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Today, Attorney General Bob McDonnell made the case for John McCain for President in the pages of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
McCain's Tested Character Gives U.S. Steady Helmsman
By BOB MCDONNELL
TIMES-DISPATCH GUEST COLUMNIST
Amaxim by the Roman writer Publilius Syrus states, "Any one can hold the helm when the sea is calm." Today, we live in a time of rough seas. Our news is filled with reports of rising foreclosure rates, corporate failures, stock-market worries, and international conflict. This is a time of great uncertainty and great risk. It is also a time when we know that we need a change in the way government works. A new path must be forged - not solely for the sake of change, but to lead us to a safer and more prosperous tomorrow.
This moment uniquely demands a proven leader who can secure the right change. We have the opportunity to elect a battle-tested leader in John McCain as the next president of the United States.
McCain's biography is the stuff of movies. He has literally fought and bled for his nation. As a naval aviator on a bombing mission he was shot down over North Vietnam, captured, and placed in the Hanoi Hilton prison where he endured torture that would destroy an ordinary man. Due to his father's leadership role in the military he was offered numerous opportunities to return home early. The North Vietnamese gladly would have let him return to freedom and comfort for the sake of a public-relations victory. But McCain said no. Tortured, tired, alone, and broken for nearly five and a half years, McCain chose country first.
McCain returned to this nation determined to serve. As a congressman, and now senator, McCain has made a career of putting politics second, country first. Few legislators have worked as hard to find real solutions. He has taken positions that have upset many in his party. However, he has always done what he believed was right for this nation. He has sought the best outcome for America, with the outcome for his own political career a distant second in his list of priorities.
THIS WAS nowhere more evident than in the tough years of 2003-2006 in Iraq. A war that was supported by an overwhelming majority of our elected representatives was bogged down. Some claimed the war was lost, and it was time to leave. McCain harbored hopes of a presidential run. The politically easy thing to do during this period of rough seas would have been to trim his sails to catch the prevailing winds. McCain refused. Again, country first.
McCain called for what we now term the surge. He correctly identified the issue in Iraq as a lack of manpower, not a lack of mission. He supported the commanders on the ground, and outlined the tragic consequences of ceding the battlefield and leaving Iraq on its own before its military and political institutions were ready. Thanks to McCain's advocacy the president implemented the surge in January 2007. To the surprise of politicians on both sides of the aisle, it has worked.
Today violence in Iraq is at a four-year low. Iraq is in the early, yet positive, stages of evolution toward stability. For that we owe McCain. In tough times, character and decisiveness and experience count.
Those same characteristics of love of country, honor, duty, and a striving for bipartisan success over political posturing are why John McCain is so uniquely suited to serve as president at this difficult time.
All across Virginia and America families are hurting. President McCain will work to secure at-risk mortgages, cut the capital-gains and corporate tax rates so businesses thrive in America, eliminate wasteful spending and government programs that don't work, and secure better health care that covers families in our changing economy.
PRESIDENT McCAIN will establish the Lexington Project to reduce our nation's dependence on foreign oil, and make reliable alternative energy a reality. He strongly supports clean-coal technology and offshore drilling, which simultaneously will create energy independence and many new Virginia jobs. He will put students and education first by demanding results and supporting parental choice in education.
McCain will trust people over government and innovation over interest groups. He will bring change to Washington - not in a speech, but in action and deed.
McCain's character was forged years ago. It has guided him ever since. The seas are rough. Not just anyone can hold the helm. It is the time to elect John McCain as President of the United States of America.
Bob McDonnell is the attorney general of Virginia and campaign co-chairman of McCain-Palin Virginia 2008.
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