How McCain lost me

And found me, and lost me again. Let's take it in (more or less) chronological order (pre-primary, primary, generals)

1. Immigration. McCain's policy on immigration is irresponsible, in my view. I just moved from the southwest, where illegal immigration is rampant. The drain on local and regional resources is crazy. I can't imagine how much just having to print everything twice must cost, let alone all the other services that we provide. To criminals. That is my main beef, I suppose. There's a reason that "migrants" used to be called "illegal immigrants". They broke the law, and it seems like poor policy to reward people for breaking the law by giving the thing they broke the law for: "Hey shoplifter, would you like to keep that Wii? I suppose it would be inhumane to take it back, as they're so awesome and all." We put our own citizens in prison and sometimes strip away their right to vote for breaking the law. Seems like we should deport people who aren't ours. Why do we want to import thousands of people who, by fact of being here, are already criminals? (Hoo boy, I'm gonna get it for that one.)

2. "Honor Politics", as Ramesh Ponnuru(? I can't seem to find the link, but I'm pretty sure it was an article by Ponnuru in National Review during the primary season. If I can find the link, I'll post it, along with quotes) called it. McCain's career has been in large part defined by his explosive anger towards people whose views he didn't agree with. Ponnuru's thesis was that McCain views his positions as THE honorable position-- disagreement is by definition dishonorable. I agree with Ponnuru-- and McCain's behavior towards those he views as "dishonorable" is inexcusable. Calling a fellow senator a "chickensh*t" during a policy disagreement is not the mark of someone who should be anywhere near international negotiations. I don't care to think of the consequences if McCain were to call Ahmadinejad a pig turd-- even if he would be right to do so. However, McCain hasn't lost it (so far) during the campaign. Maybe he's mellowed. I surely hope so. A person who is not in control of their temper is a dangerous person in the Oval Office.
At the other end of honor politics is McCain's seeming belief that compromise is honorable, as is disagreeing with your supporters. It's as if McCain saw the benefit reaped by Bill Clinton after his Sister Souljah moment and decided that that was always the way to go. Compromise can be honorable, as disagreeing with your supporters can be. But they are not honorable in and of themselves, and sometimes McCain supports bad policy (immigration) and/or goes out of his way to poke conservatives in the eye (immigration. See also the primaries of 2000).

3. McCain's treatment of Mitt Romney during the primaries. When it became clear that Romney was going to be the last serious contender for the nomination (did anyone really think that Huckabee would win?), McCain began to lie concerning Romney's position on withdrawal from Iraq. It's this form of political victory at any cost that most Americans (including me) despise.

That about covers McCain losing me. How he found me:

1. The Surge. It takes plain nerve to a) be highly visible to the President, b) be a member of his party, and c) tell him he's wrong, consistently, for 3 years. The Dems in Congress are great at telling the President he's wrong, but awful at coming up with good solutions. McCain should be credited with saving Iraq, and as Iraq is the major foreign policy dilemma at the moment, that seems like a stellar commendation for McCain as Commander in Chief.

2. Sarah Palin. Actually, this could swing either way-- find or lose. I was over the moon about Palin after she was announced. She's an actual reformer, with massive approval ratings and solid conservative principles. You can relate to Palin in a way that I've never seen with another politician. She served as a reassurance that McCain was listening to conservatives, and if he still didn't agree with us on everything, at least he thought our ideas were valid and worthy of nominal support.
I'm still a Palin fan. But judging by her interviews, she MAY be out of her league. If she is, then McCain's choice was obviously a gimmick (and he blew her post-convention introduction to the country). I'm going to give Palin throught the debate and see how she does. If she does well, then I will stay solidly supportive of her and McCain. If she's not ready, then I will stay supportive of her-- in 2012. And I will go back to holding my nose when I pull the lever for McCain.

How McCain lost me redux:

1. His reaction to the economic crisis. I (naively) thought he might have won the election when he suspended his campaign. Gimmick? Sure. Good idea anyway? I thought so. McCain has been warning about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for years-- the man is prescient, if nothing else. It was a pleasure to see a politican stop bloviating about his mighty self and go to work... or it would have been if McCain had accomplished anything. Instead, he introduced another element to tricky negotiations, contributed nothing to the discussions, and then let Obama pressure him into announcing that the bill was far enough along that he could participate in the debate after all. Well, Senator, it's Tuesday, nothing's going to be voted on until Thursday at the earliest, and whatever passes is likely to resemble a lefty Christmas tree (MAN that simile's getting old. How about a lefty Easter basket?). And the House Republicans have been disgraced (the whole House has been disgraced, but that's not how the spin will work out). That's far enough along? Great.

2. Debate. I only caught the economic section, but I was not impressed. Yes, people hate them. But Obama was right-- earmarks are only a fraction of this country's budgetary woes. For pity's sake, hit back! Mentioning that the spending Obama's already proposed is going to cost more than the bailout would have been a good place to start.

So yeah. I'm back to agnostic on McCain. I'll vote for what I perceive as the lesser of two evils, but I'll not do it gladly.

Note: I'll add links to the post shortly-- but my little guy is calling, and toddler wails reduce surfing skills by 10.