Loudoun Times-Mirror Newspaper Endorses John McCain for President

For president -- John McCain
Opinion

By Staff

Loudoun Times-Mirror (Northern VA Newspaper)

February 6, 2008

On Feb. 12, Loudoun County and Virginia -- along with Maryland and D.C. -- vote in Democratic and Republican party primaries toward a historic November election.

As a birthplace of more American presidents (eight) than any other state, Virginians take special pride in this quadrennial national leadership process.

America is searching for a trusted leader, one who would bring the national parties together for the common cause, both home and abroad.
Among the candidates of both parties, only Republican Sen. John McCain has demonstrated leadership qualities and a broad understanding of the issues. He has shown the vision to meet future challenges.

McCain boasts a rare blend of courage and national experience, boldly fighting for more than two decades for needed change in the U.S. Senate. He is a national hero, visibly forged by those years he spent as a prisoner of war in Vietnam after his Navy plane was shot down.

In this campaign, during which most candidates have fashioned and then refashioned their "‘core" beliefs to fit the political winds, McCain shows unswerving conviction and integrity. His values, beliefs, personal goals and principles were brutally tempered in war and have since been built and deeply tested in congressional service.

Consider these most essential issues facing the country:

• McCain's fundamental beliefs on domestic issues are founded upon his conviction that it is each person's basic responsibility to look after himself or herself, and that the government's job is essentially to take care of those fairly needing help. On the current national economic situation, he remains a believer in the power of tax cuts and is leader of a new growing band of both Democrats and Republicans determined to end wasteful (i.e. pork barrel) spending in Washington.


• On foreign policy, McCain as president would clearly be best prepared to maintain a strong, secure nation respected around the world for honoring its commitments.


• On the Iraq war, McCain said at the war's beginning that our attack to take down Saddam Hussein as a threat to Middle East peace was the right thing to do, but that in launching the full Iraq war, the Bush administration failed by having no plan to end it and bring peace to the region. McCain then led the firing of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and initiated the controversial and so far successful U.S. troop surge, devised by Gen. David Petraeus.


• McCain advocates immigration reform to safeguard our borders and provide a just pathway to U.S. citizenship (not amnesty) for the estimated 12 million illegal aliens currently in this country.


• McCain has long been out front on both the global warming issue and on conservation of the nation's natural resources and open-space land.
  On an issue of special concern to Virginia, McCain is a firm supporter of the country's right-to-work law guaranteeing that working people may choose whether or not to join a labor union and not be forced by a proposed new federal law that would require everyone to join and pay union dues to keep a job.


• On all of the major national issues confronting this country, McCain has shown a special capacity to reach across liberal and conservative political lines to achieve consensus. In war and in peace, through our toughest recent times, this seasoned American leader has, with the courage of his convictions, made things successfully happen in the best interests of Americans. He would lead us and return respect of America and its ideals throughout the world.

The Times-Mirror endorses, without reservation, the election of U.S. Sen. John McCain to become our next president and commander in chief.

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