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George H.W. Bush endorses Sen. John McCain

Republican primary frontrunner Sen. John McCain picked up another important endorsement yesterday after former US President George H.W. Bush officially gave his support to the Arizona senator and asked conservatives dissatisfied with his record to stop attacking him, reports Peter J. Smith, LifeSiteNews.com.

"You know, if you've been around the track you hear these criticisms and I think they are grossly unfair. [McCain's] got a ... sound conservative record but he's not above reaching out to the other side," the former president said. Bush later called the attacks on McCain's record "absurd."

The McCain campaign has welcomed affirmations of support from Bush and other powerful figures in the GOP, as it is struggling to convince the GOP's conservative base that McCain is actually a "true conservative." The campaign is having to work hard to mitigate the risk of a depressed turnout of conservatives, who are necessary for the GOP to win the presidential election in November.

Current President George W. Bush has also stated he believes McCain is a "true conservative."

However, many conservatives remember that McCain was pivotal in derailing Senate Republicans' efforts to end the filibuster of conservative judges nominated by Bush, thereby preventing many pro-life, pro-family judges from filling vacancies in the US judicial system.

McCain also has made himself an opponent of conservative talk-radio and has been called an enemy of political free speech by conservatives for his McCain-Feingold campaign-finance reform restrictions that insulate incumbents from criticism in the days before an election.

McCain's appearance before the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) in early February was given a decidedly mixed and less than enthusiastic reception.

Some pro-family and pro-life conservatives, including Paul Weyrich and Dr. James Dobson, have expressed serious doubts about McCain, especially over McCain's passive attitude toward homosexual "marriage," endorsement of the theory of man-made global warming, and unapologetic support of the destruction of human embryos for stem-cell research.

Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, said he refuses to vote for McCain since his record on family and conservative issues like free speech "makes his candidacy a matter of conscience and concern for me."

Weyrich, a cofounder of the Moral Majority and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation, told RenewAmerica columnist Wes Vernon that he believed a liberal Clinton or Obama presidency would be a better alternative to McCain. With the former, conservatives could regroup and retake the House and Senate in two years, as was done in 1994. "It would be better than McCain, who would fight us on everything," Weyrich said. Weyrich, like Dobson, also endorsed Gov. Mike Huckabee against McCain, after switching his support from former candidate Mitt Romney, on the basis of pro-life and pro-family issues.

A number of other conservative pro-life leaders, however, while not endorsing McCain, have said they believe McCain is ultimately a pro-life candidate and a better alternative to a Clinton or Obama abortion presidency.

Even the strongly pro-life Representative, Chris Smith, has attested to McCain's pro-life credentials. "He is pro-life in his heart of hearts, in my opinion," pro-life leader Rep. Chris Smith told the Washington Times.

"When you contrast him with the alternative and you think about such things as Supreme Court appointments, McCain is a far better choice," added Barbara L. Lyons, executive director of Wisconsin Right to Life, whose organization successfully challenged portions of McCain's campaign finance laws before the US Supreme Court in 2007.

While the McCain campaign is confident it has secured the GOP nomination, the current GOP rules and Mike Huckabee's persistence in the race means McCain must still campaign for the remaining delegates. McCain has 908 delegates according to an Associated Press tally. Since Romney's delegates are released to vote for whomever they wish, McCain must capture at least 1,191 delegates to call himself the official nominee before the GOP convention in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

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[02/21/2008]

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