In the Year 2013
The ad feels like the a preview for something, and as it turns out, it probably is.
John McCain, looking through a crystal ball to 2013 and the end of a prospective first term, sees “spasmodic” but reduced violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden dead or captured and government spending curbed by his ready veto pen.
The Republican presidential contender also envisions April’s annual angst replaced by a simpler flat tax, illegal immigrants living humanely under a temporary worker program, and political partisanship stemmed by weekly news conferences and British-style question periods with joint meetings of Congress.
In a speech being delivered Thursday, McCain concedes he cannot make the changes alone, but he wants to outline a specific governing style to show the accomplishments it can achieve.
In outlining potential achievements of a first term, the 71-year-old McCain implicitly was suggesting he would seek a second term, an attempt to mute suggestions he would serve only four years after being the oldest president ever to take office for a first term.
In particular, he sees a world in which:
- “The Iraq war has been won. Iraq is a functioning democracy, although still suffering from the lingering effects of decades of tyranny and centuries of sectarian tension. Violence still occurs, but it is spasmodic and much reduced.”
- The Taliban threat in Afghanistan has been greatly reduced.
- “The increase in actionable intelligence that the counterinsurgency produced led to the capture or death of Osama bin Laden, and his chief lieutenants,” McCain said. “There still has not been a major terrorist attack in the United States since Sept. 11, 2001.”
- A “League of Democracies” has supplanted a failed United Nations to apply sanctions to the Sudanese government and halt genocide in Darfur.
- The United States has had “several years of robust growth,” appropriations bills free of lawmakers’ pet projects known as “earmarks,” public education improved by charter schools, health care improved by expansion of the private market and an energy crisis stemmed through the start of construction on 20 new nuclear reactors.
- Democrats are asked to serve in his administration, he holds weekly news conferences and, like the British prime minister, answers questions publicly from lawmakers.
McCain also pledges to halt a Bush administration practice of enacting laws with accompanying signing statements that exempt the president from having to enforce parts he finds objectionable.
“I will respect the responsibilities the Constitution and the American people have granted Congress,” the senator said, “and will, as I often have in the past, work with anyone of either party to get things done for our country.”
The policy to appear in front of and answer questions from lawmakers is particularly interesting. As Ed Morrissey notes, Senator McCain excels in a townhall style format, and appearing before a joint session of Congress and answering questions from Democratic law makers will help to show the American public that he is more bipartisan than Senator Obama pretends to be.
Tags: 2013, John McCain, mccain video, policy
May 15, 2008 at 1:43 pm
He, like most of the other folks in congress and this administration, is missing a very important issue…Energy Independency for the US. Ther is so much to be done and they all just don’t seem to see it. It ranks among the most important issues we face. It impacts every aspect of our ecomomy and of national security. Why can’t they see that. Frankly, I am far less concerned about that Ben Laden bad seed and in many ways they are related.
May 15, 2008 at 5:39 pm
I really like John, will vote for him too, but……..I’m surprised at him. I sure don’t think he’s right about winning the war in Iraq in 4 years. I think its a total delusion. Not even 40m years is long enough. I think for any foreign power in that country, where they hate each other almost as much as the occupying powers, probably in the end, more, it is totally a lose-lose situation. I don’t know if McCain really believes it, or it’s just part of his campaign, but another four years is gonna drain our country of resources it could better use in other directions, I believe, without achieving anything except helping Al Qaida . McCain just doesn’t understand Islam. I’ve lived in an Islamic country. The guy can’t be serious comparing the situation to Germany, Korea and Japan,in the 40s and 50s.He’s mad to even think there’s a similarity. Iraq is a tribal country, whose religious differences are way bigger and more bitter than most in the West can grasp. There are DECADES of scores to settle. The religious leaders over there don’t want stability or democracy, they want to get EVEN, to get their thumbs in their religious enemies’ eyeballs in. And these guys REALLY do believe by killing unbelievers they get a free ticket to Heaven and those two hundred beautiful virgins up there. It’s not gonna be a war ever to win. Sorry John, but that’s reality as a lot of us see it!
May 15, 2008 at 8:05 pm
this is solid stuff from mccain. brilliant. a positive and optimistic view of how he sees america, unlike the dems, who are preying on america’s vulnerabilities, weakness and insecurities.
and he’s no dummy. he was right all along about the surge. he can make the necessary changes to correct the direction america and iraq is heading.
May 15, 2008 at 8:10 pm
i can’t emphasize it enough. i LOVE this message from mccain. i think it’s EFFECTIVE.
May 15, 2008 at 8:33 pm
The speech was a clever strategic move by the McCain campaign. While Barack is out battling Hillary (and calling women news reporters “sweetie”), McCain is presenting his vision of the world after he has been elected. Unlike Obama’s “change” nonsence, McCain portrays a solid, positive picture of what it could be like. Everything he says is realistic given his qualities as a leader (reaching across the isle, working with Democrats, etc) and it further divorces him from George Bush. He can win the election with the support of the independent voters that this speech targets. Just an added comment, there will be a powerful backlash against Obama from the Clinton supporters, who are very angry at the way Hillary has been treated throughout this campaign. They want to get even and no amount of false “unite the party” BS will phase them. They will vote for John also.
May 15, 2008 at 8:47 pm
i think mccain can unite the country. he has the trackrecord and experience of working with his opponents and reaching across the aisle.
obama? unless he gives the VP to hillary, i don’t think that he can even unite his party. sheesh…
May 15, 2008 at 11:47 pm
the bush speech in israel was awesome. it got somebody who was feeling guilty to respond.
http://www.pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/archives2/019293.php#019293