THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER ENDORSES JOHN MCCAIN FOR PRESIDENT

"The likelihood of a McCain nomination ought to please Republicans of every stripe. Even before the winnowing of the GOP field began, McCain stood out as the party's most impressive presidential material and its most electable candidate." -- The Plain Dealer
Excerpts From "McCain Is A Plain-Spoken Pragmatist Who Can Build A Coalition"
EditorialThe Plain Dealer February 10, 2008
The Republican Party has been running presidential candidates since 1856. In all that time, it has never elected one who failed to carry Ohio. Even today, the party's strategists cannot construct a realistic blueprint for winning 270 electoral votes without picking up 20 here.
Because neither the Democrats nor the Republicans enjoy majority status, independents decide elections in Ohio. That means you don't win here by driving people out of your party's tent. You win by inviting them in. ...
The likelihood of a McCain nomination ought to please Republicans of every stripe. Even before the winnowing of the GOP field began, McCain stood out as the party's most impressive presidential material and its most electable candidate.
Americans of any party or ideology cannot help but admire McCain's service to this country, including 5½ years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. The scars he carries give him extra credence when he talks about the uses and limits of military power and about America's role in the world. A president may have to make split-second decisions on matters of national security; McCain has shown steel under the greatest pressures imaginable.
Then, too, there is his admirable willingness to work with allies wherever he finds them - even among Democrats in the Senate. This infuriates some conservatives, but McCain's ability to form coalitions would serve him and the country well as president. Ronald Reagan, whom GOP contenders feel duty-bound to salute at every turn, was a master of cobbling together unlikely majorities and of accepting half a loaf if that's all he had the votes to win. McCain embodies the blend of principle and pragmatism that made Reagan so effective.
Make no mistake. McCain has a very conservative voting record. He's a maverick, not a moderate, no matter what Tom DeLay, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter might say. But in an era of carefully programmed politicians, McCain also is a throwback. He says what he thinks. He gets mad in public. He refuses to toe the party line - even his own party's.
That kind of Republican wins in Ohio. By voting for John McCain on March 4, Republicans here can steer their party away from those who have a death wish and focus it instead on the serious business of holding the White House in November.

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