A Guy I Could Vote For

The other day, John McCain said he has "no confidence" in Donald Rumsfeld due to the poor job done in Iraq.

"No confidence." Not "I think the Secretary of Defense has made some errors in judgment" or "recent events indicate that Mr. Rumsfeld clearly misevaluated the troop strength required in post-war Iraq," but "no confidence." Simple. Understandable. Correct.

That is enormous. Zero other Republicans, and few Democrats, have gone so far as to say they have no confidence in the Secretary of Defense. Sure, they might say it in private (how could you NOT say something to that effect in private after this war has been bungled), but only one guy has had the guts to say it on the big stage, and it's John McCain. Once again, McCain demonstrates that he puts what he thinks is right above toeing the company line.

Now I'm not sure that's what we always want in a president. Sometimes it's important to hold your tongue. But you've got to like a guy who won't apologize for bad behavior, who's willing to take another look at mistakes, who's looking for some accountability. I disagree with McCain on some things: he's pro-life and voted against Martin Luther King Day for some stupid reason. But I'm pretty sure I can count on him, the vast majority of the time, to do the right thing and stand up to corporate influences. Which is more than I can say for any Democrat other than John Edwards and Barack Obama.