You’ve heard John McCain’s a “maverick.” He underlined his position by choosing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. That surprise pick has Democrats and journalists scrambling, but Palin satisfies conservatives and could placate disaffected Hillary voters.
Now, as the campaign gets ready to truly kick off, let’s look at where the GOP standard-bearer really stands.
Being a maverick has hurt McCain for years with conservatives who know he’s a low tax guy except when he isn’t. (He now backs lower taxes after having opposed tax cuts.) And, though he is consistently strong on foreign policy, he’s all over the map on everything else.
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An original maverick. Well, not quite. The original mavericks — from the TV series of the same name — are all just a bit older than McCain. But not by much. The three famous “Mavericks” — actors Roger Moore, Jack Kelly and James Garner — have already passed 80. By comparison, McCain is a spry 72 and a granddad four times over.
That would make him the oldest president ever elected — three years older than Ronald Reagan when he took office.
I’m going to set aside my age-ist tendencies and say, who cares? I am no McCain fan, but I’ll be darned if I use something silly like his age against him. The discussion shows the futility of lefty arguments against him. The problem they really have is that on a lot of issues McCain is liberal. So they don’t know how else to criticize him. Let’s try.
First let’s look at the bottom line. McCain is projecting increased government spending of $68.5 billion a year. That’s a lot … until you compare him with Barack Obama who has promised more than five times that amount, according to the National Taxpayers Union Foundation. Either way, kiss your ducats goodbye.
An earlier estimate gave McCain a better score, but this one includes “new official fiscal projections for ‘cap-and-trade’ environmental legislation.” Both candidates are on board with this stupidity. So that’s a wash. And yes, McCain embraces other eco-wackiness like committing “a $5,000 tax credit for each and every customer who buys a zero carbon emission car.”
There is no such thing. Hybrids get energy from the power grid powered half by coal. But McCain isn’t anti-energy and has led the charge for offshore drilling like a true convert. Even if it’s just a political calculation, he’s openly backed more domestic energy production — pushing for 45 new nuclear plants by 2030.
McCain has always been bad on free speech and elections. He has his name on the horrible legislation called McCain-Feingold that limits so called “electioneering communications.” But he’s good on congressional pork and that mind-set might slip into other budget areas. He’s also pro-free trade because he knows “95 percent of the world’s customers lie outside our borders.”
It’s a mixed bag. Two months before the election and McCain is still hard to figure. Perhaps the best compliment he can get is he won’t be as bad for taxpayers or businessmen as his opponent. Jumping on the back of a maverick won’t hurt your pocketbook as much as his rival, but it will be a wild ride.
