America needs to elect a hero: John McCain

Jesse Beach, Volunteer Staff/Illustrations by Ted Barker

The United States is rapidly falling apart. The once unprecedented approval rating of George Bush, previously hovering around 90 per cent, has plummeted to among the lowest in U.S. presidential history. American domestic policy and foreign affairs are being questioned and rebuked from around the globe, all the while Americans themselves are preparing for a full-blown recession.

It is under these pressures of both internal and external turmoil that the American people must prepare to elect the next president of the United States. Regardless of how you feel about George W., it is fair to say that he is handing his successor a lot of difficult messes to clean up. While the American people watch and participate in the caucuses and primaries of the 2008 presidential election, they should realize that they are not merely deciding who will run their nation for the next four years, but that they’re also contributing to the next stage of the world’s development, a development that will be surely shaped by the person they elect. This puts Americans in both an interesting and potentially dangerous situation. For the first time in history, the American people have the opportunity to place either a woman or an African-American in the running for the presidential election. Though the novelty of the situation may be too strong to pass up, Americans must consider the present climate before they allow themselves to be swayed by factors that have no bearing on a potential president’s ability to lead.

This is a critical time for the United States, a time when both American citizens and citizens of the world need a strong, capable leader at the helm of the influential American nation. A rapid decline of the U.S. economic power has the potential to cause shifts of global proportions. It is a time when Americans need continuance and experience — not a novelty — in the Oval Office to enable them to persevere through this period of instability. The only possible candidate that can invoke a feeling of assurance in the American people and guide the American nation through the present turbulence is the senior United States senator from Arizona and candidate for the Republican Party nomination, John McCain.

Among McCain’s oft-cited strengths as a presidential candidate are his well-known military service and experience as a prisoner of war, familiarity from his previous presidential campaign of 2000, and extensive fundraising abilities. But most important of all is McCain’s national name recognition, which is only partially due to the similarities between his name and that of John McClane, hero of the Die Hard movie series. What the American people should realize, being the intolerant, action-loving people that we all love to hate, is that the similarities between McCain and McClane do not end with their simple namesake, but rather they are cut from the same cloth, and that is exactly what America needs in the form of leadership.

When one thinks of John McCain, it is impossible to separate him from the man who single-handedly defeated a dozen or more terrorists to save his wife and 40 hostages in the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles. For the American people, the Die Hard movie should serve as a proper metaphor for the future of the United States. Imagine, if you will, the American people as the hostages in Die Hard. They are huddled together, a little buzzed from drinking too much at the party, scared of all the foreign people with guns, and hoping for a miracle to save them. In comes John McClane. Kills the bad guys, saves the day, and gets the girl in the end — classic.

Back to the real world. Assuming the Americans have the foresight and wisdom to elect the real John McCain, the scenario plays out pretty much the same. McCain’s military background is the equivalent of McClane’s police background, which would aid him in his quest to finish, once and for all, the second Iraq war. Just as John McClane was the only one in the Nakatomi Plaza with the experience necessary to save the day, John McCain is the only presidential candidate with the experience necessary to guide the United States back from the brink of economic and political collapse. It is laughable to imagine any of the other Republican candidates matching such a feat. The ordained Mike Huckabee believes that he can save the day through prayer and music with his band Capitol Offense, while Mitt Romney’s greatest claim to fame is his organization of the 2002 winter Olympics. Neither has the experience or the strong name recognition of the great John McCain. Their backgrounds are in business and religion. John McCain’s background, much like the infamous John McClane, is kicking ass.

The U.S. primaries are well under way now and, though many Americans are held captive by the novelty of an African-American or female president, they must not lose sight of the important things: trivial movie references. The credentials of John McCain are obviously unparalleled; the effect he could have on the American nation, and the world, could be staggering. Yippie-kay-yay.

Jesse Beach is a fourth-year English student.