McCain Shines in Worthwhile Debate

I was prepared not to like last night’s GOP debate sponsored by YouTube and CNN. I was wrong. It wasn’t perfect, to be sure. The animus of some of the questioners was obvious and it was inexcusable for CNN to give a platform for a Hillary Clinton campaign adviser to ask a question about gays in the military.

Nevertheless, I thought most of the questions were forthright, sincere, sharp-edged and thoughtful.

For my money, these encounters are following a familiar pattern. Huckabee is the most articulate, Giuliani the most combative, Thompson forthright, Romney polished. But for my money, the candidate who has demonstrated over and over again why he is prepared to be president on Day One is Sen. John McCain.

His straight talk was never more evident than last night. He brought balance and a touch of humanity to the debate over immigration that did not flatter Romney or Giuliani. He pointed to the need to enforce the border but also to establish a guest worker program and eventually deal with the status of people who are in this country illegally. He spoke to the folly of Huckabee’s “fair tax,” which could saddle America with both a national sales tax and a federal income tax. He rightly took Ron Paul to task for closing his eyes to the threat posed by international terrorism. He educated Mitt Romney on the Geneva Convention and why America should never tolerate torture.

He’s also an authority on many issues, foreign and domestic. An authority is one who has knowledge of a specific policy area and whom people of all political stripes seek out for advice. Duncan Hunter is an authority on national defense and the military. Giuliani is an authority on first responders and certain aspects of city governance. McCain is a genuine authority on federal spending, political reform, torture, terrorism, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and any other foreign policy issue you might want to mention. Question: What other GOP candidate is an authority on an issue?

While Giuliani and Romney continue to move to the right at warp speed, while Thompson is still searching for his voice, Republicans and independents should take a close look at the man who holds Barry Goldwater’s seat in the Senate and whose steadfastness and determination to overcome America’s foreign enemies brings to mind memories of the former president from California.