The Portsmouth Herald Endorses John McCain

The Portsmouth Herald endorses John McCain citing his honesty and kind heart.

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Vote Sen. McCain in GOP primary
Portsmouth Herald

U.S. Sen. John McCain will tell you the truth, even if it costs him the election.

He has a very clear-eyed view of the truth having spent his life fighting for our country and leading the U.S. Senate for the past 20 years on virtually every critical issue facing our nation.

In our view, John McCain stands head and shoulders above the rest of the Republican field and deserves the support of those voting in the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary Jan. 8.

We were deeply moved at a forum here at Seacoast Media Group Dec. 6 when the senator spoke soothing words to a disabled veteran so despondent over his injuries, he asked whether he had a right to go on living.

McCain's answer was kind and sincere, emphasizing his belief in the value of all life and the hope that medical advances would someday allow this good man to recover some of what he had lost.

McCain is pro-life, but his views are broad in this area. He also believes in federal funding of embryonic stem cell research because in his view life is also sacred after you have left the womb.
This kindness and pragmatism also guided his thinking on immigration. McCain's state of Arizona borders Mexico and is on the front line of America's struggle with illegal immigration. His position is that we need to tighten our borders and enforce the laws already on the books, but we also need to create a path to citizenship for good, honest, hardworking families who make a real contribution to this country.

His principled stance on immigration has made enemies in his own party and has hurt him in Iowa where this is a major issue.

McCain also angered Republicans with his bipartisan McCain-Feingold legislation that tried to even the playing field to restore the power of one person, one vote, that had been replaced by a million dollars, a million votes. That legislation clearly had some flaws as we have seen special interest groups like MoveOn.org and Swift Boat Veterans For Truth pouring limitless amounts of money into campaigns on behalf of their candidates and causes, but his efforts to reform campaign finances show that McCain's first priority is putting power in the hands of the people and that he can work in a bipartisan way to make it happen.

If McCain is president, nobody would have to write him a memo about whether it is legal to use torture. As a former prisoner of war who was denied medical care and beaten by the North Vietnamese, McCain understands at the deepest level that torturing helpless prisoners who may or may not have some information of value to our national security is a losing strategy in the long run, putting our own soldiers at greater risk for torture and lowering our nation's moral authority in the world.

On Iraq, McCain provides a compelling critique of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's mistakes and paints a positive picture of where we would be if we had gone into the country with a sufficient number of troops who were properly trained and equipped. He says the success of the current surge supports his position. There are some on our editorial board who strongly disagree with McCain's position on Iraq, but ultimately history will be the judge of whether he is right or wrong.

McCain is willing to speak the truth about massive spending and the debt we have piled on ourselves. The Republicans have become the party of big spenders, he says. And he can say that because he has spent decades fighting pork-barrel projects proposed by his congressional colleagues.

McCain has been a leader on energy independence and global climate change. He is the only top-tier Republican candidate who agrees that global climate change is real and that it needs to be addressed immediately. He would make sustainable energy a top priority

John McCain has been leading the country from his seat in the U.S. Senate for 20 years. He is a man of integrity and honor who would help the Republicans rid themselves of the stench of Jack Abramoff and other lobbyists and allow the GOP to reclaim its status as the party of fiscal restraint. He is a strong military man prepared from day one to defend our nation against its enemies. Of all the Republicans running, he is by far the best qualified to lead our country.

We hope voters in the Republican primary will support John McCain.

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Editor's note: Seacoast Media Group's Democratic endorsement will appear in the Portsmouth Herald on Thursday, Dec. 20, and in the Exeter News-Letter, Hampton Union and Rockingham News on Friday, Dec. 21.
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http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071216/OPINION/712160336/-1/OPINION04

McCain Shows His Heart

Senator McCain speaks with heart and compassion to a fellow veteran who is struggling with life...

Disabled vet to McCain: 'I don't see point' in living
From the Portsmouth Herald/Seacoastonline.com
PORTSMOUTH — "What good is it for me to be here alive?"

Greg Major struggled as he slowly uttered the question to Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain. Major, a Navy veteran, has a traumatic brain disorder caused by a motorcycle accident 22 years ago. He stood with a crutch and the arm of SteppingStones caregiver Ronnie Tomanio, and his words were monotone, poignant and powerful.

"I'm taking up valuable space and worthy subsidies to keep me alive. So why don't I just pass it off to someone else and just exterminate my life?"

"Greg, all I can say to you is thank you. Thank you for your family, thank you for your comment," said the senior senator from Arizona. "I believe every life is precious, and I believe all of us are God's children. And I will not lose hope that we will develop cures that will relieve the burden that you have ... I hope you will never give up your hope and your faith."

The touching exchange changed the tone of the environmental policy discussion to a conversation about life and death. Major remained in his seat and took back the microphone.

"But I think, wouldn't it be better to set me aside and let others consume?" said Major. "I just don't see any point continuing because it's difficult for everyone else to support me. It's pointless to sit here and use the resources when they can go to someone else and do much better."

Tomanio took the microphone from Major and asked the crowd of 125, some wiping away tears, whether anyone felt Major uses too many resources. The audience shouted "no" in unison.

"None of us believe that," added McCain. "It's not what America is about. That's not what our faith is about. All I can tell you is there are loving family members and loving neighbors and friends, who want to do all they can to help you live as long and as beautiful a life as possible. We value you and we cherish you."

Major, who served three years on the USS Spartanburg County LST 1192, received the injury in 1985 and was in a coma for five months. Doctors told his parents, Larry and Sally, they were either going to have to take him off life support or place him in a nursing home the rest of his life. If he lived, they said, he would never walk again. Two years later, the family visited Yugoslavia and Greg climbed a mountain on crutches.

After the forum, Tomanio said persuading Major to continue living is a daily struggle. But they do so by showing how he contributes to society, like the column Major and Tomanio write for the Portsmouth Herald Go & Do section in which they interview veterans.

"I didn't know he was going to say that ... but it's not just him saying that," said Tomanio. "If he's thinking that as a disabled veteran, don't you think there's hundreds of thousands of other disabled veterans thinking the same damn thing? And they're never going to get a chance to talk to somebody of that stature."

http://seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071207/NEWS/712070406