The Third Term

Politicians who offer hope win elections. Despite his age, John McCain offers an alternative Republican programme. He is not a neo-Conservative and would be very unlike George Bush. ~William Rees-Mogg

If McCain is not a “neo-Conservative,” he is certainly the favourite of neoconservatives and has been for at least ten years.  As we all know, The Weekly Standard endorsed him over Bush in 2000 and their editors and contributors have not exactly made a secret of their interest in his candidacy.  In his hostility to Russia and his reflexive support for military campaigns, McCain is arguably more on board with neoconservative foreign policy ideas than Bush has been.  The idea that he represents some break with the current administration is odd, and I don’t understand how anyone can keep saying it with a straight face.  People keep repeating this claim, as if saying it were enough to make it true, but if there is one thing McCain represents it is continuity with the worst of the Bush administration.