McCain's Conservatism

Marc Nadeau

Deal,

Your comment about the importance of the Catholic Vote in the recent success of John McCain's campaign is very interesting and pertinent.

It also brings me to elaborate more about my perception of McCain's conservatism.  In the last weeks and months, I have - like practically everybody - read and heard that some conservatives and Republicans are irritated by the Senator's stances on an issues like immigration.

The 2006 US Census reported that Hispanics represent approximately 15% of the population.  From what I read, Catholicism is the dominant religion among this segment of the population.  And like you mention in your post, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and California "are both heavily Catholic and Hispanic".  Senator McCain is thus a very big plus for any electoral calculations within a victory scenario for November, making him very competitive in California for example.

But that's not all.  The Maverick's position on abortion is not only "the most electable pro-life Republican", he's also the closest to the Catholic fiber on immigration.

Being myself a member of the Knights of Columbus, I oftentimes take pleasure in visiting the website of the organization to read various items.  The other day, this article catched my attention in a particular way.  Late in 2006, the Board of Directors of the Knights of Columbus released a position paper titled "Reform Should Provide Avenue to Legal Residency and Citizenship", in which they elaborated about the fact that "the vast majority of undocumented Mexicans and other Latin Americans in the United States are simply trying to build better livers for themselves and their families, but must struggle to do so from the shadows of American society."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Knights of Columbus ("the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization") certainly is not a liberal, left-leaning, organization.  Of course, they're nonpartisan, but they're a living, eloquent, expression of Compassionate Conservatism.  For more than 125 years, they have been on the front lines of the culture of life and they have shown their profound and sincere patriotism, notably with their fight to add the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954.

These are also the main tenets of John McCain's career.  So, if I had a choice of a candidate to invite for a visit at the Knights of Columbus's fabulous Museum in New Haven, Connecticut (one of the states that will vote next Tuesday), the Senator from Arizona would be my pick without hesitation. 

John McCain is not only a real conservative, but he's a compassionate one whose views are espoused by a significant number of Republicans.  If not, he certainly would not be on his way to be called upon to carry the banner of the GOP in the historic electoral battle ahead.

Comments

[James]

I hate to sound argumentative, but the only way that you can describe John McCain as a conservative is if you also describe Hillary Clinton as a conservative. If you look at the stated platforms of the Republican party you will find that the only platforms that McCain supports are a strong national defense and pro-life. In every other respect he is a frothing at the mouth liberal. I would almost rather have Hillary in office so at least we don't try to mitigate the amount that she's screwing up the country based on her party.