Michael Reagan: "John McCain Hates Me"

If anyone could identify a Reagan Conservative, surely it would be Michael Reagan. How do you think he sizes up McCain?

Until last night, when I watched the Republican debate, I had no idea how much John McCain dislikes me and just about everybody else but Rudy Giuliani, who if you believe The New York Times is a pretty good hater himself.

As I watched McCain and Governor Romney go at it during the debate at the Reagan Library I was struck by the huge gap that separates McCain -- whose contempt for his fellow humans is patently obvious -- and my dad, Ronald Reagan, who had nothing but the deepest affection and respect for the American people.

The feeling is mutual between McCain and me. I don’t like the way he treats people. You get the impression that he thinks everybody is beneath him. He seems to be saying, “I was a war hero, and you had damn well better treat me as your superior.”

He has contempt for conservatives who he thinks can be duped into thinking he’s one of them, despite such blatantly anti-conservative actions as his support for amnesty for illegal immigrants, his opposition to the Bush tax cuts which got the economy rolling again, and his campaign finance bill which skewed the political process and attacked free speech.

I am appalled by his contempt for the intelligence of his listeners when he flat-out lies and expects them to believe what he says even when the truth is staring them in the face.

By all means read the rest of Reagan's piece. I just can't understand why people can't see through McCain. He epitomizes the Washington DC arrogant class of elitists and if nominated many conservatives may opt to stay home. Ann Coulter suggests that it might be better to have Hillary in the White House than McCain because at least republicans in Congress would know who to vote against whereas they would, out of party loyalty go along with a RINO, er, republican president. Here's Coulter's say on the matter:

At least under President Hillary, Republicans in Congress would know that they're supposed to fight back. When President McCain proposes the same ideas -- tax hikes, liberal judges and Social Security for illegals -- Republicans in Congress will support "our" president -- just as they supported, if only briefly, Bush's great ideas on amnesty and Harriet Miers.

David Limbaugh calls McCain the Anti-Conservative:

But perhaps most troubling about McCain is his habitual resort to class warfare. While he now says that he opposed the Bush tax cuts because he received insufficient guarantees that they'd be coupled with spending cuts, his stated reason at the time was that they were cuts just for the rich. This is demonstrably untrue.

The reductions were across the board and skewed, if anything, in favor of the middle- and lower-income earners. Only liberals mouth these disingenuous and destructive platitudes -- destructive because they alienate and polarize people, stirring resentment and demonizing producers and wealth. And don't forget that McCain was only one of two Republican senators who opposed the plan. That speaks volumes -- and it should open the eyes of those resisting the truism that McCain is not a reliable Reagan conservative. They're the ones with blinders on, not those of us laboring to unveil the truth.

Lest you think McCain's opposition to the Bush tax cuts was just a single exception to his stellar conservative economic credentials, I cite the recent California debate, in which McCain similarly disparaged big business, profits, producers and wealth. This constant harping against the engine and fruits of capitalism is tantamount to waging war against the American ideal. McCain's liberal instinct once again rears its unflattering head.

Whoa, you object. When it comes to the most important issue of all -- the war -- McCain is more hawkish and more conservative than anyone. But even that is not entirely true on closer inspection. He's been good mostly on Iraq -- from a conservative perspective -- but very disappointing on opposing tough, life-saving interrogation techniques, in wanting to close down Gitmo, and in favoring constitutional protections for enemy combatants. Only liberals think like that. Only liberal instincts tell us that if we are tough on them, they'll be tougher on us -- as if they need any excuse to be barbaric toward us. They just are.

Tuesday is going to be a historical day in this country. I'm hoping McCain loses in a very big way.