Monday, November 26, 2007

Sullivan on McCain

Andrew Sullivan talks about McCain and his new ad. "But McCain was right [about the surge], and he deserves credit for it. I find myself wanting him to be the nominee more and more. He's deserved it. And he is the one Republican who won't needlessly exacerbate polarization. Imagine an Obama-McCain race: adult, graceful, necessary, and good for us. On torture and climate change, McCain is also a rare Republican prepared to embrace reality rather than base-bluster."

I'm not so sure. I expected more troops to bring down violence in Iraq. I also expected fewer troops to bring down violence, like what happened in Anbar. The real problem is that there has been no political progress and everyone agrees to that. So will it happen? I doubt it and we're not helping things.

I've wanted to like McCain, even in the last election. But I disagree with him on Iraq and that's a big deal. My other problem is that I disagree with his conservative positions on social issues. As far as I'm concerned his positions on torture and climate change just proves he's sane. The bar is higher than that for my vote. His health care plan is small tweaks on what we have now. He's pro-life, and anti-gun control, anti-stem cell research, anti-gay marriage, on the wrong side of the Terry Schiavo case, etc. I could deal with some differences, but not every single one. Though he now says in hindsight Congress was wrong about Schiavo and I think he favors stem cell research.

He wouldn't be the worst Republican candidate (he might be one of the best) but he wouldn't get my vote.

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