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Why I Am Supporting John McCain

By Representative Cam Ward (R-Alabaster)

In the fall of 2007, John McCain seemed to be in a political tailspin. The presumptive Republican frontrunner who had given George Bush a run for his money in 2000 was trailing in the polls to newcomers Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani. The McCain campaign was in dire financial straits, and many pundits were writing his political obituary. I had signed on early with the McCain team and was beginning to wonder how much longer the maverick senator would survive.

After Huckabee surprised many Republicans with his victory in Iowa, McCain dug his heels in, methodically marched through New Hampshire with his penchant for straight talk town halls and ultimately fought his way back. After an arduous primary process, the man left standing was the tenacious John McCain. Just like the Energizer bunny, McCain just kept going and going.

As we gather in Minneapolis to affirm our nominee, I realize that there are still some who want to know more about John McCain. My reply is that John McCain is a conservative—pro-life; anti-gun control; and anti-terrorist Republican whose record supports his high rating by conservative organizations throughout the country. His service to our country has engrained in him a sense of pride in doing what is right and not just politically expedient. Just important in a time when the country is facing the largest government deficit in history, he won’t sell us down the River of No Return on fiscal issues.

McCain has unabashedly said from day one what few other Republicans are willing to say aloud–when the GOP controlled the House of Representatives and the nation’s budget, we blew it. While it may not be popular to say this I think he is right. Had we governed in accordance with the 1994 Contract with America, which promised controlled spending and less waste, we wouldn’t see so much of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid on the evening news.

To be fair to those with reservations about McCain, the McCain-Feingold legislation to clean up campaign financing has been abysmal. McCain-Kennedy, the immigration reform bill, was no bargain either. I for one disagreed with him over this legislation and am glad to see he is pushing hard for strengthening of our borders before any other immigration measures are considered. Despite disagreements with some political positions he has taken, I look at his long career and realize that John McCain has been a steady hand and voice of reason in a sea of political ineptitude in Washington.

With his choice of conservative Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, John McCain has shown that he, too, will bring change to America. Let’s face it, Obama’s pick of the ultimate Washington insider Joe Biden sends a conflicting message about his mantra for change. It affirms the old adage that the more things change the more they stay the same.

Life is filled with trade-offs. John McCain is far from perfect, but he’s got what it takes to govern in difficult times. His experience as a POW speaks volumes about that. Sure, he often gets in trouble for speaking his mind, but when you need someone who’s tried and tested, it’s John McCain.

As we leave the Convention for the final round of campaigning, please join me in supporting John McCain. Because his life of dedicated public service speaks for itself, it won’t take a spin doctor to sell John McCain to conservative and mainstream Americans in November.

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Alabama is blessed to be at the beginning of any state roll call at the convention. I know the Democrats probably also appreciate this fact because after the first few states the television cameras move on to the talking heads. Spencer and Mike Hubbard announced Alabama’s votes last night. With the retirement of Terry Everett from Congress Spencer has really moved into the role of Dean of the Alabama Republican Party and it has shown this week.. A lot of people don’t know this but when you get to know Spencer personally he is actually very funny to be around. He is quick to crack a joke, even at his own expense. This week he mingled throughout the whole week with the delegates and when it came time to announce who should lead off for Alabama in the roll call Mike made a no-brainer choice in selecting Spencer. Spencer was one of the first in Alabama to sign on to the McCain campaign and he never had any doubts. No one has done as much work for McCain in Alabama either. He and Mike Hubbard both have provided some real leadership for our party this week and in the events leading up to the convention. Since we are a delegation divided between Huckabee and McCain delegates there was always a delicate tightrope to walk on earlier on but Mike and Spencer really pulled the delegation together. I know Mike is a political lightning rod to many but I can say from personal experience you won’t find anyone who is as dedicated to our party as that guy is.

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I pull for the underdogs and I have to say Sarah Palin really inspired the convention tonight. Without a doubt no one fired up the crowd during this convention like Palin did tonight. I think Sarah Palin not only did what she needed to do but also gave some great energy to this convention. She hit all the right conservative themes and most importantly defined why the Republican Party needs to get back to what we originally stood for. I have always had this thought in the back of my mind that as Republicans we lost congress because quite frankly we started doing all the things we had complained about when Democrats are in charge- being fiscally irresponsible and not putting a hold on government spending. Palin and Mike Huckabee both gave speeches tonight that I thought reminded Republicans that if we want to be in the governing majority again then we need to get back to our core values of keeping deficit spending under control and be more in tuned with the lives of those in America who feel that Washington is like a college kid with a credit card spending problem.

Like most Alabamians I did not know much about Gov. Palin as a person when she was selected to be McCain’s running mate. One thing I think everyone will agree on is that she is definitely tough enough to handle the bumps and bruises of the vice-presidency.

She is impressive on stage and I admire her toughness in the face of some pretty strong punches this week. Now it would be easy to sit here and say she is the victim of some sort of “vast left-wing conspiracy” but in the end if you are going to hold the job of President or Vice-President of the United States, you need to put your football pads on and be ready to take a hard hit. So that being said I think some of the questions raised about experience are fair and I think her answers tonight with regard to whether she is up for the job also were equally as good as her critics. It’s now up to the American people to decide which side has a better argument.

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Sen. John McCain may be the Republican presidential nominee, but Gov. Sarah Palin is stealing the show at the RNC even before her highly anticipated speech tonight. At the Alabama delegate’s breakfast today, two of the morning’s speakers praised Palin as the vice presidential nominee.

Mike DuHaime, political director for the McCain campaign, said that supporters donated $4.4 million in the 12 hours following McCain’s announcement of his VP pick. (Typically, the amount of online donations in one day hovers stays at six figures or less, he said.)

“She is a great campaigner,” DuHaime said. “We are in a fantastic position to win this race.”

Sen. Richard Shelby said he thinks McCain is the right candidate at the right time for the country, and Palin makes the ticket stronger.

“She is one tough lady,” he said.

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I learned last night that I should be careful of who I ask for directions. When I tried to ask a few police officers for directions when I left the Xcel Center Tuesday night, some were as confused as I was because they aren’t St. Paul natives either. Police forces from as far away as Tucson, Arizona, and Arlington, Texas, are in town to help the Minneapolis and St. Paul officers. I even met one female officer who told me that she was from Camden, Alabama.

Dan Jabens, an officer from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said he and others from Cedar Rapids came to help during the convention after officers from the Twin Cities helped during the Iowa floods during the summer. “We’re here to help them and do anything they need us to do,” Jabens said.

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While many bloggers I’ve met here in St. Paul have complained about the seats the RNC gave to the “New Media” at the convention, I thought my view made the opening night on Tuesday a lot more entertaining. “Blogger Row” is basically in the highest level of seats in the stadium looking at the back of the stage. I can’t see the speaker, but I can watch all of the delegates milling around on the convention floor. I was also able to count how many chairs were empty in Alabama’s section. (At one point, I counted as many as 14 empty seats.)

This morning at the breakfast for Alabama delegates, Alabama GOP chairman Mike Hubbard reminded the delegates of the rules regarding delegate seating. If a delegate gets up from his seat, he is supposed to take the floor pass and give it to his alternate delegate so that the alternate can fill the seat. Hubbard said he received emails during the speeches last night from Sen. John McCain’s campaign asking why Alabama’s section had empty chairs. He asked the delegates to remember to trade passes with their alternates tonight. Hubbard also asked them to cheer loudly when Alabama is called first during tonight’s delegate roll call.

(Sorry for the delay on posts today. Internet access was harder to come by today, so I’m trying to catch up.)

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When Gov. Sarah Palin speaks tonight it will be the single most important speech of this convention I believe. While John McCain does not address the convention until tomorrow night I think it is safe to say he is a known commodity unlike Governor Palin. The expectations are going to be very high for her tonight primarily because she is such an unknown. I believe that how the American people receive her speech tonight will be the single biggest determination of what kind of bounce we get out of this convention. That probably isn’t fair but what is in politics? While she is going to be the target of attacks and praise from the partisan camps on both sides of the aisle I think in the end the impact of her speech on independent voters who are not political junkies like all of us will determine her impact on this race. Regardless it should be interesting to see how she performs tonight and if she can hit the home run she needs. Delegates are excited about it up here and if she meets those expectations then this is going to be the highlight of the convention for sure.

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The hardest part about enjoying a convention is trying to keep up with all the events going on. I know this probably even more so for the Democrats. Last night Huckabee had a band playing at the same time various other country and rock concerts are going on around the city. These events are fun but make for a very early 8:00 a.m. breakfast meeting. I cannot help but notice these breakfasts get smaller as the week goes on. Sometimes there just isn’t enough coffee in the world to keep up.

One note though from Minnesota that no one will probably ever write about in the newspapers- the staff for the Alabama GOP. I worked at a convention in 1996 for the Alabama Republican Party and it is hard to describe how much work goes into these events. Of all four conventions I have been to this one has been the best organized for an Alabama Delegation. Every morning when we get up the staff has to organize the breakfast, gifts and the baby sit us all day long. I know it may come as a surprise to many of you but when you are having to take care of a bunch of elected officials it can be a bit let’s say challenging at times. Thank goodness it is a young delegation staff because I can tell you I would have been fired a long time ago since I could not possibly keep up with the work these guys do.

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I’m going to to try to clarify what I’ve been told about what happened yesterday when a brick was thrown at a bus carrying members of the Alabama delegation at the RNC.

A member of the delegation said today that the brick did not break through the window, but it did severely crack the windshield on the driver’s side. A few small shards of glass scraped the driver’s face, but he did not sustain serious injuries, according to the delegate.

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Despite the cooling weather and strong breeze all day, about five people sported shorts, flip-flops and t-shirts to advertise political footwear from www.flopyourvote.com. The red version of the flip-flops have rubber beads shaped like Sen. John McCain’s head attached to the shoe. The blue version includes rubber beads shaped like Sen. Barack Obama.

Some of the advertisers wearing the flip-flops called them shower shoes, saying that they’re perfect for the voters who have always wanted to shower with their favorite politician.

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I have served in the legislature with Rep. Jay Love for the last 6 years. While I have heard him go to the microphone on many occasions to debate an issue I don’t believe I have ever heard him give a speech before. I know he has given many of them but since I don’t live in his area I have never had a need to go to hear him speak. While Jay was originally scheduled to speak to the entire convention that is now up in the air because of the hurricane related changes for this week. Jay did address the Alabama delegation this morning at breakfast and clearly excited the entire group with his message. Jay hit on all of the right themes for Republicans running in Alabama. He delivered what I consider a core message for southern congressional Republican candidates this year- you cannot run on conservative Republican issues, under a Democrat label and claim you don’t support the national Democrat Party. He presented an image of someone well informed about the issues at stake in this election. He also wrapped the Republican message into a hometown message of making sure Alabama is served by those who represent their values the most in both domestic and foreign policy. I don’t know Jay’s opponent Bobby Bright or much about their race but I do know Jay Love and I can say without a doubt his speech was what all the delegates were hoping to hear from our newest congressional candidate.

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Before he gives his speech at the Xcel Energy Center tonight, Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., spoke to a group of bloggers this morning about Sen. John McCain, Gov. Sarah Palin and what he thinks of the media’s coverage.

After running against him for a few months, Thompson said the most important thing he has learned is to not underestimate the Republican presidential candidate. But he said he thinks the media’s coverage of the McCain campaign has not been very even.

“It has been generally poor up until now, and now its invisible,” Thompson said about the media coverage. “The invisible part has been Sarah Palin.”

While his speech will be about McCain tonight, Thompson spent most of his twenty minutes talking about Palin.

“Sarah Palin is the type of public servant that we all claim we want,” Thompson said.

But the public has not heard about Palin’s qualifications because the media has been more focused on her family and her daughter’s pregnancy, Thompson said. He mentioned the New York Times as an example, saying that three of its front page stories had to do with her family and not the issues.

There is an upside, Thompson said.

“One of the good things that this Sarah Palin overreaction has done is the comparison of our vice presidential candidate to their presidential candidate,” Thompson said. “You don’t get experience by being in the senate.”

Outside of the presidential race, Thompson said that he is happily making the transition back to reality now that his campaign has been over for several months. He said he is forming FredPAC, a group dedicated to conservative ideals. Hopefully those ideas will also coincide with the Republican party, he said.

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I know this is going to come as a shock to many of my Democrat friends but yes, Republicans really do know how to have fun too. I know this post is on the lighter side from my post yesterday about the Palin pick, I thought it would be fun to point out the social scene for Republicans up here as well since yesterday was such a short convention day.

After the convention meeting there were several parties and events for people to go to up here. Julie and I went to one party that was called Friends of New Orleans. It was held just down the street from our hotel. The party was to raise money for those who were effected by Hurricane Katrina and to help fund charities in rebuilding parts of New Orleans. Appropriate considering the current hurricane problem for New Orleans. The music was all from artists who came from New Orleans. Anyone interested in learning more about this group can go to their web site at www.friendsofneworleans.com. Another great event was the party held by the Florida delegation with LeAnn Rimes. It was packed and to be honest we didn’t stay that long because I am getting too old to stay up that late anymore. All I can say is Florida knows how to put on an event!

Looks like the convention schedule is going to get back to normal here today. While I think the number of speakers and celebrations will ultimately be scaled back it is looking like we could have a real fun week here in Minneapolis.

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Regarding the brick thrown at the Alabama bus that Rep. Ward mentioned… there are conflicting accounts as to the outcome.

Either the windshield did not break (according to this account from Jefferson County Commissioner Bettye Fine Collins via Mary Orndorff), or the brick went through the window and cut the bus driver with shattered glass (according to this account from retired Supreme Court Justice Terry Butts via the Associated Press).

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Related Articles:

• Alabama Delegation Bus Attacked

While I know this is already being reported in the mainstream media I thought it was worth mentioning here that the Alabama Delegation bus as hit by a brick which was thrown by a protestor today. Julie and I were dragging our feet getting over to the convention center so we luckily were not on the bus. While AP has a good account of the event my question is this– isn’t it strange that people protesting against war decide to throw rocks and bricks at people?

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