Conservatives Ready to Support McCain

by Ronald Kessler - February 8th, 2008 - Newsmax.com

John McCain made a sale at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

To be sure, there were scattered boos as he tried to make nice to the conservatives he declined to speak to last year.

Some conservatives said they could never bring themselves to vote for a man who voted against President Bush’s tax cuts, was responsible for the campaign finance law, and pushed for amnesty for illegal immigrants. But I talked with dozens of conservative leaders after McCain’s talk, and every one of them thought the Arizona senator sounded the right notes in his speech and said they felt inclined to support him.

What was impressive about McCain’s speech was its sincerity.

I have not been a fan of John McCain for quite a while but that has more to do with his embracing moderate positions on certain issues where I simply disagree. On only a couple of issues has McCain done things that I think are liberal and that really got me mad.

Those two issues?

One, supporting amnesty for people who have entered our nation illegally. I don't believe that John McCain truly appreciates that this invasion is intentional and political, not economic as it is portrayed.

Two, supporting restricting political speech if liberal bureaucrats feel you are wrong. The idea that an elections commission populated by government employees, overwhelmingly democrats, make the decision of whether I can spend money at the end of a campaign is simply grotesque.

On most other issues where we disagree, McCain's position is simply annoying. In most cases it is the reality that McCain is not sufficiently intellectual to understand the evil of socialism. He has not accepted that the failure everywhere it has been tried is evidence enough to oppose socialism.

However during the primary campaign, we have been focused on the disagreements with candidates that we don't support. Now that McCain has been selected, it is important to also recognize the issues on which we agree. I don't believe anyone still in the campaign will be the equal of McCain in fighting the war against the Islamo-fascists. Nuclear bombs have an amazing ability to focus the mind. Thinking about what will happen if we allow the Islamo-fascists to think they are winning and encouraging them to send nuclear bombs to finish the war make it simply a no- brainer. Of the credible candidates left, John McCain is my candidate based on this issue alone.