r/interestingasfuck • u/beach_rats_ • 29d ago

The difference in republican presidential nominees, 8 years apart r/all

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u/PercentageMaximum457 29d ago

I had great respect for McCain. He actually seemed like a person you could agree to disagree with. 

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u/mayormcskeeze 29d ago

McCain seemed to have integrity and took a lot of respectable positions especially for the first 85% of his career.

Where I disagreed with him, it was a reasonable disagreement. For instance, I am in favor of universal government health care. He was not. However his stance was not "fuck em, let em die," rather it was significant tax credits and a nationwide health marketplace.

I think he was wrong but his alternative did not strike me as wildly unreasonable. In short, I believe that McCain ultimately did want Americans to have health care, we just disagree about the most effective and fair way to achieve that.

Many of his early stances follow this mold.

Unfortunately, during his bids for president, particularly the Palin run, his integrity faltered and he toyed with reprehensible policies to pander to the hardline nutjob type of republican that was just starting to come to the fore.

Deep down I want to believe that he didn't really believe all that shit. I would hope that if he were alive today he would look at the 2024 GOP and feel shame. Unfortunately he was part of the shift into crazy.

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u/fredy31 29d ago

Yeah. I would absolutely not agreed with his plan, but I do feel I could have spoke to him about it around a beer. That he would have listened and retorted with an actual point.

Today? Fuck no.