Spotlight-- Senator McCain

You know what? Senator McCain, when he speaks, sounds remarkeably similar to president Bush. And I don't just mean his use of sibilants and dipthongs. Today, he spoke out in favor of the troop surge, comparing the situation in Iraq to the situation in Rwanda, saying that if we just pull out of iraq, the same thing will happen, only worse.

Some people said it was McCain's finest moment.

Others are afraid that it's a sign of his caving, to please the conservative republican base.

Still others say that it's a sign that McCain has decided to eschew politics in favor of just speaking his mind; he wants to make a splash saying what he really believes, because he has nothing to lose-- he's old, he's had his political career, and this presidency is not necessarily the highest priority for him anymore.

I'm not sure how I feel about it. The stories I've heard about Senator McCain-- him taunting from the back row as republican senators meet to decide on how to vote, considering running on Kerry's ticket as VP and seriously considering switching parties, the whole campaign finance reform thing, make me like him.

And while I'm pro troop-surge, I'm not sure that this latest has made me like him. I really hope that McCain doesn't become a party pleaser. Because his lack of party-pleasing is what makes him most attractive to me.

My chief objection to him as president is that I'm worried it might be more of the same-- he's an outspoken, not-too-fond-of-oversight republican. I think America has had enough of that, don't you? Let's find someone who is willing to listen to other people. That's my opinion.