In “Romney’s point,” Paul Mirengoff noted the support for John McCain by liberal editorial boards in New Hampshire and Boston, while adding a correction that the liberal Concord Monitor had not expressly endorsed Senator McCain. Making its support for McCain express, however, the Monitor endorses Senator McCain today.
According to the Monitor, McCain is “Republicans’ best choice.” The Monitor writes:
McCain’s willingness to break with his party on issues like climate change and immigration, his honesty and his refusal to pander make him the Monitor’s choice in the Jan. 8 Republican presidential primary.
I don’t know who the Republicans’ best candidate for president would be. I want to weigh the views of my fellow Republicans as expressed in the upcoming caucuses and primaries. But the editorial board of the Concord Monitor is obviously liberal. I have no doubt that the Concord Monitor editorial board will endorse and vote for the Democratic candidate for president next November. In the run-up to the 2004 New Hampshire primary, the Monitor advised its readers: “Only Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts has well-reasoned and rock-solid answers to every question, foreign or domestic.” The Monitor endorsed Kerry for president in the 2004 election as well. The Monitor’s view of the best Republican candidate might be useful as a contrary indicator for Republicans.
The McCain campaign of course touts the Monitor’s endorsement today. But why should Republicans take the advice of liberal Democrats on their party’s nominee for president? Or take Senator McCain’s willingness to part from them on key issues as a reason for voting for him? The Monitor’s endorsement of Senator McCain is suggestive of Senator McCain’s appeal to independents and liberals. It is also a potent reminder of why many conservatives distrust him and believe that he is not one of us.
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