Minor on McCains

Bill Minor writes about the McCain family this week.

The possibility now of a John McCain presidency causes me to recall that three generations of John S. McCains, starting with the
grandfather back in World War II, have in different ways crossed my personal life track.

The oldest, Vice-Admiral John S. McCain, was commander of Task Force 38 that my destroyer was part of during the Pacific war. Memorably, in January, 1945, we provided the wizened little admiral "taxi service" at sea from his flagship to meet with Admiral Bull Halsey, the Third Fleet commander, on his flagship.

That meant hauling the admiral aboard by a canvas bag breeches buoy as the two ships rolled and pitched in the angry seas. I recall that when McCain arrived on our forecastle deck, he was swathed in a bulky kapok life jacket that he refused to remove. "Not while I'm on board a destroyer," he growled, remembering that three of our fellow tincans a month earlier went down in a massive typhoon.

To us 20-somethings on the Potter he seemed a tired old man not long for this world. Actually, two days after Japan surrendered, McCain died of a heart attack. Only years later did I learn he was a native of Carrollton, Miss.

The next John S. McCain - John S. II, father of Senator McCain - also had become an admiral, rising to commander of Pacific forces (CINCPac) during the Vietnam War. At the time, his son, Navy Lt. John S. McCain III, was a prisoner-of-war in North Vietnam after being captured when his fighter plane was shot down over Hanoi. Refusing release without his comrades, after 5-1/2 years McCain was freed in late 1973.

In the latter 1970s, Admiral McCain II had an occasion to visit Mississippi and called on Gov. Cliff Finch. Eagerly, Cliff called in the Capitol press corps, giving me a chance to have a pleasant chat with the admiral and share my recollections of having his Dad on board the Potter. (Read the Full Story Here)

Cochran Endorses McCain

Mississippi's senior Senator, Thad Cochran, has endorsed John McCain for President.

Barbour for VP?

Chicago Sun Times runs the rumor that leading conservatives will tell McCain that the man to help him become President is Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour:

Sneed hears GOP presidential front-runner John McCain will be advised by senior conservative party leaders this week to choose Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour as his veepmate -- if he wants to win.

• • To wit: Word is the ultraconservative gathering at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) will hit McCain with the ultimatum in Washington, D.C., where the meeting takes place.

• • The reasons: Barbour is more conservative than GOP opponents Mike Huckabee or Mitt Romney, a former RNC national chairman, has strong ties to all national committeemen, governors and Republican leaders, a popular stump speaker, and a big fund-raiser needed for campaign coffers McCain needs filled fast.

Also, here is a campaign to draft Haley Barbour for VP: www.drafthaley.com

McCain claims most money from Miss.

The Clarion Ledger reports that John McCain has received the most money from Mississippi Republicans:

If campaign donations are any indication of support, Sen. John McCain and former Sen. Fred Thompson are Mississippi's favorite presidential candidates. Mississippians donated nearly $1.2 million to all presidential candidates as of the last filing period, which ended Dec. 31, Federal Election Commission records show. That's a fraction of the $582 million raised nationwide. McCain, an Arizona Republican who was helped by former Sen. Trent Lott, raised the most money in the state, $266,103. Michael Harrell, president of Jackson-based Harrell Contracting, gave the Arizona senator $2,300. "He's just my kind of guy," Harrell said. "I've seen him be strong when he has to be strong and compassionate when he has to be compassionate." Mississippi Republicans changed their rules this year so their 39 delegates will be distributed in a proportional method - unless a candidate wins 51 percent or more of the vote. Then the candidate can claim all of them.

McCain Courts Barbour?

McCain's Southern Region Co-chairman Senator Lindsey Graham (his other Southern Co-chair is Mississippi's Chip Pickering) is working endorsements for the frontrunner. According to a Washington Post blog, Graham "said he had already called Georgia Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson to see if they were willing to endorse McCain before their state's Feb. 5 primary. 'They'll come as a package,' Graham said, adding he had told Chambliss -- who is up for reelection this year -- that backing McCain would prove to be an asset in the general election even if it would spark some criticism in the primary. Other Republicans on Graham's wish list? Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour."

Pickering: The Watchwords of John McCain

Chip Pickering writes at The Hill Blog today, "Experience. Competence. Independence. These are the requirements for President. These are the watchwords of John McCain." Pickering makes the case that McCain is the best experienced candidate to lead our nation in matters of foreign policy and homeland security, that he has the proven leadership to make government work effectively, and that McCain has earned the mantle of reform and will bring real change to Washington DC. Read it here.

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.

Lott to South Carolina for McCain

Now that Trent Lott has retired from the Senate, he looks to help his friend John McCain out in South Carolina.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Lott said he'll campaign in South Carolina next month for fellow Republican John McCain. Lott has been supporting the Arizona senator's presidential bid for more than a year.

"When I called him to tell him I was going to retire from the Senate, he was not real happy about that," Lott said by phone from his Washington office. "I said, 'Well, John, look at it this way: Now I'm free to campaign for you in South Carolina, where I speak the language."'

The South Carolina Republican primary, on Jan. 19, is among the first in the nation.

The McCain Comeback

Matthew Continetti writes for the Weekly Standard that after last night's debate, the GOP08 campaign is a new race - the McCain comeback and the Thompson entry: Wednesday night's Fox News Channel debate saw McCain reassert his place in the top tier of Republican contenders. And it was his answers on critical foreign policy questions involving Gen. David Petraeus's "surge" strategy in Iraq, the interrogation techniques deployed on enemy detainees, and the use of military force against Iran that established his strong position. It increasingly seems clear that illegal immigration, the issue which dominated the Republican race throughout the spring and summer, and an issue on which McCain stands directly opposed to many in his party, will not be the issue on which the nomination is decided. To put it another way: Foreign policy has come home to roost.

Fred Barnes, also with the Weekly Standard, agrees: No Presidential nomination or election has ever been won on the basis of a performance in a debate. But candidates can help or hurt themselves. Last night in New Hampshire, John McCain helped himself and Mitt Romney hurt himself. And while Rudy Giuliani was no slouch, he became tedious by droning on about his accomplishments as mayor of New York. The five other Republican presidential candidates didn't matter much. Fred Thompson, who announced his candidacy last night on TV, was a no-show.

McCain was ready and eager to stress his muscular position in favor of the "surge" in Iraq, and he had plenty of opportunity to do so. The key moment came after Romney said the surge was "apparently working," and McCain challenged him. "No, not apparently, it's working," McCain responded sharply....The alacrity with which McCain went after Romney on Iraq reflected the Arizona senator's view that Romney shades or modifies his position on the war, depending on his audience. After the debate, McCain aides accused Romney of having three different positions on Iraq in four days....That Romney may be vulnerable on Iraq--at least McCain thinks so--is new. And McCain is now certain to prolong his quarrel with Romney as he embarks on what his campaign has dubbed the "No Surrender" tour....By the way, a focus group of 29 New Hampshire Republicans conducted during the debate by pollster Frank Luntz found McCain to be the winner. He exceeded the expectations of the group, while Giuliani disappointed them.

For what more people are saying about McCain's debate performance, read here.

John McCain: Courageous Service

The Comeback Campaign Plan

Politico.com's Jonathan Martin describes the McCain campaign's comeback plan to win the nomination. The story also provides links to the campaign's talking points on the matter as well as a one-pager comparing this to Reagan's 1980 campaign.

Coburn on McCain's Courage

Senator Tom Coburn writes this piece in National Review: McCain’s Courage - A rare American politician

As the American people, elected officials, and commentators reflect on the heated immigration debate that came to a temporary close in the Senate this week many will ask, and have asked, why U.S. Senator John McCain (R., Ariz.) staked out a position that may, in retrospect, be seen as devastating to his presidential ambitions. I hope the American people, at least, step back from the obsessive play-by-play pre-season election analysis and reflect on Senator McCain’s actions for what I believe they were: One of the purest examples of political courage seen in Washington in a very, very long time....

I opposed Senator McCain in this immigration debate. I believed the policies he advocated were wrong for America and I used every tool at my disposal to defeat his position. However, the way Senator McCain conducted himself represented the essential qualities of leadership the American people deserve.

Senator McCain didn’t speak in generalities. He spoke in specific terms. He didn’t take a position and change his position when he came under withering fire. He didn’t pander. He didn’t equivocate. He didn’t demean his opponents in the Senate or insinuate we harbored base motives or secret prejudices. He was motivated by principle. He believed he was serving his country. He was not inspired by political strategists who foolishly believed they could use this bill to grow the Republican party, and did not lecture his colleagues about why those strategists were smarter and wiser than 80 percent of Americans....

Whether you agree with him or not, Senator McCain’s actions demonstrated the qualities we rarely see in Washington — courage, character, honor, and dignity.

It saddens me that so many commentators will judge Senator McCain’s actions by how his role in this debate will impact the next poll or fundraising report. Survival is not the highest virtue in politics. Sacrifice is the highest virtue. In battle we don’t ask which soldier was a success — the one who charged the hill and lives a long life or his friend beside him who falls and leaves a widow and children behind. Whether this week helps or hurts Senator McCain politically is not the point. What matters is that without courage, we all lose.

Most politicians possess, in abundance, the skill of making promises that will appeal to a majority of voters. Very few politicians, however, ever demonstrate the kind of political courage Senator McCain demonstrated in this debate. Many qualities, of course, matter when selecting our elected leaders — political philosophy, judgment, specific plans, etc. — but the most important quality upon which all others depend is courage. On that count, Senator McCain has given all of us in the Senate an example to be followed.

Read the full article here.

Primary

Bobby Harrison writes about McCain's recent visit but laments that Mississippi is "likely to play only minor role in nominations"

Thursday Fundraiser

The Associated Press and WLBT covered McCain's fundraiser in Jackson last night.