<p>Well, I can’t decide if Robertson’s endorsement of Giuliani hurts or HELPS McCain’s chances!</p>
<p>McCain certainly has the most knowledge & experience. He has a proven record of pragmatism. He is well known for his campaigns against prork-barrel spending. He has a PLAN for Health Care, Medicare & Social Security. He’s been right about the needed strategy in Iraq from the beginning…</p>
<p>Unlike typical politicians, he will stand up (& speak up!) for what is the right thing to do & not just say what he thinks people want to hear.</p>
<p>(Maybe that last statement is why people haven’t been giving him the support he deserves!). </p>
<p>We should be thankful he’s running! Hopefully people will come around. (I’d love to see him go toe-to-toe w/ Hillary - she wouldn’t stand a chance!).</p>
<p>I really admire and respect John McCain. I am concerned that he may not be able to win the election, though. I hate to live by the polls, but they are typically not in his favor.</p>
<p>BZ, Senator McCain is a great hero and might well have won the general against HIllary, but I respectfully don’t think he will get the nomination.</p>
<p>I agree with zoosermom. Though I disagree with McCain on several political fronts, he is clearly a good and decent man with a compelling background. But for some reason, the Republican electorate seems to have tired of him and kicked him to the curb in favor of newer or more “exciting” faces.</p>
<p>“I agree with zoosermom. Though I disagree with McCain on several political fronts, he is clearly a good and decent man with a compelling background. But for some reason, the Republican electorate seems to have tired of him and kicked him to the curb in favor of newer or more “exciting” faces.”</p>
<p>You know what I think it is? I think it’s real anger at his stance on immigration. He believes what he believes and it’s at odds with many in the “base.”</p>
<p>Hindoo - if that is the case, then the Republicans deserve to lose the election! (I can’t believe I just posted that!). </p>
<p>Yes, I’m sure McCain’s attacks on pork barrel spending haven’t won him any friends in Congress. I just hope the PEOPLE will vote for the best man - once people get the facts, McCain should end up on top.</p>
<p>The commentators were calling him “The Comeback Kid” after the last debate. If people will watch the debates they’ll see how great he is…</p>
<p>Needs some “Momentum” - call it “The McCain Hurricane”! haha!</p>
<p>BZ did you see the McCain’s new-ish campaign video? It was excellent.</p>
<p>I’ve ultimately decided that there is no candidate I can get behind on his own merits, so I’m just going to show up next election day and vote for whomever opposes Senator Cilnton, even thought I STILL think she’s going to win.</p>
No, for me it is his weak stance on terrorism. For him to allow and even to contribute to the demagoging of the interrogation techniques as “torture” is indicative that he is not really serious about recognizing the threat that terrorism presents to us. If he were truly going to give us some straight talk he would be candid about his position: “I would rather have Americans die at the hands of terrorists than allow a few terrorists leaders be interrogated in a manner that at worst makes them ‘feel’ afraid - despite the fact that these techniques have been proven to be successful in keeping us safe”</p>
<p>It’s a valid position - why can’t he be open about it?</p>
<p>Perhaps McCain won’t leap on the “torture bandwagon” because he’s had personal experience in being physically and mentally tortured in an enemy prison?</p>
<p>About a month or so ago, there was an economic debate in Michigan. When asked a question about economic policy/federal reserve, he said that he thought that interest rates should be at 0%. To his credit though,during his response he said that he would have someone who knew economic policy to deal with such issues. However, I still can’t believe he wished interest rates were at 0%. The only way that could happen is if there was significant deflation.</p>
<p>I agree with you vicariousparent. As much as some people seem to loathe Hillary Clinton, that’s pretty much how I feel about Bush–only more. He’s been such an unmitigated disaster and total disgrace in so many ways; how could anyone possibly think Clinton would be worse? I don’t think it’s possible.
None of the current candidates–Democrat, Republican, or Martian–scare me like Bush did from Day 1.</p>
To get a driver’s license requires a certified, if minimal, amount of training and hands-on experience. Having sex and getting pregnant does not. (Pause for contemplation on that one.) And don’t ignore the consequences of not giving teenagers comprehensive fact-based education, including not just the mechanics of sex but intimacy, birth control, and, yes, abortion, including ranges of consequences. (Not the anti-Choice “scare” or “gross-out” videos.)</p>
<p>Attaining the age of 18 is not some magic line of wisdom. Somewhere around half of all graduating high school seniors have had intercourse. At that point, they have a stake in determining consequences and outcomes, however imprudent their actions may have been. </p>
<p>I believe–hope?–that most young women who found themselves pregnant would talk to their parents and involve them in the decision. Unlike the would-be ayahtollahs, I am not willing to judge that this is the right course for the young woman. There’s a difference between “may consult,” “should consult,” and “must consult.” It’s the last that I balk at. Whether it’s an abusive boyfriend who is demanding that she get an abortion or fear that father will beat the living crap out of her for getting pregnant, the young woman is the best one to judge. I would hope that there were safe, neutral, independent resources available where a young woman could go to for support and counsel, including the option of, “Do you need our help in talking to your parents about this?” A little support at the shoulder can sometimes go along way. We don’t live in a Brady Bunch world. And while in most circumstances I would hope that a young woman talk to her parents before reaching a decision, I know for a fact that a course of action that is not in the best interests in all situations. (If memory serves, there was a couple that kept their daughter locked up until she was too far along to do anything <em>but</em> give birth…yes, there are worse things than abortions.)</p>
<p>And if a young woman confides in her parents and they refuse to give consent, then what? It is a binary decision, there is no splitting of the blanket possible. The parents are at that point by-standers, even if intimate and loving by-standers. Any policy that lets the choice rest other than with the woman (assuming possession of rational faculties) is a miscarriage of justice: no clergy, no government official, no voter down the street, and, yes, even no parent has the right to make a decision that will affect the woman more than anyone else.</p>
<p>TheDad: Are you in favor of allowing ‘young women’ at age 12-13 decide to have: tubal ligations, breast implants, cosmetic surgery, potentially dangerous medications, etc. totally on their own without parental consent?</p>