mccain makes his pitch at CPAC

Here’s part of it:

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.

The good news and the bad news about McCain being our nominee is that we know what we are getting with him. If John McCain says he is going to do something, he is stubborn enough to follow through with it, whether we like it or not. It is encouraging that he is making the attempt to find common ground with his fierce opposition, and that attempt should be acknowledged as the inward struggle it must have been for him. He goes on to admit that he has made mistakes, although he still doesn’t agree with most conservatives on illegal immigration. If we can’t find total agreement with McCain, maybe it would be possible for us to agree that in most ways, he is much more conservative than either Hillary and Obama. Voting for either Democrat would mean that we would definitely regret that vote later, because there are glaring differences between the Democrats and John McCain.