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Paulson: McCain's wild card: trust
Republican nominee holding the winning hand
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More from OpinionWhy has Sen. John McCain won the Republican nomination, and why will he win the election in November? One word: trust.
I didn't predict it. I didn't even vote for him in our primary, but I'm coming to appreciate what I think a lot of Americans understood about this rock-solid patriot and public servant. At a time of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, we want a leader we can trust.
Even if you don't always agree with John McCain, you can trust the man to do what he says.
An encore of the Clinton years is a trust nightmare most Americans do not want. Hillary earned her negative trust numbers the old-fashioned way by disappointing us over and over again. From her faulty memory on dodging sniper bullets in Bosnia to producing peace in Ireland, her actions have never engendered trust.
Barack Obama may be eloquent to some, but his trust account is already overdrawn. He promises to be a uniter, but where's the evidence of ever producing on that promise?
In the absence of a proven track record, people look for ways to assess his judgment. His close associations with the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the political rainmaker Tony Rezko and Weather Underground leader William Ayers encourage more questions than trust.
His campaign's continuing and consistent mischaracterization of McCain's "100 years in Iraq" comment do not match his promise to be a different kind of politician.
As upsetting as McCain can sometimes be to conservatives, his ability to take an unpopular stand and confront his own party is one of the things many respect the most. This man, who withstood years of captivity in a POW camp, is not afraid of a little criticism — giving it or receiving it. There's no better sign of character than the ability to honestly confront one's own party when you think it's wrong.
Whether it's harping on former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and calling for more troops on the ground, pushing for immigration reform or wielding the power of his gang of 14 in securing judicial appointments, this man can make waves.
In a recent talk in Pittsburgh, McCain provided some economic straight talk:
"In so many ways we need to make a clean break from the worst excesses of both parties. For Republicans, it starts with reclaiming our good name — our good name as the party of spending restraint."
Beltway Republican leaders earned their midterm election losses by not walking their principles. McCain doesn't walk softly and carry a big stick. He'll talk straight, loud and often. You can bet he will be using that big "veto" stick on a few Washington senators and congressmen who try spending as usual, no matter which party they are with.
When McCain talks about putting the brakes on government spending and ending the abuse of earmarks, you can trust he means it.
Because we trust his word, we are more likely to honor his promises to change. He may not have voted for the Bush tax cuts, but he has voted to sustain them and promises to work to extend them if elected.
When McCain got the message that his immigration plan was not what Americans wanted, he admitted that Americans don't trust Washington. Now, he has repeatedly promised that securing the border wall comes first. McCain has shown that he takes his promises and his duty seriously.
Finally, at a time when Americans seem to want a president who can work across the aisle, McCain is the man they can trust. Obama talks about uniting America in every speech, but McCain has the proven track record.
McCain's endorsement by Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., speaks to the power of building bridges across the political divide. You don't build relationships by bending your principles. You build them by finding common ground where even "enemies" can agree to make a difference together.
Demonizing Democrats or President Bush will not win this election. McCain has taken a strong stand against partisan attacks. He realizes that the United States thrives in a workable tension between alternative approaches to governing America. McCain focuses on what he is for and reaches out to any independent or Democrat willing to join his cause to make Washington work.
In a long and demanding campaign, authenticity and trust will beat eloquence and empty promises every time. In this great game of politics 2008, McCain has the wild card that will give him the winning hand: trust!
— Terry Paulson of Agoura Hills is a psychologist, speaker, author and host to the politicaltalk.org blog. E-mail him at terry@terrypaulson.com.
Posted by lthrnek on May 12, 2008 at 5:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yep. . . It's all about those old-fashioned words like Personal Honor, Character, Integrity, Trust, Responsibility, etc., etc.,
McCain's got it.. . the others don't.
Posted by jw1000 on May 12, 2008 at 6:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Since John McCain is so trustful I guess we can believe him when he says "100 years in Iraq".
Posted by cassandra on May 12, 2008 at 8:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The scariest thing about McCain is that he might actually mean what he says. What difference do all those virtues make, assuming they exist, when his policies are insane.
It is not like extending another 100 years in Germany, Japan, etc.. The natives aren't offering armed resistance in those places, although some are now offering citizen objections in demonstrations, which of course, will not be noted in this paper.
We desperately need a real newspaper in this town. This one is the sorriest thing I've seen in a long time. It has gone from Republican lite to completely on the dark side.
Posted by cassandra on May 12, 2008 at 8:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
A little shot of reality by someone who knew MCCain well:
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/5/9/...
Posted by shaver_one on May 12, 2008 at 8:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I guess we can trust McCentury when he said that Bush's tax cuts "overly favored the rich."
Oh, but now he supports these same tax cuts.
I guess we can believe McSame, when he put himself on the public dole for his campaign. Oh...But he received a loan based upon that public money pledge, and now is raising private financing. He, apparently, has decided that the public should forget about that promise.
I guess we can believe him about his involvment with 'The Keating 5'. Wasn't that an illegal action?
I guess we can believe McClone when he called the conservative religious right-wing divisive. Oh...But, he sought out the support of Rev John Hagee...and Rev Rod Parsley is his 'spiritual advisor'.
I'm not Barack fan. But, 'The Maverick' has proven he is willing to subvert his own views, just to gain the GOP nomination. What other promises will McCain reject, just to get elected?
Trust...indeed.
Posted by marketrealist on May 12, 2008 at 9:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
McCain has been cozying up to John Hagee. In case you have not heard this kook talk about Armageddon, the Rapture, and the need to bomb Iran preemptively, you should. He relishes what he sees as death and destruction to those who don’t share his views (anyone who is not a far right religious zealot). He is one scary firebrand whom I would not want associated with anyone close to the red nuclear button. And Youtube McCain singing bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran to the tune of the old Beach Boys tune. A McCain-Hagee team, sounds like more expansive military leading us down a path of endless wars and bankruptcy.
Posted by jmcgaw3046 on May 12, 2008 at 10:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
McCain is McCain, you get what you pay for. He will take Obama like Sherman took Georgia. Obams sound like Bush, because Bush kept saying he was a Uniter, but it did not work that way. So when a politiion says he is a untier, I don't trust him, Obama is the one running with the least amount of trust, we know so little about him he has kept so much out of the picture. It took months before we found out about Rev Wright, how many of these things are in his back ground.
Clinton has been gone over for over 16 years, from when he was a governor, to his years in the White house, they have dug into her and her background.
McCain, we just about know every thing about him, his temper, his rich wife and so on. So as a matter of who can you trust, I will give points to both McCain and Clinton. I would not trust Obama with my last dollar.
Posted by KorbettT on May 12, 2008 at 11:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Trust you say? I'm a registered Republican and I don't trust John McCain for one second. He has shown time and time again that he'll jump in bed with the most liberal of Democrats and flip flop with the best of them...Its all about the politics. Getting a little tired of having to choose the best of the worst though. Wish our country could unite again and at least be civil in coming to some well thought out conclusions to some really big problems that I'm personally tired of paying for with my tax dollars.
Posted by hemlock1262 on May 12, 2008 at 12:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Shocking news! Terry Paulson's an unreconstructed partisan! Why golly gee whillikers, who'd'a'guessed that? And let's check out the impact of this "trust" on McCain's prospects come November.
In candidate match-ups, who beats (>) who in the major national surveys?
Rasmussen: Obama > McCain
Gallup: Obama > McCain
Bloomberg: Obama > McCain
Ipsos: Obama > McCain
CBS News: Obama > McCain
Hotline: Obama > McCain
Rasmussen: Clinton > McCain
Gallup: Clinton > McCain
Bloomberg: Clinton > McCain
Ipsos: Clinton > McCain
CBS News: Clinton > McCain
Hotline: Clinton > McCain
Rasmussen Markets: Democrats have 61.8% probability of winning in November
But take comfort, Terry. Everyone knows -- especially YOU -- that facts have a notorious liberal bias.
Posted by hemlock1262 on May 12, 2008 at 12:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hey Terry -- if you're wrong, and McCain loses in 2008, we all hope you'll be true to your past pat pronouncements on honor and integrity and living up to one's reputation and will shut the hell up for the rest of our natural lives. After all, if we can't trust you to get this right, why should we trust you at all?
Not that anyone does.
Posted by cassandra on May 12, 2008 at 1:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Polling results need to be discounted by the degree to which wide spread voting fraud remains a possibility--not just the GOP Sec'ys of State that can deliberately assign too few voting apparatus in Democratic and minority areas but the unverifiable electronic voting machines that account for the Bush win in 2004. The fix is still in. It will have to be a big landslide and even then not as many Congressional reps will come in with the new Pres as the voters decree.
It will have to be a big win to overcome these difficulties. Watch for the exit polls being blamed again for the discrepancies between what statisticians predict and the "official" results.
Posted by shaver_one on May 12, 2008 at 2:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Leader to Flock:
Target has moved. Reposition crosshairs. FIRE!
Posted by hemlock1262 on May 12, 2008 at 2:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Go McCain!
11 May 2008:
Wolf Blitzer: So it would be in effect a third Bush term?
Roy Blunt (R-MO) (McCain advisor): It would be. I think it would be. And I think that’s a good thing.
12 May 2008:
79% of American disapprove of George W. Bush's record as president;
George W. Bush has gone 40 months without majority approval, a historic record;
82% of Americans believe the country is on the wrong tack, 10% more than at the previous high (in 1973).
This is going to be soooooo SWEET!
Posted by hemlock1262 on May 12, 2008 at 2:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
McCain's trustiness:
112 registered political lobbyist D.C. insiders identified by campaign spokesman as advisors to "the Maverick."
Clients of those identified by the McCain campaign as advisors include:
current military dictators of Myanmar;
dictator of Somalia Mohammad Siad Barre;
dictator of Philippines Ferdinand Marcos;
dictator of Zaire Sese Seko Mobuto;
Angolan terrorist (per State Dept) Jonas Savimbi;
dictator of Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Mbsago;
Muslim dictator of Nigeria Ibrahim Babangida;
extortionist and former prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina;
Posted by sslocal on May 12, 2008 at 2:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Go ahead and vote for Obama. See where it gets you.
The man has no plan, just empty retoric.
And shaver, get some facts before you spout off on the 100 years comment again. Jeez.
Posted by cassandra on May 12, 2008 at 3:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I saw a UTube clip wherein McCain is saying 100 years, indeed 1000 etc.. Was this an imposter? a hallucination? Or maybe another McCain in an earlier dimension?
a poem from HopeDance I found particularly apt (Google HopeDance, you sillies. I'm tired of trying to educate you.)
Metaphor for the Corporate Media
Pigeon flocks rise
In one body
Belly pale to the sun
Dive, dark side front,
Whirl round to light again,
Pulled by invisible strings
Feathered Rockettes
Perfect in unison.
Posted by shaver_one on May 12, 2008 at 3:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Taken directly from McCentury's mouth:
"If there are Americans dying in Iraq, we have no choice but to stay. If Americans are no longer dying in Iraq, we have no reason to leave."
Reporter: For 50 Years?
McSame: "Maybe 100 years...that'll be OK with me."
John "100 Years" McCain
Posted by cassandra on May 12, 2008 at 3:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Shouldn't take long.
Posted by marketrealist on May 12, 2008 at 3:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
McCain is an extension of the military industrial complex in the United States that continues to gobble our resources to conjur up and fight continual wars around the world to feed the military money pit. Since WWII, the US has moved from war to war with no break. When communism fell, the machinery just shifted the focus to "terrorism". In fact, the system was so clumsy that it took the old allies - Saddam and Osama bin Laden and recycled them as the new villians. Heck Saddam had to be put to death quickly because he could tell stories about Rumsfeld that go back to the war they fought side by side against the Iranians in the 1990s. Osama bin Laden probably knows more CIA operatives than anyone in the Middle East having been trained by the CIA themselves on terrorist strategies to fight the Russians. Voting McCain is voting more of this morally corrupt system of perpetual war that keeps this county fearful and spending more than the rest of the world combined on the military. We have no health care for our citizens but boy do we have money to spend on new aircraft carriers and missile defense systems. It takes $390,000 a year to keep a soldier in Iraq but our kids school will have to lay off teachers. Voting McCain is voting bankrupcy of this country at the hands of the lobbyists.
Posted by lthrnek on May 12, 2008 at 6:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
We have a junior Senator from Illinois married to a rebellious anti-American wife. We have a junior Senator from New York who is married to a horney toad who couldn't keep his zipper up in the Oval Office.
And. . . We have a War Hero married to a Beer heiress!
Sounds like an easy choice to me. . .
Posted by sslocal on May 12, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
lthrnek,
You have summed it up nicely. Thank you.
Posted by shaver_one on May 12, 2008 at 9:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Being a Vietnam Prisoner of war does not mean one can be an effective President. It just means McCain got caught flying in the wrong airspace. Why do GOPers try to tell us that being a 5-year guest of the Hanoi Hilton qualifies John "100 Years" McCain for President? It just means McSame is caught up in the same old historic Military/Industrial Complex.
Vote Demopublicrat, and bring our troops home.
Posted by shaver_one on May 12, 2008 at 9:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
mmshoot:
MAJOR misquote of "A Day In The Life".
Posted by surfmedic91 on May 13, 2008 at 6:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
To be a leader you must "lead from the front" and not sit in the rear with the gear.
Posted by marketrealist on May 13, 2008 at 8:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
He is a decorated war veteran. But is this the direction the nation should be heading? Why do we pursue more wars while internally we have so many issues to be addressed? One can easily see the glory in flying F16 but the teachers who are struggling to bring a better life to kids are making a contribution that is lasting. What are we fighting for anyway? Its time to pull back the reigns and ask ourselves. The federeal budget deficit is $9 trillion. The impending obligations from Social Security and MediCare are $52 trillion. How is this going to be addresssed without rebuilding our domestic economy?
Posted by johnnybonzo on May 13, 2008 at 12:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Can't the Star find a more credible and articulate voice for the right-wing point of view than Terry Paulson? I enjoy reading articles written from all political perspectives, but this guy is just a hack and, frankly, a waste of newsprint.
Posted by nannyfo1 on May 14, 2008 at 11:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Bruce, I respectfully submit that I should be your VP.
Posted by Fred on May 15, 2008 at 10:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think that the republicans have a strong chance of winning a McCain vs Obama.
1. They are well mobilized and carefully positioning to win like last time. We democrats take a lazy approach to politics.
2. I think people are more racist than sexist. I think that when push comes to shove, a lot of folks will not vote for a black man (and amazingly, this will be more important than any ideas that either candidate may have)
12 billion a month in Iraq. The Bush administration has spent more than any so called "tax and spend" democrat... There is no means to pay for the war, the bill is being sent to your kids. The rich have gotten richer and the poor poorer under the Bush admin. Why do I pay a higher % tax than Bill Gates? This country is hosed and the rich will pillage it until the carcass is picked clean....
Posted by Fred on May 15, 2008 at 1:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
McCain still does not know the difference between a Sunni and a Shiite - yet he wants all of your money to go into the war machine. Obama may not be as experienced, but he is at least willing and able to do his homework. McCain is too lazy to bother (how many times can he show that he does not understand Sunni/Shiite???)
as pointed out above, the deficit is 9 trillion.
U.S. NATIONAL DEBT CLOCK
The Outstanding Public Debt as of 15 May 2008 at 07:59:15 PM GMT is:
The estimated population of the United States is 303,994,801
so each citizen's share of this debt is $30,809.68.
Bush keeps spending and lowering taxes. He spends like a 16year old girl at the mall with no idea where the VISA bill goes...... McCain is simply more of the same.
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