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John
McCain Addresses CPAC On
February 7th, John McCain addressed CPAC with the following remarks: Thank
you. Thank you for inviting me. It's been a little while since I've had
the honor of addressing you, and I appreciate very much your courtesy to
me today. We should do this more often. I hope you will pardon my
absence last year, and understand that I intended no personal insult to
any of you. I was merely pre-occupied with the business of trying to
escape the distinction of pre-season frontrunner for the Republican
nomination, which, I'm sure some of you observed, I managed to do in
fairly short order. But, now, I again have the privilege of that
distinction, and this time I would prefer to hold on to it for a while. I know I
have a responsibility, if I am, as I hope to be, the Republican nominee
for President, to unite the party and prepare for the great contest in
November. And I am acutely aware that I cannot succeed in that endeavor,
nor can our party prevail over the challenge we will face from either
Senator Clinton or Senator Obama, without the support of dedicated
conservatives, whose convictions, creativity and energy have been indispensable
to the success our party has had over the last quarter century. Many of
you have disagreed strongly with some positions I have taken in recent
years. I understand that. I might not agree with it, but I respect it
for the principled position it is. And it is my sincere hope that even
if you believe I have occasionally erred in my reasoning as a fellow
conservative, you will still allow that I have, in many ways important
to all of us, maintained the record of a conservative. Further, I hope
you will grant that I have defended many positions we share just as
ardently as I have made my case for positions that have provoked your
opposition. If not, thank you for this opportunity to make my case
today. I am
proud to be a conservative, and I make that claim because I share with
you that most basic of conservative principles: that liberty is a right
conferred by our Creator, not by governments, and that the proper object
of justice and the rule of law in our country is not to aggregate power
to the state but to protect the liberty and property of its citizens.
And like you, I understand, as Edmund Burke observed, that
"whenever a separation is made between liberty and justice, neither
. . . is safe." While I
have long worked to help grow a public majority of support for
Republican candidates and principles, I have also always believed, like
you, in the wisdom of Ronald Reagan, who warned in an address to this
conference in 1975, that "a political party cannot be all things to
all people. It must represent certain fundamental beliefs which must not
be compromised to political expediency or simply to swell its
numbers." I
attended my first CPAC conference as the invited guest of Ronald Reagan,
not long after I had returned from overseas, when I heard him deliver
his "shining city upon a hill" speech. I was still a naval
officer then, but his words inspired and helped form my own political
views, just as Ronald Reagan's defense of America's cause in Vietnam and
his evident concern for American prisoners of war in that conflict
inspired and were a great comfort to those of us who, in my friend Jerry
Denton's words, had the honor of serving "our country under
difficult circumstances." I am proud, very proud, to have come to
public office as a foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution. And if a few
of my positions have raised your concern that I have forgotten my
political heritage, I want to assure you that I have not, and I am as
proud of that association today as I was then. My record in public
office taken as a whole is the record of a mainstream conservative. I
believe today, as I believed twenty-five years ago, in small government;
fiscal discipline; low taxes; a strong defense, judges who enforce, and
not make, our laws; the social values that are the true source of our
strength; and, generally, the steadfast defense of our rights to life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which I have defended my entire
career as God-given to the born and unborn. Those
are my beliefs, and you need not examine only my past votes and speeches
to assure yourselves that they are my genuine convictions. You can take
added confidence from the positions I have defended during this
campaign. I campaigned in Iowa in opposition to agriculture subsidies. I
campaigned in New Hampshire against big government mandated health care
and for a free market solution to the problem of unavailable and
unaffordable health care. I campaigned in Michigan for the tax
incentives and trade policies that will create new and better jobs in
that economically troubled state. I campaigned in Florida against the
national catastrophic insurance fund bill that passed the House of
Representatives and defended my opposition to the prescription drug
benefit bill that saddled Americans with yet another hugely expensive
entitlement program. I have argued to make the Bush tax cuts permanent,
to reduce the corporate tax rate and abolish the AMT. I have defended my
position on protecting our Second Amendment rights, including my votes
against waiting periods, bans on the so-called "assault
weapons," and illegitimate lawsuits targeting gun manufacturers. I
have proudly defended my twenty-four year pro-life record. Throughout
this campaign, I have defended the President's brave decision to
increase troop levels in Iraq to execute a long overdue
counterinsurgency that has spared us the terrible calamity of losing
that war. I held these positions because I believed they were in the
best interests of my party and country." Surely,
I have held other positions that have not met with widespread agreement
from conservatives. I won't pretend otherwise nor would you permit me to
forget it. On the issue of illegal immigration, a position which
provoked the outspoken opposition of many conservatives, I stood my
ground aware that my position would imperil my campaign. I respect your
opposition for I know that the vast majority of critics to the bill
based their opposition in a principled defense of the rule of law. And
while I and other Republican supporters of the bill were genuine in our
intention to restore control of our borders, we failed, for various and
understandable reasons, to convince Americans that we were. I accept
that, and have pledged that it would be among my highest priorities to
secure our borders first, and only after we achieved widespread
consensus that our borders are secure, would we address other aspects of
the problem in a way that defends the rule of law and does not encourage
another wave of illegal immigration. All I
ask of any American, conservative, moderate, independent, or enlightened
Democrat, is to judge my record as a whole, and accept that I am not in
the habit of making promises to my country that I do not intend to keep.
I hope I have proven that in my life even to my critics. Then vote for
or against me based on that record, my qualifications for the office,
and the direction where I plainly state I intend to lead our country. If
I am so fortunate as to be the Republican nominee for President, I will
offer Americans, in what will be a very challenging and spirited
contest, a clearly conservative approach to governing. I will make my
case to voters, no matter what state they reside in, in the same way. I
will not obscure my positions from voters who I fear might not share
them. I will stand on my convictions, my conservative convictions, and
trust in the good sense of the voters, and in my confidence that
conservative principles still appeal to a majority of Americans,
Republicans, Independents and Reagan Democrats. Often
elections in this country are fought within the margins of small
differences. This one will not be. We are arguing about hugely
consequential things. Whomever the Democrats nominate, they would govern
this country in a way that will, in my opinion, take this country
backward to the days when government felt empowered to take from us our
freedom to decide for ourselves the course and quality of our lives; to
substitute the muddled judgment of large and expanding federal
bureaucracies for the common sense and values of the American people; to
the timidity and wishful thinking of a time when we averted our eyes
from terrible threats to our security that were so plainly gathering
strength abroad. It is shameful and dangerous that Senate Democrats are
blocking an extension of surveillance powers that enable our
intelligence and law enforcement to defend our country against radical
Islamic extremists. This election is going to be about big things, not
small things. And I intend to fight as hard as I can to ensure that our
principles prevail over theirs. Senator
Clinton and Senator Obama want to increase the size of the federal
government. I intend
to reduce it. I will not sign a bill with earmarks in it, any earmarks
in it. I will fight for the line item veto, and I will not permit any
expansion whatsoever of the entitlement programs that are bankrupting
us. On the contrary, I intend to reform those programs so that
government is no longer in that habit of making promises to Americans it
does not have the means to keep. Senator
Clinton and Senator Obama will raise your taxes. I intend
to cut them. I will start by making the Bush tax cuts permanent. I will
cut corporate tax rates from 35 to 25% to keep industries and jobs in
this country. I will end the Alternate Minimum Tax. And I won't let a
Democratic Congress raise your taxes and choke the growth of our
economy. They
will offer a big government solution to health care insurance coverage. I intend
to address the problem with free market solutions and with respect for
the freedom of individuals to make important choices for themselves. They
will appoint to the federal bench judges who are intent on achieving
political changes that the American people cannot be convinced to accept
through the election of their representatives. I intend
to nominate judges who have proven themselves worthy of our trust that
they take as their sole responsibility the enforcement of laws made by
the people's elected representatives, judges of the character and
quality of Justices Roberts and Alito, judges who can be relied upon to
respect the values of the people whose rights, laws and property they
are sworn to defend. Senator
Clinton and Senator Obama will withdraw our forces from Iraq based on an
arbitrary timetable designed for the sake of political expediency, and
which recklessly ignores the profound human calamity and dire threats to
our security that would ensue. I intend
to win the war, and trust in the proven judgment of our commanders there
and the courage and selflessness of the Americans they have the honor to
command. I share the grief over the terrible losses we have suffered in
its prosecution. There is no other candidate for this office who
appreciates more than I do just how awful war is. But I know that the
costs in lives and treasure we would incur should we fail in Iraq will
be far greater than the heartbreaking losses we have suffered to date.
And I will not allow that to happen. They
won't recognize and seriously address the threat posed by an Iran with
nuclear ambitions to our ally, Israel, and the region. I intend
to make unmistakably clear to Iran we will not permit a government that
espouses the destruction of the State of Israel as its fondest wish and
pledges undying enmity to the United States to possess the weapons to
advance their malevolent ambitions. Senator
Clinton and Senator Obama will concede to our critics that our own
actions to defend against its threats are responsible for fomenting the
terrible evil of radical Islamic extremism, and their resolve to combat
it will be as flawed as their judgment. I intend
to defeat that threat by staying on offense and by marshaling every
relevant agency of our government, and our allies, in the urgent
necessity of defending the values, virtues and security of free people
against those who despise all that is good about us. These
are but a few of the differences that will define this election. They
are very significant differences, and I promise you, I intend to contest
these issues on conservative grounds and fight as hard as I can to
defend the principles and positions we share, and to keep this country
safe, proud, prosperous and free. We have
had a few disagreements, and none of us will pretend that we won't
continue to have a few. But even in disagreement, especially in
disagreement, I will seek the counsel of my fellow conservatives. If I
am convinced my judgment is in error, I will correct it. And if I stand
by my position, even after benefit of your counsel, I hope you will not
lose sight of the far more numerous occasions when we are in complete
accord. I began
by assuring you that we share a conception of liberty that is the
bedrock of our beliefs as conservatives. As you know, I was deprived of
liberty for a time in my life, and while my love of liberty is no
greater than yours, you can be confident that mine is the equal of any
American's. It is a deep and unwavering love. My life experiences in
service to our country inform my political judgments. They are at the
core of my convictions. I am pro-life and an advocate for the Rights of
Man everywhere in the world because of them, because I know that to be
denied liberty is an offense to nature and nature's Creator. I will
never waver in that conviction, I promise you. I know in this country
our liberty will not be seized in a political revolution or by a
totalitarian government. But, rather, as Burke warned, it can be
"nibbled away, for expedience, and by parts." I am alert to
that risk and will defend against it, and take comfort from the
knowledge that I will be encouraged in that defense by my fellow
conservatives. You have
heard me say before that for all my reputation as a maverick, I have
only found true happiness in serving a cause greater than my
self-interest. For me, that cause has always been our country, and the
ideals that have made us great. I have been her imperfect servant for
many years, and I have made many mistakes. You can attest to that, but
need not. For I know them well myself. But I love her deeply and I will
never, never tire of the honor of serving her. I cannot do that without
your counsel and support. And I am grateful, very grateful, that you
have given me this opportunity to ask for it. Thank you and God bless you. |
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McCain 2008 |