by Elizabeth M Young

Created on: December 20, 2010

Senator McCain was not my choice for president for many, many reasons, the first of which was his choice of Sarah Palin for Vice Presidential candidate. That was an individual who should never have seen the political light of day.

His subsequent flip flops, gaffes and increasingly bizarre behaviors and positions have served to keep him at the bottom of my list of viable candidates. Even though I would consider crossing party lines if the best qualified individual was presented in these highly polarized times, John McCain does not exhibit the stability, good judgment or decision making ability to get this country through some of the hardest times that have been experienced in American history.

There is not a lot of love for the extremism and opportunism that is being exhibited by the Republican Party these days, but when a Republican party loyalist attempts to brand or to present himself as a "maverick", no one is buying it. A "maverick" in politics is given a false positive definition of being an independent thinker and actor. But there is an alternative definition that involves the word "irregular", as in "irregular" in aspects of thinking and acting. And some maverick horses were unbranded horses that were considered to be crazy.

Sen McCain has shown terrible temper issues in Senate hearings, cursing and swearing at a witness from time to time. This is not the temperament that works for someone who, as President, can cause enormous national or global problems just by saying the wrong words at the right time.

In addition, Arizona politics and behaviors are not mainstream American politics and behaviors. Even though Arizona faces unique populations and challenges, the state leadership has been working hard to build the image of a tiny, crackpot nation. Any candidate for president has to come out of such localized and particular mindsets and concerns to think of the vastness and complexity of the country as a whole. While Sen McCain has an extensive history and experience in government at the highest of national levels, it is difficult to see how he would stick to a program that would work for all.

McCain might be popular, locally, but the kind of utterances and policies that Arizona is putting up with are not the kind of utterances and policies that the nation as a whole wants to hear. It takes the majority of American voters, not the majority of John McCain fans and followers to elect a president.

Hopefully, he will not try to run for President again. Most who fail so spectacularly do not come back to try again.

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