It's Time to Fight!

An Open Letter to Sen. McCain---(Guest Post)

Dear Sen. McCain,

Sen. McCain, there is not much time left. And you need to remember what put you atop the polls. You were a fighter; you were attacking Sen. Obama, attacking by telling the truth about him and his policies. You weren't trying to be the statesman. You weren't trying to stand above the fray and plead for bipartisanship. You were in there swinging daily. Since I had first sent $25 to your campaign in July, 2007, I was glad to continue sending money. And I thought those weeks before the convention, you had learned the lesson that the only way to win this election was by fighting -- by telling the country what they needed to hear: that Obama and the Democrats would be a disaster for this country.

But I'm sorry to say that the last week or two, I have not seen this fire, the willingness to fight, and to tell the truth about the harm Obama and the Democrats will do this country. In the debate, there was not a single mention of Franklin Rains. Instead you talked about earmarks. Why not ask Obama why he had a man on his staff who led Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to ruin? Sen. McCain, earmarks aren't the problem. The problem is simple -- Democratic policies and those Republicans who unfortunately act like Democrats.

You once said that you would rather lose an election than lose a war. Well, do you want to lose an election because you failed to tell the whole truth at every opportunity? Because you wanted to appear statesman-like? The truth is we are in this "financial crisis" because of Democrats...so say it! We are not in this crisis, Senator, because of Wall Street greed. We are not in this crisis because of pork barrel politics. We are in this crisis because Democrats instituted a bunch of bad policies. And they want to institute more. And you need to say that. Say it in every speech, in front of every camera, to every reporter, and for heaven's sake, please say it in the debate !!!!

Tell the American people that you and the Republicans tried to warn about the problems, but Democrats wouldn't listen. Tell the American people that Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats crassly manipulated yesterday's vote. Tell the American people about the millions of dollars that have flowed from Fannie and Freddie to Democratic coffers. And if your staff doesn't know the details, please, please Senator, have them give me a call, and I'll tell them how they can find out.

I know you want to put country first. But you simply won't have the opportunity to do that if you don't remember what had you leading in the polls at one point. At every turn, Democrats villify and distort. Yesterday's House vote was no different. Cynical and callous, they chided Republicans for not doing their part and blamed them for being petty. YOU, Sen. McCain, need to step up and say that politicians who side with 80% of the country are not to be villified by the likes of Nancy Pelosi. Twelve -- 12 !! -- of Barney Frank's own committee members didn't vote for the bill. Why weren't those 12 vilified by Pelosi? Why didn't Barney Frank talk "uncharacteristically nicely" to them?

Sen. McCain, please tell your staff that every time you utter the word "bipartisan," they are to show you the things that Obama and the Democrats and their allies in the media have been saying about you and Gov. Palin. Do you really think Obama people have been respectful toward you?

And I'm not asking you to lie or distort or to engage in name-calling. Just tell the truth, Senator. Tell the truth about Obama. Tell the truth about Biden. Tell the truth about Democrats. Don't be deterred by what the media says about you. I hate to be the one to tell you this, Senator, but nothing you say or do at this point will make the media elites say nice things about you.

So, you have a very simple choice to make, Senator. Will you spend the next five weeks trying to get the "establishment" to recognize how bipartisan you are? Trying to get them to say, "Gee, that McCain, what a statesman?" Right before they go out and play "gotcha" with Gov. Palin?
Or will you do what you promised us you would do at the end of your acceptance speech -- go out and fight for us, the American people? And I know there's a lot of ways to fight for somebody, Senator. But there's one way to fight for somebody that's been working for a long time -- punch the bad guys in the mouth. Punch'em hard and punch'em often. And keep punching them, till they either leave or don't get back up.

But it's up to you, Senator. If you want to be "statesman-like," ok. But if you want to fight, there's a bunch of us out here that'll fight with you.

East of Eden