McCAIN BEING McCAIN

Presidential Debate 2 of 3 came and went last night, probably leaving most minds unchanged. Barack Obama followed in the steps of Biden by repeatedly lying on just about everything, but McCain was content with continuing to totally misread his opposition and not use his own team effectively. Obama makes his points better than his surrogates, but many in the New Media make GOP points far better than McCain does himself. Doesn’t this guy listen??? Conservatives have always been wary of him, but McCain continues to alienate his base while giving independents no totally compelling reasons to vote for him.

1) McCain let Obama continue his mantra about the last eight years. The fact is that a Democratic Congress has a far LOWER approval rating than President Bush, and the Democratic Congress has been in control the last two years and has presided over ALL the financial meltdowns. McCain refuses to point this out. When the MSM chant about the economy being the issue, he refuses to intercept the ball and return it for a touchdown. Obama has no credibility on the economy either in Illinois or in the Senate. You cannot cede field position and expect to win.

2) McCain continues to praise Democrats in Congress, despite the fact he came out the loser each time he collaborated. With Russ Feingold, he engineered Campaign Finance Reform, which chipped away at Freedom of Speech and ended up with him being outspent three to one by Obama. He collaborated with Teddy Kennedy, and a poor immigration policy is the result. He jumped into bed with Joe Lieberman on climate change and now champions the lies of Al Gore. Right at the time when more scientists are getting the courage to debunk the myth of MAN-MADE climate change, with the onerous big government implications of accepting that mantra, McCain, who is no scientist, jumps on the bandwagon. It is as though he would PREFER a Democratic Congress which has caused and presided over this Financial Meltdown rather than one controlled by his own party. In addition to weakening the case of those seeking to win a GOP majority in the Congress again, we all know that Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid would outmaneuver McCain every time, so those voting for McCain must vote in a GOP Congress whether he wants one or not if they want change they can believe in.

3) McCain hammers on earmarks, but he voted FOR the bailout with $125 BILLION in pork added to the $700 billion the house wouldn’t pass the first time. This $125 billion makes the other earmarks he is criticizing look puny. Where was his leadership? If there had to be some pork, why so much when it passed with 74 votes? And frankly, with the response of the markets and with 55% of voters against the bailout, it looks like he would have been better off opposing the whole thing – short term pain for long term gain.

4) McCain lets Obama mischaracterize his tax plan while failing to point out that letting the tax cuts expire is in fact raising taxes. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Letting people think CEO’s of large corporations are getting MORE tax cuts in the current situation is not tenable politics.

5) McCain did not bring up his opponent's anti-Israel connections with Wright, Farrakhan, Khalid, etc. He could easily have said, “My pro-Israel stand is long and unblemished, and those in Israel acnknowledge that. My opponent sat twenty years in a church which was anti-Semitic, marched with Louis Farrakhan, one of the world's worst anti-Semites, and had collaborations with numerous others who do not have Israel’s good at heart, but in fact who proved by their hateful words to be enemies of our greatest ally in the Middle East. I have courage to stand against Israel’s enemies. My opponent has not shown that courage.”

6) McCain criticized Reagan repeatedly for the Lebanon blunder while ignoring the continued Clinton blunders of inadequately dealing with terrorism, which led to 9/11 and the Iraq war. Obama’s policies are eerily similar to Clinton’s, and McCain should have blown him out of the water.

McCain brought back to those of us who never supported him in the primaries why we didn’t. He seems to love to stick his finger in the eye of principled conservatives while cozying up to those in Congress who have repeatedly been proven on the wrong side of the issues. One wonders if he has the slightest stomach to push for strict constructionist judges for the Supreme Court and the Federal Courts if he does win. Sarah Palin has made John McCain more palatable, and one could only hope more of her views will rub off on him. Many of us wish SHE were at the top of the ticket. The Teflon Obama propped up by the press is no viable alternative, of course, but can’t we do better than the lesser of two evils??? Meanwhile, we are in the fourth quarter and McCain is playing the same game that causes the Eagles to lose games they should be winning. All Obama has to do is hold the ball and run out the clock, particularly since he is registering folks and having them vote early so even if he falters he will have millions of unchangeable votes already in the bank. (By the way, don’t we have an Election DAY? Dems in Ohio have facilitated what Obama’s folks are doing and it reeks of fraud and coercion.) McCain has to blitz and gamble and strip the ball away and not just run up the middle for the nth time. Democrats are bankrupt on the issues but know politics. One would only hope that McCain would understand that the parties really ARE different and by not explaining and living the differences, he continues to fail to make the case of why undecided voters should support his candidacy.

The church has been afflicted with those coming as “angels of light”, men and women with large followings in state of the art buildings who pervert the scriptures and lead people away from the heart of the gospel. Like the false prophets, Obama has tapped into a hunger in this country, but if you go beyond the fawning media and look at the particularly ugly and sinister forces behind his candidacy, and the forces which have held sway in his own life, you will quickly come to the truth of the matter. Obama has an attractive appearance and manner that appeals to the flesh, but, the REAL Obama will be revealed. God will strip away the attractive veneer to expose a man who is worse on the inside than even his most vociferous opponents have charged, and those who continue to support his candidacy will do so at their spiritual peril.

However, that said, simply defeating him isn’t remotely adequate, and the GOP hasn't proven itself up to even that task. I believe God will cause him to blunder so badly that he defeats himself. It is only by God's mercy, not by acts of righteousness that we have done. We must also realize that we must ask God to bring McCain to the foot of the cross and reveal himself to him in a Damascus Road experience. Going to church is not remotely enough. Not even a Southern Baptist Church. The challenges we face are even stronger and more subtle that what McCain faced in the Hanoi Hilton. We must also ask that Sarah Palin will not operate in the flesh but in the Spirit and that she would realize that except for God’s hand, she would be in Alaska nursing her baby and dealing with petty politics as usual. Our trust is NOT in any man or woman. All are totally fallible. Only God can lead us effectively. We are in perilous times, and we need leaders who are totally in touch with the Lord so they will not be misled and so they will not falter.