Some readers may be interested in Sen. Brownback’s specific reasons for endorsing Sen. McCain for the GOP nom. The following three paragraphs are excerpted from a letter signed by Brownback and distributed by McCain campaign staff:
This morning, I flew to Iowa to join and endorse my friend, John McCain, for President of the United States. John McCain is a true American hero and I’m proud to stand with him today. He is the only candidate who can rally the Reagan coalition of conservatives, Independents, and conservative Democrats needed to defeat Hillary Clinton or any other Democrat in the general election next year.
While I respect all of the Republicans running for president this year, John McCain is the only choice to lead our country in the global fight against Islamic fundamentalism. He has the experience, the knowledge, and the courage for this fight. He alone among the candidates for President recognized years ago that our strategy in Iraq was failing and had the guts to call for change. We need that leadership in the White House.
John McCain also represents the values that are the core of our Republican party. He has spent a lifetime standing up for human rights around the world, including a consistent 24 year pro-life record of protecting the rights of the unborn. We do not have to abandon our principles of life, faith and family to defeat the Democrats next fall; we can stand with John McCain.
That final, pro-life paragraph is not surprising, although I suspect pro-lifers would be ultimately disappointed with McCain on this issue, if he actually made it through the GOP nomination process and took the White House; not because he disagrees with the pro-lifers, but because he’s very unlikely to make pro-life vs. pro-choice the centerpiece of a presidency. Instead, more likely, he’d focus on other issues that moderate R’s, conservative D’s and I’s consider important; namely, pork-busting and national security.
The paragraph I did find surprising was the second one, with Brownback’s not-so-subtle dig at the current Administration’s missteps on Iraqi policy. McCain has been hitting that button for awhile, but I don’t recall Brownback matching him. Then again, I didn’t watch every endless, mind-numbing GOP debate, nor have I closely followed Brownback. So perhaps this dig is old news.