MS Rep Greg Snowden on McCain

John McCain. Warrior. Patriot. Senator. President?
(From Greg Snowden's Clarion Ledger Blog)

One biographer quotes a brash John McCain, then a very young Naval flight instructor, as saying that Meridian (my hometown, where McCain was stationed at the time) was "the crummiest place in America." A Bama buddy of mine has observed that McCain must have never seen Auburn.

Meridianites have forgiven McCain this youthful putdown because, really, it had nothing to do with the Queen City, but all to do with McCain himself. Hotshot pilot McCain didn’t like the drudgery of shore duty; he preferred carrier tours, such as those he had then recently completed in the Carribean and in the Mediterranean. Besides, always the impolitic maverick, even then, it is so like McCain to have dissed the very place (McCain Field, NAS Meridian) named in honor of his own grandfather, a Mississippi admiral and World War II hero. The young John S. McCain, III was a man determined to make his own mark in the world.

That he certainly has done. Shot down over North Vietnam in 1967, McCain spent the next five and a half years as a P.O.W. No doubt the "Hanoi Hilton" gave McCain an entirely new perspective on "crummy." The grandson and son of American admirals, McCain was offered an early release, which he refused, insisting instead upon being treated the same as other American prisoners, and disdaining being used as part of any enemy public relations stunt. He finally got home in 1973.

I don’t know John McCain personally, though I have met him twice, once in Meridian campaigning for Trent Lott, and once in New Orleans at the 1988 Republican National Convention. At the Superdome we literally were crushed together for five minutes or so in the close confines of the delegate crowd exiting the arena after an evening session. McCain was warm and engaging, particularly given the uncomfortable physical circumstances, and he took a genuine interest when I mentioned I hailed from Meridian, one of his old "stomping grounds" as it were. I liked him then, and I have liked him ever since.

I haven’t always agreed with Senator McCain’s politics, and have often become chagrined when McCain got crossed on some issue or the other with President Bush, whom I have generally admired and supported. Last summer McCain was a forceful and courageous proponent of the military "surge" strategy in Iraq even when all of the political pundits were saying his support of the war would kill his chances for the Presidency. The evident success of the "surge" has vindicated McCain, and has solidified his bona fides as a statesman who puts principle over politics. I believe Republican primary voters recognize this quality in John McCain and are now rewarding his courage and his sound judgment on the war and matters military.

I am a Fred Thompson man, and I wish Fred were still in the race. But we could certainly do worse than John McCain. As things stand now, in the wake of his Florida primary victory, I believe McCain has an excellent chance of securing the Republican nomination, and a better than even chance of becoming our next President. Only time will tell.

One final thing. McCain will be 72 years old this August. Some people think that is too old for a person to be elected President. I would simply remind the free Americans who hold that opinion that 5 ½ years of McCain’s life were spent on their behalf in a Hanoi prison. As far as I am concerned, McCain deserves at least double-credit for that high sacrifice. So, as I calculate it, McCain is just now turning 61, and has plenty of time yet to serve his country.