The American Spectator

Reader Mail

By Any Definition

1.28.08 @ 12:01AM

For today's special Reader Mail section on Peter Wallison's "Reagan and McCain," click here.

LEXICON CHECK
Re: Philip Klein's Romney Plays Himself:

Great article, but he might want to re-think comparing Romney to Hoover, since most people equate Hoover with the Great Depression.
-- Kent Thomas
Eufaula, Alabama

Your Romney article is a little odd. Is your magazine a left-leaning one? Sorry, I'm not familiar with your magazine, but I thought it was odd you thought that sleeves could be rolled immaculately. I also wondered why you would make such a big deal about a candidate emphasizing what is most current on the minds of voters. It isn't a flip-flopping, morally mushy position to emphasize your positions on current events like the economy. I write fiction novels for a living. Your descriptions, plots, interior dialogue, exposition and narration are better suited to novel-writing than news.
-- David G. Woolley
Springville, Utah

Aside from the general snotty tone of the author, could we ask Mr. Klein to check his definitions? I don't believe Mitt Romney was a venture capitalist. Look it up in your Funk & Wagnall's, please.
-- Judy Beumler
Louisville, Kentucky

It's so discouraging to read in a first-rate conservative publication that a candidate -- in this case Romney -- should be judged positively because of his economic plan. Folks, if this campaign is not about national defense and foreign policy, we will lose the election. If our next president doesn't deal effectively with the War in Iraq and the War on Terror, our country will lose a great deal more than some silly and irrelevant cash rebate, bureaucratic health care program or a half percent or so lower unemployment rate. With Thompson out, McCain and Giuliani are the only relevant candidates in this race.
-- Paul Zisserson
Cranston, Rhode Island

Well, isn't this interesting? The American Spectator has obviously decided to subtly tilt to John McCain in this remaining GOP primary field. Friday's online issue leads with an article by Mr. Klein that concludes with subtle jabs at Romney by comparing him with Herbert Hoover, and indicates that the "real" Romney is now out of the closet. Now Hoover was not all bad, but 99.9% of American citizens know him merely as the President that gets credit for the great depression that FDR supposedly rescued us from.

I would be interested to know what Mr. Klein thinks any candidate of any party is going to tout as his beliefs in Florida. Mr. Klein, you may have missed the fact of the high percentage of elderly retired voters in Florida, or the high percentage of Hispanics and other minorities to whom health care is a monstrous issue. Please, I lived and worked in Florida for too long and too recently to NOT understand some of the issues and stands that are obligatory for a state wide or national candidate down there. And then of course there are the two venues cited in the article, a university and a cancer center. Wonder why you would talk about health care on a day when you have an appearance at a cancer center? Now I despise forced single payer health care systems like Madame Hillary has already tried. I find it harder to object to a system where government run plans are just one of the available choices, such as the situation is in Massachusetts. Lack of health care insurance by large numbers of folks, when combined with the astronomical costs of health care, mostly due to the plaintiffs bar, is a significant problem in our society.

All the other factoids and economic principles type of stuff that Mr. Klein cites, I find conservative enough to not turn me off to Romney, even though I have not been a particular fan, and I was a Fred Thompson supporter. I do like the idea of someone that has not made his/her entire career out of feeding at the government table being in the Oval Office.

That article is followed up immediately with an article by Mr. Wallison that is such a blatant, single-minded, complete sales job for Sen. McCain, that I almost wonder why his pay check is coming from AEI instead of the McCain campaign. I have no problem with anyone arguing for their choice for a candidate, but I surely wish that they would be honest enough to say up front that they are a devotee of that candidate, and that they are NOT writing as a simple expert on politics or whatever.

I find it interesting that Mr. Wallison cites consistent adherence to principles as a prime similarity between President Reagan and Sen. McCain. I find that especially interesting in that Mr. Wallison cites President Reagan's stand on reducing taxes, and then totally ignores Sen. McCain's obstruction of President Bush's tax cuts. Instead he cites McCain's stance on supporting the surge strategy of Gen. Petraeus in Iraq. I wonder if McCain's almost complete reversal on immigration policy in light of the public's rebellion to his original supposedly for ever and all time stance with Kennedy in the Senate is an example of consistent adherence to principles.

I could go on and on with the examples of why McCain is almost the complete anti-Reagan, but I am trying to learn to write shorter letters to the editor. Besides, the reader here are all fully aware, I am sure, of the examples that I would cite. I will praise McCain to the skies for his support of the military, even though I think he is wrong on the direction that he would lead the military, and his all out war against SecDef Rumsfeld, but my praise of McCain begins and ends with the military and attempts at government spending control.
-- Ken Shreve

While thumping Romney for not being a hands-off-the-economy purist, can you cite any Republican candidate (beyond Ron Paul) who will be closer to Reagan in this regard?
-- Jim Hirsch

Incredible piece of garbage that you call reporting. Can you be more biased? You guys really are disgraceful.
-- Clint Harris
Round Rock, Texas

MAKE OUR DAY
Re: George H. Wittman's The KGB v. Shakespeare:

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Taxes, Foreign Policy, Health Care, John McCain, Law, Military, Iraq, Russia, NATO, Africa, Immigration