US Politics

The Accidental Hero

And now speaking of John McCain.

John McCain will hope he is as lucky as Steven Bradbury, come November. However this story is not about John McCain the US Navy pilot who was shot down over Vietnam. Nor is it about his suffering at the hands of the North Vietnamese while a prisoner of war. What is relevant, is the fact that both his father and grandfather were Admirals in the US Navy. It has been said that McCains prime motivation in seeking the Presidency is to surpass his predecessors achievements. He wouldn’t be the first man with such a goal. Possibly it is also McCain’s love of power which drives him. That’s not new either. The words “Commander in chief” would be music to his ears and the majestic strains of “Hail to the Chief” would lead his top forty chart any time.

On the contrary this article is more about John McCain’s rivals and how his pathway to the Republican nomination opened up as certainly as if he were Charlton Heston playing Moses parting the waters in the award winning movie “The Ten Commandments”. Perhaps he just had a better Bus than his rivals? “The Straight Talk Express,”how disingenuous is that with his record? As the presumptive candidate for the Republican nomination, the time has come to ask the question. The one many Republicans now ask. How did it ever come to this? Let’s start by taking a look at the quality of McCain’s Primary rivals, and how they performed.

The Fred Thompson Campaign

Thompson declared his intent to seek the nomination on September 5, 2007 on the Tonight Show With Jay Leno, accompanied by a 15-minute web video. He then began a five-day tour of early voting states, including Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

In late September and early October, Fred Thompson made several blunders including not being aware of the Supreme Court decision regarding lethal injection, confusing the party in power during the John Roberts nomination, being unaware of the controversy over drilling for oil in the Everglades, and confusing Russia and the Soviet Union .

On September 27, 2007, PBS television hosted a Republican debate in Baltimore, Maryland, at Morgan State Universitythat aired live on PBS and on www.pbs.org. Thompson, who missed his first debate opportunity since declaring his candidacy, was criticized by event organizers and other GOP candidates for his absence.

On January 22, 2008, after finishing third in South Carolina — a primary which he’d publicly said he needed to win — Thompson announced his withdrawal from the race. He did not immediately endorse any of the remaining candidates but in February 2008 endorsed John McCain.

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