Why John McCain?

John McCain is an experienced conservative leader in the tradition of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan. He is a common sense conservative who believes in a strong national defense, a smaller, more accountable government, economic growth and opportunity, the dignity of life and traditional values.

Election 2008: What's at Stake?

America Faces a Dangerous, Relentless Enemy in the War Against Islamic Extremists - We face an enemy that has repeatedly attacked us and remains committed to killing Americans and the destruction of our values.

This election is about who is best prepared to lead and defend our nation and its global allies as Commander-in-Chief from day one.

This election is about making sure we have the experienced leadership to guide us to victory in this war, protect the nation against future terrorist attacks, and support our troops and first responders who are on the frontlines of the war.

This election will decide whether we choose to fight or announce surrender. It will decide whether we have a president who dangerously weakens U.S. security or strengthens it; whether we will flinch and retreat or fully engage the enemy on multiple fronts.

We need decisive leadership with the vision and experience to guide our country and the world through this challenge. Having a courageous Commander-in-Chief who is willing to lead us in this war, rally our democratic allies and defeat our enemy to secure a broader peace is what's at stake in this election.

America is at an Economic Crossroads - Government spending is out of control. A Democrat elected President will join hands with a tax-and-spend Democratic Congress and subject Americans to enormous tax increases. Even now, the tax code is too complex and too burdensome. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid - the government's promises to seniors and those in need - must be modernized. Too many American workers are unprepared by non-performing schools and shackled by outdated government employment assistance programs. America needs experienced leadership to guide the U.S. economy to greater prosperity, control government spending, keep taxes low, save Social Security and protect the American worker. Americans want a leader willing to offer straight talk and make the hard calls necessary to ensure a brighter future for our children and grandchildren. The long-term strength of our economy and financial stability of American households are what's at stake in this election.

Americans have Lost Faith and Trust in their Government - Americans have lost trust that their government and its elected officials will serve the Nation's interest and not their own. Special interests have too much influence in Washington. Americans want a courageous leader who will stand up to the trial lawyers and labor bosses and other special interests, govern by principle rather than political expedience, keep their promises, and solve problems instead of leaving them for our children. Restoring Americans' confidence in their government is what's at stake in this election. Americans Want Judges who will Strictly Interpret the Law and not Legislate from the Bench - The next president will appoint many federal judges and perhaps even a Supreme Court justice.

The recent victory on partial birth abortion is an example of how important the Supreme Court is in protecting our values and interpreting the law as it is written.

America needs a president who will provide strong moral leadership. A Democrat president will appoint judges who make law with disregard for the will of the people, but to the cheers of those advancing a liberal social agenda.

America needs a leader who recognizes that that the people and states should decide what's best, not the courts. The future of the U.S. Supreme Court is what's at stake in this election. What are the Bold Solutions? Winning the War Against Islamic Extremists. Radical Islamic extremists are a relentless threat to America, its citizens, and the values we share. In the words of the al Qaeda leadership, Iraq is the central battleground of this war. We face a fork in the road.

John McCain will pursue our opportunity for victory in Iraq, strengthen our hand in the larger war against Islamic extremists, and make our nation more secure. Democrats will fold our tents, embolden our enemies, throw the region into instability, and increase the risks faced on our home soil. To concede defeat now would strengthen al Qaeda, empower Iran and other hostile powers in the Middle East, unleash a full scale civil war in Iraq that could lead to genocide, and destabilize the entire region as neighboring powers come to the aid of their favored factions. John McCain is best prepared to lead and defend our nation and its global allies as Commander-in-Chief from day one. He has the experience and leadership to defeat our enemy and secure a broader peace.

Reforming Health Care for All Americans. Real reform will put families in the driver's seat of our health care system. The road to reform does not lead through Washington and a hugely expensive, bureaucratic, government-controlled system.

John McCain will harness competition to offer more affordable insurance options for as many Americans as possible, leveraging the innovation and cost-effectiveness of our nation's firms to put an end to existing rigid, unfriendly bureaucracies. He will build a national market where insurance is more available, portable, and accessible across state lines; in which patients' rights are respected and their information is under their control; and one in which people may save more in tax-exempt Health Savings Accounts. He will assist those who need help in getting private insurance. John McCain will provide incentives for a national market - including the reimportation of pharmaceuticals - that offer greater transparency about effective patient care, options for preventative care and therapies, and prices so that competition makes it easier for families to navigate toward quality and low cost. He will demand reform to medical malpractice laws to curb abusive lawsuits that squeeze doctors, prevent innovation, and drive up the cost of health care. We need more transparency of prices and quality measures so that patients can make informed choices. Reforming Government. Americans have lost trust that their government and its elected officials will serve the Nation's interest and not their own. Special interests have too much influence in Washington.

John McCain will bring spending under control, veto wasteful, pork-barrel spending bills every time, and keep taxes low. He will reform a tax code that is too complex and too burdensome.

John McCain will modernize Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. He will bring accountability, choice and competition to underperforming schools, so our children are equipped to take the best jobs of the 21st century.

John McCain is the only leader willing to make the hard calls necessary to restore faith in our government and build a brighter future for our children and grandchildren.

John McCain...Courageous Service, Experienced Leadership, Bold Solutions.

By KARL ROVE
April 30, 2008

Mr. Rove is the former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush.

This link is the article in Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120951606847454685.html?mod=hpp_us_

It came to me while I was having dinner with Doris Day. No not that Doris Day. The Doris Day who is married to Col. Bud Day, Medal of Honor recipient, fighter pilot, Vietnam POW and roommate of John McCain at the Hanoi Hilton.

As we ate near the Days' home in Florida recently, I heard things about Sen. McCain that both move and politically trouble me. Moving because they told me things about him the American people need to know; and, troubling because Mr. McCain is one of the most private individuals to run for president in history.

When it comes to choosing a president, the American people want to know more about a candidate than policy positions. They want to know about character, the values ingrained in his heart. For Mr. McCain, that means they will want to know more about him personally than he has been willing to reveal.

Mr. Day relayed to me one of the stories Americans should hear.

It involves what happened to him after escaping from a North Vietnamese prison during the war. When he was recaptured, a Vietnamese captor broke his arm and said, "I told you I would make you a cripple."

The break was designed to shatter Mr. Day's will. He had survived in prison on the hope that one day he would return to the United States and be able to fly again.

To kill that hope, the Vietnamese left part of a bone sticking out of his arm, and put him in a misshapen cast. This was done so that the arm would heal at "a goofy angle," as Mr. Day explained. Had it done so, he never would have flown again.

But it didn't heal that way because of John McCain. Risking severe punishment, Messrs. McCain and Day collected pieces of bamboo in the prison courtyard to use as a splint. Mr. McCain put Mr. Day on the floor of their cell and, using his foot, jerked the broken bone into place. Then, using strips from the bandage on his own wounded leg and the bamboo, he put Mr. Day's splint in place.

Years later, Air Force surgeons examined Mr. Day and complimented the treatment he'd gotten from his captors. Mr. Day corrected them. It was Dr. McCain who deserved the credit. Mr. Day went on to fly again.

Another story I heard over dinner with the Days involved Mr. McCain serving as one of the three chaplains for his fellow prisoners. At one point, after being shuttled among different prisons, Mr. Day had found himself as the most senior officer at the Hanoi Hilton. So he tapped Mr. McCain to help administer religious services to the other prisoners.

Today, Mr. Day, a very active 83, still vividly recalls Mr. McCain's sermons. "He remembered the Episcopal liturgy," Mr. Day says, "and sounded like a bona fide preacher." One of Mr. McCain's first sermons took as its text Luke 20:25 and Matthew 22:21 "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's. Mr. McCain said he and his fellow prisoners shouldn't ask God to free them, but to help them become the best people they could be while serving as POWs. It was Caesar who put them in prison and Caesar who would get them out. Their task was to act with honor.

Another McCain story, somewhat better known, is about the Vietnamese practice of torturing him by tying his head between his ankles with his arms behind him, and then leaving him for hours. The torture so badly busted up his shoulders that to this day Mr. McCain can't raise his arms over his head. One night, a Vietnamese guard loosened his bonds, returning at the end of his watch to tighten them again so no one would notice.

Shortly after, on Christmas Day, the same guard stood beside Mr. McCain in the prison yard and drew a cross in the sand before erasing it. Mr. McCain later said that when he returned to Vietnam for the first time after the war, the only person he really wanted to meet was that guard.

Mr. Day recalls with pride Mr. McCain stubbornly refusing to accept special treatment or curry favor to be re leased early, even when gravely ill. Mr. McCain knew the Vietnamese wanted the propaganda victory of the son and grandson of Navy admirals accepting special treatment. "He wasn't corruptible then, Mr. Day says, "and he's not corruptible today."

The stories told to me by the Days involve more than wartime valor.

For example, in 1991 Cindy McCain was visiting Mother Teresa's orphanage in Bangladesh when a dying infant was thrust into her hands. The orphanage could not provide the medical care needed to save her life, so Mrs. McCain brought the child home to America with her. She was met at the airport by her husband, who asked what all this was about.

Mrs. McCain replied that the child desperately needed surgery and years of rehabilitation. "I hope she can stay with us," she told her husband. Mr. McCain agreed. Today that child is their teenage daughter Bridget.

I was aware of this story. What I did not know, and what I learned from Doris, is that there was a second infant Mrs. McCain brought back. She ended up being adopted by a young McCain aide and his wife.

"We were called at midnight by Cindy," Wes Gullett remembers, and "five days later we met our new daughter Nicki a t the L.A. airport wearing the only clothing Cindy could find on the trip back, a 7-Up T-shirt she bought in the Bangkok airport." Today, Nicki is a high school sophomore. Mr. Gullett told me, "I never saw a hospital bill" for her care.

A few, but not many, of the stories told to me by the Days have been written about, such as in Robert Timberg's 1996 book, "A Nightingale's Song." But Mr. McCain rarely refers to them on the campaign trail. There is something admirable in his reticence, but he needs to overcome it.

Private people like Mr. McCain are rare in politics for a reason. Candidates who are uncomfortable sharing their interior lives limit their appeal. But, if Mr. Mc Cain is to win the election this fall, he has to open up.

Americans need to know about his vision for the nation's future, especially his policy positions and domestic reforms. They also need to learn about the moments in his life hat shaped him. Mr. McCain cannot make this a biography-only campaign - but he can't afford to make it a biography-free campaign either. Unless he opens up more, many voters will never know the experiences of his life that show his character, integrity and essential decency.

These qualities mattered in America's first president and will matter as Americans decide on their 44th President.