McCain Wins Florida Republican Primary

John McCain has won the Florida Republican Presidential primary. Former mayor of New York Rudolph Giuliani is expected to endorse McCain. The Republican race is now considered to be a two man contest between John McCain and former governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney. The competition between the two men has become more pointed as tonight's primary approached.

Neither man has been able to unite the party so far. McCain has been a stalwart conservative for many years. But, he has raised suspicions in Republican party for worrying about intolerance in Christian right movement, supporting campaign finance reform, and for opposing Bushes tax cuts. Recently he has embraced the recently deceased Jerry Falwell, Sr. and claimed that he voted against the Bush tax cuts for the lone reason that they were not offset by spending cuts.

McCain was a war hero in the Vietnam war. He was captured by the enemy and was tortured for years by them. As I explain in the post Bloody Flag: Our Gratitude, but Not our Endorsement I think that the very reall possibility that McCain suffered mental damage during this episode makes him to risky a pick for President and Commander and Chief.

Mitt Romney has two major problems in gaining the Republican nomination. He was governor of Massachusetts a liberal state were he governed to the left of the mainstream Republican party. He is also a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints which many conservative Christians view as a heresy. During the end of his governorship Mitt Romney was able to appeal to conservatives in the party by staunchly opposing the Massachusetts' Supreme Court's decision to legalize same sex marriages.

Governor Romney tried to counter suspicion of his religious beliefs by making a speech in which he argued that his faith led him the same conservative values as more traditional Christians. He claimed that conservative followers of religion should unite against Americans with secular beliefs.

The former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee hoped to use his conservative record and the fact that he had been Baptist minister to energize the Christian conservatives. But he was opposed by fiscal conservatives who viewed him as to liberal on financial issues. In the South Carolina primary he made the following statement "In fact, if somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag, we'd tell them what to do with the pole, that's what we'd do." This statement did seem odd given his strong opposition to sodomy. However, this vulgar appeal to supporters of the Confederate Flag was not enough to secure a victory. He no longer is considered to be a viable candidate, but he is considered a likely choice for Vice President.

The Democratic Primary for President in Florida was not seriously contested because the party stripped the state of its delegates for moving the primary forward. Senator Clinton gained the most voters.

Our Gratitude, but Not our Endorsement

New York Times Endorses John McCain

I firmly believe certain things that should immediately disqualify a candidate from being President. The President of the United States has the ability to destroy the world through a number of means. Our nuclear arsenal is sufficient to end all human life on the planet in a matter of minutes. We also have developed research in biological warfare, for defenses purposes only (wink, wink), several other means of destroying all human life, or at least some rather large portion there of, in a matter of weeks. We also have the means to destroy a large proportion if not all the agricultural products of the world which would, of course, result in huge famines. And, these are only the things that we know about.

The mental stability of a candidate for President must be of primary importance in determining his or her fitness for office. This is why the New York Times erred in endorsing John McCain for the Republican nomination. The reality is John McCain was tortured for years in Vietnam. I am not saying that he is some Manchurian Candidate who will bring back communism from the grave. But the entire point of torture, is not to glean information that will save the world before the commercial break, but rather to degrade the mind to make it more pliable. Given that his captors had years to accomplish this goal, it is safe to assume that they made some headway.

John McCain is known for his quick temper. He is already the oldest of the Presidential candidates, and therefore he is also in danger of the assaults old age make upon the mind. Though he has performed well as Senator and as a presidential candidate, his very military training may be hiding mental damage that could be very dangerous in a critical situation. I worked in a residential hotel for seniors. I saw several veterans go from being so sharp and polished you felt they could report to duty in an instant, to raving mad lunatics wearing their underwear on their heads in a matter of hours. When you talk to veterans from World War II they can recount the horrors of battle as though it were yesterday. We must always remember the sacrifice these men make for us isn't about a day but a lifetime. We owe McCain our gratitude, but the Presidency is something we mustn't thank him with.