John McCain

Transitional politician describes Sen. John McCain. He was military, a fighter pilot. Assigned to the Vietnam theater, McCain was shot down, survived, and captured by the Viet Cong. He was imprisoned, tortured and re-tortured. Held in captivity for 5 and a half years, he was eventually freed. Offered early release out of deference for his father’s in-theatre command position, McCain refused to be treated differently than his fellow captives. For that he was tortured again and again.

Back in the states and no longer in the military, John McCain ran for political office in Arizona. At first he served as a congressman; four years later he was elected to his Senate seat he held until his death.

John McCain was considered a maverick in congress. He had his centrist views, and his conservative views. Conservative because of the state he represented, but centrist in order to fashion compromise with other politicians. Those compromises led to decisions that otherwise would not have been possible.

Still he swung from the political center to the very conservative. That maddened his fellow republicans. He was not, I repeat, not a softy. He was the democrats' worst nightmare as a political foe. Rarely did he side with liberals or democrats, but he did so to make a difference in some very tight votes.

Few people realize his efforts to reform the immigration mess. He spoke fervently with President George W. Bush to bring order to the immigration impasse. Bush said yes. The democrats said yes in private talks. And so he crafted a bi-partisan agreement to move forward to solve the immigration policy stalemate. He was met with a stunning refusal by most republican representatives. The conservatives were understandable; but the centrists AND ‘liberal’ republicans? Yes, pretty much a solid wall of denial.

John McCain was stunned by this intransigence. He understood the issue of immigration. And he wished to calm those waters while retaining the open door of welcome to immigration that defines our nation’s long history. A realist, however, he gave up and focused on other issues.

Election finance reform was one such effort he long worked toward. He made a difference in this arena, but not a lasting one. His colleagues on the republican side of the aisle in congress refused to recognize or maintain campaign finance reform agreements. His efforts eventually failed. The problems continue but McCain came to recognize and accept the benefits of political campaign donations for his own causes even though they were unfair and often unprincipled.

That describes the swing in his political ideology. He was able to fight for a principle one day, and defeat it the next. It is the reason democrats did not trust him unless the issue was critical to the nation. In those instances he was reliable and trustworthy.

For those times he was lovable. But a political foe worthy of his power, too.

For that reason I did not like McCain. However, I respected him. Grudgingly respected.

In the final analysis John McCain was a patriot and principled representative of his voters. At times he was principled for the good of the American people. And that is as it should be. He will be missed and long remembered.

August 27, 2018