws that hurt business. He supports repeal of the “death tax.” While Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton brought $350 million worth of earmarks to New York, McCain had “zero.”       Regarding social issues, he has amassed a perfect pro-life record and will support conservative and constitutional candidates to the Supreme Court like Sam Alito and John Roberts. A strong possibility exists that four justices will retire from the bench in the next presidential term. Finally, McCain understands the geopolitical world. He will not cut and run out of Iraq and send troops to Pakistan to fix the mess Benazir Buhtto’s assassination provoked, as Democrat candidate Barak Hussein Obama announced he would do.
            Chairman Dave Diersen gave the group a short synopsis of the Conservative Political Action Conference held in Washington every year. Dave was in the audience when President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Gingrich, Huckabee, McCain, Romney, and others spoke.  He was the first to shake Gingrich's hand as he entered the hall to give his speech.  Ann Coulter sat at nearby table during the Friday evening banquet.  Newsweek magazine reported on CPAC in its February 18 edition. Dave is included in the upper left of a picture on page 3 of that magazine.
            Peter Labarbera, Chairman of Americans For Truth, briefed everyone on the Protect Marriage Amendment. It received 100,000 signatures on the petitions, without the backing of a well-financed campaign. Contact: www.ProtectMarriageIllinois.org.