The McCain-Reagan Comparison

The American Spectator: John McCain, although he has failed to toe the line of conservative orthodoxy, has many of the characteristics that the American people admired in Ronald Reagan, including the key elements that made him a successful president. In fact, given his electability, McCain offers a rare chance for conservatives to recapture the essence of the Reagan revolution.

MyDD: ...can McCain coalesce the Reagan coalition?

Boston Globe: ...McCain is trying, in many ways, to run as Reagan redux. McCain's most frequent theme is that he is trying to ''build bridges'' much the way the former president and California governor did.

If you surf long enough, you'll find all kinds of whackos spouting the argument and comparing John McCain to Ronald Reagan in a desperate attempt to try and convince the right wing that the general election in 2008 is not lost. Look! We have a new Ronnie!

But then you would have to think of this:

Lowell "Bud" Paxson yesterday contradicted statements from Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign that the senator did not meet with Mr. Paxson or his lobbyist before sending two controversial letters to the Federal Communications Commission on Mr. Paxson's behalf.

..McCain attorney Robert Bennett played down the contradiction between the campaign's written answer and Mr. Paxson's recollection.

"We understood that he [Mr. McCain] did not speak directly with him [Mr. Paxson]. Now, it appears he did speak to him. What is the difference?" Mr. Bennett said.

The difference would be denying McCain met Paxson (a lie) or admitting they met (the truth).

How about the incident regarding conservative Bill Cunningham firing up the crowd at a McCain rally by using Obama's middle name repeatedly?

McCain denied ever meeting Cunningham before, saying "I will certainly make sure nothing like that happens again." But Cunningham told CNN he met McCain twice before, including with former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine at Kenwood Country Club. "John McCain is developing -- maybe because of his advance in years -- a bad memory,'' Cunningham said.

This was followed with a "oh, maybe we did meet" response. Well, the only comparison I see beside the obvious one that both doddering old fools have been and would be awful presidents is that perhaps McCain is starting to suffer the onset of Alzheimer's Disease. What else could explain his horrible memory? It would be nice if he could remember the names of foreign dignitaries should the unthinkable happens and he were to win the Oval Office.