Senator John McCain: A force Democrats seem destined to reckon with …

 

 

Le Figaro, France

John McCain: Will

U.S. Republicans Let

Him Save Them? …

 

"He has managed to exasperate the most traditional Republicans with his positions … but his five and a half years in Vietcong prisons suffering the most brutal torture allow him to take certain liberties. … Here is a man of experience, who stands outside partisan orthodoxy, but who is capable of operating in the 'breach' and winning an election that was said to be lost in advance … The Super-Tuesday primaries will show whether the Republicans are able to seize the opportunity."

 

By Pierre Rousselin

                                  

 

Translated By James Jacobson

 

January 31, 2008

 

France - Le Figaro - Original Article (French)

The Republican Party may have found in Florida its providential man. By winning the first primary election held in one of the most populated states of the Union, John McCain is emerging as the favorite in the race for the Republican nomination. Six months ago, no one would have bet on this former Vietnam hero who had the mad audacity to applaud the idea of sending additional troops to Iraq.

 

At age 71, John McCain is not a priori the best-placed man to achieve unanimity in his party. After all, he has managed to exasperate the most traditional Republicans with his positions in favor of regularizing illegal immigrants, fighting global warming and with his declared opposition to tax cuts decided by Bush.

 

But his five and a half years in Vietcong prisons suffering the most brutal torture allow him to take certain liberties. And it is precisely this - and his frank talk - that give him his appeal.

 

It must be said that if the duel between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton stirs the passions of the Democrats, the competition in the Republican camp is not as scintillating.

 

The campaign of former mayor of New York Rudolf Giuliani, who responded so well at the time of the attack on the Twin Towers, is now calling it quits in a most pitiful way. Americans have turned the page on September 11th, 2001, and are not looking for a man who, all told, embodies the memory of that accursed day.

 

Beyond the religious right and within evangelical circles, Baptist pastor Mike Huckabee has failed convince. Confronting John McCain, only Mitt Romney remains in the race. But the Mormon businessman who became a governor is struggling to give some coherence to his campaign. He has been unable to prevail anywhere but in Michigan, the state where he grew up.

 

Old military man John McCain is the candidate of national security. He has never hesitated to proclaim his support for the war in Iraq, even if he objected to the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo. He's a man of principle who sees in himself the best defender of an America that has the sense of being attacked from all sides. John McCain is perhaps the one man who can restore American authority in the world.

 

The Democrats see in him as the most difficult adversary to beat on November 4th, because he embodies patriotism and defends centrist positions on a number of issues.

 

But what remains is the most difficult task: to rally his own party. In the midst of a crisis of confidence after eight years of President George W. Bush, the Republicans are looking for a savior. Here is a man of experience, who stands outside partisan orthodoxy, but who is capable of operating in the “breach” and winning an election that was said to be lost in advance.

 

The Super-Tuesday primaries on February 5th in over twenty states will show whether the Republicans are able to seize the opportunity.

 

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[WORLDMEETS.US Posted February 3, 2008 7:01pm]