McCain Back On My Short-list
I attended the McCain event at the Barrow's residence in Exeter on September 29. I supported McCain during the 2000 campaign. However, he lost my support several years ago after the first go around with comprehensive immigration reform. Before the event on the 29th, Senator McCain wasn't on my short list of candidates and I went to the event not expecting much to change.
Well, the Senator is back on my list as the fallback choice in the event the other candidates I'm following implode. I believe Senator McCain would be the leading Republican candidate had it not been his strong support of the comprehensive immigration proposals over the past several years. It was clear to me that he's the best candidate to deal with the war on terrorism and Iraq (this is why he's back on my short-list) and that he can defeat any Democrat in the race. He's been consistent with his stand on Iraq and so far his criticisms and recommendations have been right on target.
He still loses me on his stand on immigration. He has changed his approach to dealing with the problem based on the uproar with the last proposed bill; he wants to secure the borders before moving forward on the issue. However, I believe he still doesn't get what bothered so many people about the issue and his approach to the problem is still wrong. He stated the uproar with the last immigration bill was because the people didn't trust congress when they said they'd secure the borders. Well, that's part of it, but the other big issue on the subject includes amnesty for those who are here illegally. I sense that (amnesty) is the direction he will take in dealing with those here illegally.
Another issue I've heard in the past regarding Senator McCain was his age. He was asked about this during the event and his response removed it as an issue for me. He stated his mother is 95-years old and going strong. I believe family history has a lot to do with health, and he looked pretty good for a 75-year old. He answered the question displaying his great sense of humor.