John McCain is a man on a mission. But it was his admission that Republicans in Washington have lost their way that jumped out at me as I listened to his speech accepting the Republican Party presidential nomination.
“I fight to restore the pride and principles of our party,” he told Republicans. “We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us.”
Everyone already knows this. We’ve watched power politics triumph over principle.
But it was still nice to hear McCain say it. The first step toward solving a problem is to recognize you have one.
McCain went on to admit, “We lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the temptations of corruption. We lost their trust when rather than reform government, both parties made it bigger.”
Oh, yeah, a whole lot bigger.
I began shouting about Republicans selling out principle early on, when, after Republicans took the House back in the 1990s, they quickly also took a dive on enacting term limits.
And the sell-outs just kept coming. Republicans traded their rank and file supporters for a bevy of big special interests.
McCain says he wants to take the party “back to basics,” vowing “low taxes, spending discipline, and open markets.”
That’s the right message. And McCain’s opposition to earmarks is to his credit. But are voters ready to believe it?
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.