A blog for America's neighbour to the north that support Mitt Romney and what he stands for. As the U.S.'s closest friend and ally Canada is greatly affected by U.S. policy and politics.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

McCain vs. Romney - Why Have a Hamburger When You Can Have Steak?

Don't get me wrong, I like a nice juicy hamburger just as much as the next guy, as I'm sure you do. But when it is placed next to a succulent savory stake, I think I speak for most when I say that the choice is both obvious and easy. The hamburger is John McCain. He is a good guy in a lot of ways, with many good ideas, demonstrating persistence as an obvious trait (he has ran for the republican nomination multiple times). However, just because he tastes good (mmm...processed cheese), doesn't mean there isn't something else more enticing on the table. Enter Mitt Romney. Yes Mitt is the irresistible stake mentioned above which dwarfs the hamburger in taste and appearance, just as he dwarfs John McCain in leadership, talent and ambition. John McCain is a good guy, but he's not the leader that America needs. Unfortunately, due to his latest endorsements, he is rising in the polls, especially in New Hampshire where Mitt Romney once enjoyed a double digit lead. But voters should be careful. Even though John McCain has a lot of good things going for him (like four well done beef patties mingled with cheese - see picture above), he doesn't have the same ability to unite the conservative coalition as does Mitt, and more importantly won't do as much good for America if elected president. On that note, here are a list of things you may want to consider if you are thinking of voting McCain (taken from the Encyclopedia Mittanica):

  1. McCain is old, he would be 76 at the end of his 1st year in office.
  2. McCain graduated 894th out of a class of 899.
  3. McCain does not have the diplomacy skills necessary to be a president.
  4. Mitt Romney is a Govenor, and John McCain is a Senator. It is harder for a Senator to become President than a Govenor.
  5. McCain has an anger problem.
  6. McCain has made a lot of enemies.
  7. McCain is mean.
  8. McCain has problems with self control.
  9. He sought to author the end of political free speech with his unconstitutional campaign finance reform efforts. His most signature work in the U.S. Senate sought to undue guaranteed protections for free speech – particularly in an election cycle where free speech is of most importance.
  10. In his own efforts to leverage power in Senate proceedings he purposefully disrupted the will of his own majority party and further slowed down the needed debate on judges. In helping to orchestrate the gang of 14, he stymied clear consensus candidates to the courts as appointed by the President.
  11. McCain, though a champion on fighting the effective fight on Islamic fascists who seek to kill us, has seemed unplugged, uninterested, and yes hostile to voices who are calling for secure borders. He stood by as President Bush locked out John Kyl – his fellow senator from Arizona, and a true champion against illegal immigration – from proceedings that were designed to brainstorm solutions to the border dilemma.
  12. He seems clueless when it comes to one of the issues that his base voters care about – the protection of marriage.
  13. McCain flip-flops.
  14. McCain will have a problem getting female voters, especially against Hillary.
  15. John McCain thinks we spend too much money on politics. He is not very good at Math, or Economics. America spend more money on Gum than we do on the whole political election cycle, including every political commersial and yard sign.
  16. Given his carefully cultivated reputation as a moderate willing to work closely with Democrats on campaign finance reform, a patient's bill of rights, global warming, immigration, and spending restraint, you'd think McCain would simply own voters looking to back "the party of performance." Yet it is increasingly clear that he has chosen the wrong issues on which to embrace a more moderate, results-oriented view, both in light of Republican biases and the likely general election landscape.
  17. Campaign finance reform was never a burning issue for voters. Rather, it was an issue of totemic significance, particularly for journalists and a narrow slice of the upper-middle-class, that pitted McCain against much of the Republican base. Achieving a victory on this front certainly generated "good vibes," for a time, but it's left little in the way of lasting voter loyalty. Moreover, McCain's efforts set very high standards for ethical behavior that can and in fact have been used against him. Every time McCain raises funds for, say, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, he will be accused--fairly or unfairly--of rank hypocrisy. Worse yet, it is hard to argue that the McCain-Feingold legislation has been a success. McCain's conservative opponents feel vindicated--the legislation solved nothing, and may have made matters worse. His allies are dissatisfied. To say the very least, this doesn't bode well.
  18. Following his release after 5-1/2 years as a Viet Nam POW, John McCain divorced his wife, who had raised their children alone during his confinement. The second (and current) Mrs. John McCain was embroiled in a huge controversy over an addiction to drugs illicitly obtained from her own non-profit medical relief organization.
  19. Since 2000, a roller-coaster of controversial positions within his own party have unfortunately left this maverick Senator with the label “Republican in Name Only.”
  20. Similarly, the patient's bill of rights appears--again, fairly or unfairly--to have solved nothing. It has not made insurance coverage more widespread, it has not reduced the number of medical bankruptcies, and it doesn't seem to have improved the quality of medical care for very many, if any, voters.
  21. Global warming is a worthy cause, and yet the winners from any forward movement on the issue are a large, diffuse, mostly indifferent group. The losers are a small, focused, and intensely engaged group. That's never a good thing in an election.
  22. Then there is immigration. Insofar as the desire for immigration reform stems from a general sense of unease about rapid demographic change, economic insecurity, and a strongly-held belief that law and order has broken down, it seems unlikely that any legislation that deemphasizes stemming the low-skill influx in favor of legalizing the existing illegal population and actually increasing the size of the low-skill influx will win McCain many friends among Republicans.
  23. Finally, spending restraint, one area where McCain is very much in tune with the Republican intelligentsia, is not an obvious winner against the old Clinton battle-cry of "M2E2"--Medicare, Medicaid, Education, and the Environment. Root-canal economics was unpopular in the 1980s, and it remains unpopular today, elite opinion notwithstanding.
  24. The Media loves John McCain. Republicans hate the media.
But, hey, if Mitt Romney dies of an accidental death (ie - freak gasoline accident) before the election, John McCain could deserve your vote!

7 comments:

colecurtis said...

The first that I recommend is that you learn what spell-check is for that is own your computer. The second thing that I recommend is how to edit your blogs. That way you will not wind up embarassing yourself as you have just done. The steak that you are referring to is spelled steak just as I spelled it previously.As for Mitt's good looks how long has it been since you had your sight checked?

Unknown said...

But then you take into account that Mitt has bold faced lied on national TV at least 4 separate times:

'Life long hunter' - too bad hunting license records are publically available.

Wife giving to planned parenthood 'Virtually untrue' - Uhh..she gave $150. Big freaking deal! It's documented so not sure how it can reach any definition of being 'untrue'. But maybe you can throw 'virtually' in front of anything and then waffle on it later. If he's willing to lie about $150, I can't wait to hear how many WMD's he will say Iran has.

'lowered taxes in Mass.' - This is called a lie of omission. The topic of discussion on the stage was reducing the tax burden on Americans. In fact, Romney only lowered taxes for businesses and attempted on several occasions to raise taxes on the average citizen. He succeeded with higher vehicle registration fees, but failed on income taxes. It was actually the Democratic controlled state legislature that introduced and passed 4 tax DECREASES for income, of which Willard only signed 3. How sick is it when the Republican is trying to raise taxes and the Democrats are shooting it down and actually lowering them. The discussion was about income tax, Willard made a statement that was technically true, but left out the detail about it being a corporate break so the viewers could infer he was conservative on taxes. A lie of omission is still a lie.

'father marched with Dr. King' - I think the media has already hit this enough. But in case you missed it, it never happened. Even though Willard said it did on two separate occasions.

Oh and just a little personal note. McCain isn't at the top of my list either, but cracking on someone for being at the bottom of their class when they went to the Naval Academy is a little naive. So Willard was valedictorian...of BYU. If I need someone to depend on, I'll take the anchor man from the Naval Academy over any BYU grad every day of the week and twice on Sunday. It's like comparing Community college to Princeton.

Looks like your steak may actually just be well presented SPAM.

Anonymous said...

You forget that Mittens is the MOST HATED governor in MA history. He was an incompetent, incapable wonk. He spent most of his time in office cruising the country badmouthing the state he was supposed to be running.

Suds said...

Wow, I can't believe how many John McCain fans I’ve attracted by my post (or just plain Mitt haters). Granted, I did spell “steak” wrong, and I completely accept the correction (thank you Colecurtis for noticing). It has been changed. By the way, Colecurtis, in your comment, you may want to change the word "own" to “on”, just so your don't look like a complete hypocrite. Also you may want to reword your first sentence (it just sounds funny). Hopefully you will be humble enough to take your own advice. Thanks for your comment though, and come again.

Al said...

"MOST HATED governor in MA history." umm, says who? I've heard praise from plenty of MA residents. Care to elaborate or rather substantiate your comment turbo?

Suds said...

Good comment Al....well said.

I also heard that John McCain has three nipples. Tell your friends.

Suds said...

Nathan Daniels wrote that Mitt "was valedictorian...of BYU. If I need someone to depend on, I'll take the anchor man from the Naval Academy over any BYU grad every day of the week and twice on Sunday. It's like comparing Community college to Princeton."

Looks like you have some great points there, except that Mitt also went to Harvard and finished in the top 5% of his class. Last time I checked, that was pretty darn impressive. Not to mention that the reason to depend on Mitt has nothing to do with being valedictorian, but has to do with the fact that he turned a myriad of business around, saved the Olympics, did an awesome job in Massachusetts, has a near-perfect family, and has great ideas that can unite all different types of conservatives (and even some democrats). No other candidate can equal this. The "lies" that you claim that Mitt made are trivial and could be countered by multiples more from McCain or any other candidate. They are feeble arguments against Mitt. What next, you're gonna say that he's Mormon, so don't vote for him. The only thing you said that may be something to note was about raising and lowering taxes, and I will have to look into that. I would rather take Mitt any day over McCain, who is obviously jealous overs Mitt's success, considering his many past losses in the election. The reason so many bash Mitt is because he is the most dangerous candidate in the race. They keep their friends close but their enemies closer.