AS A NAVY pilot in Vietnam Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) plane was shot down. He landed in a lake in Hanoi, badly injured, with both arms and one leg broken. Some North Vietnamese, eager for retribution for the American bombing, swum out to meet him. They beat the already badly injured pilot, broke his shoulder and bayoneted him repeatedly while parading him through the streets. He was then taken to the infamous Hanoi Hilton by North Vietnamese soldiers who gave him up for dead because of his injuries. Miraculously his fellow prisoners of war managed to nurse him back to health.
The North Vietnamese subsequently tortured McCain in hopes of forcing him to repudiate his nation. McCain tried to kill himself before ultimately giving in and signing a phony confession of "war crimes." Several months after McCain's capture, his father was named commander of all U.S. forces in the Pacific. Sensing a propaganda prize the North Vietnamese offered the battered 31 year-old an early release. McCain refused to go along with this propaganda stunt, citing the military code that the first POW captured is the first to be released. He was savagely beaten for this defiance, and spent five years as a POW, two of them in solitary confinement.
This is a story of great heroism, yet not every hero is suited to be president. In this story we learn of McCain's character and courage: Two qualities that are vital for a good president.
This courage has been translated across his long political career, where he has shown himself to be undaunted by opposition. He bravely took stands even when few in his party would stand beside him. He has battled special interests and Republican stalwarts in his desire to achieve campaign finance reform. He fought the tobacco industry even though it cost him political support, most notably in Virginia last week. He opposed pork barrel politics, even when the programs have been Republican favorites, such as defense contracts.
His nearly two-decade record in the House and Senate shows that he has the experience and the political courage to make a good president. Although he has voted with his party most of the time, and receives high ratings from conservative groups, McCain is not a typical Republican. He has his own ideals separate from the party line, and he has stuck to them. He has proven this over and over again. His stances are not in question. They are in the voting record: He is a conservative with the streak of a maverick.
Finally McCain is prepared to reshape the Republican party, by making it an inclusive place, by casting out the elements of division. He is not someone who will be nailed to the GOP plank, reliant on the traditional coalitions of Christian conservatives and country club Republicans. He showed this when he criticized the far right elements of the party and said in Virginia Beach on Feb. 28, "We are the party of Ronald Reagan, not Pat Robertson. We are the party of Theodore Roosevelt, not the party of special interests. We are the party of Abraham Lincoln, not Bob Jones. Join us. Join us."
McCain is cast in the mold of some of the greatest presidents this nation has ever seen. He has an appeal that transcends ideology. He is a conservative, but has attracted large numbers of Democrats and Independents. Others who managed this type of appeal include America's greatest leaders, such as Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. McCain is a figure like Colin Powell or Dwight Eisenhower: men who both parties were prepared to nominate because their appeal superceded political stances, because their leadership was not just best for the party, but best for the nation.
McCain's story is one of personal courage and undying devotion to his country. He is a man of ideals who through the ups and downs of the campaign process has not altered his message by swinging to the left or the right. We know where McCain stands. He brings something to the table that his challenger does not. He is a hero and a patriot who has shown that he has strong, unwavering ideals and that he can be an effective leader.
(Peter Brownfeld's column appears Mondays in The Cavalier Daily.)
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