Senator outshines rest of GOP field January 13, 2008
Michigan has taken considerable heat for Tuesday's presidential primary. Its early date puts it at odds with the Democratic and Republican national committees. Both say the election violates their rules.
More Endorsements
Nevertheless, the primary's Republican race has emerged as an important battleground. The three leading contenders - former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Massachusetts governor and Michigan native Mitt Romney and Arizona Sen. John McCain are fighting for a win in Michigan. McCain is the one who deserves the victory.
The state's voters gave McCain a stunning victory eight years ago. There are strong reasons to do so again.
In a field of capable candidates,
McCain shines. That is especially true in his stance on Iraq.
Americans are
divided over the nation's involvement there, and there are growing calls to
withdraw our troops. Although reasons for the U.S-led invasion of 2003 continue
to fire that debate, the truth is America has an obligation to ensure Iraq's
government can stand on its own.
McCain has clearly stated more U.S. troops
are needed to stabilize Iraq. It's a contention he's made throughout the war -a
position that challenged the Bush administration.
Last year's surge in U.S. troop strength is beginning to see a reduction in violence. Warning that al-Qaida and other insurgents are on the run, McCain also stresses the importance of a counter-insurgency strategy to protect Iraqi citizens.
For much of his career, McCain has stood by what he believes, no matter how unpopular. He opposed GOP tax cuts in 2001 and 2003. He co-authored historic campaign-finance-reform legislation with Democrat Sen. Russ Feingold.
In Michigan, battered with an ailing economy and a shrinking auto industry, McCain said some of the state's lost manufacturing jobs won't return. Michigan, and the nation, he said, must take up the challenge of creating new jobs and new industries.
McCain pointed to Michigan's wealth of research and development resources and its colleges and universities as the hope for economic growth. Community colleges should play a greater role in retraining displaced workers with marketable skills.
Unfortunately, Michigan's Democratic race is fraught with obstacles. Although the national contest has boiled down to three leading candidates - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama and John Edwards - Obama and Edwards bowed to Democratic Party pressure and removed their names from the state's primary ballot.
Despite the national party's exclusion of Michigan's 156 delegates from this summer's convention and that voters cannot write in their favorite candidates, the Times Herald still sought to offer an endorsement. The newspaper's editorial board and its editors were unable to reach a consensus on any candidate.
Read the Times-Herald online here.
No comments:
Post a Comment