First, I would like to thank Sen. John McCain for his sacrifice and service to our nation.  He deserves our utmost respect for what he endured and his defense of country.  However, the candidates for President of the United States also deserve our utmost scrutiny before receiving a single vote for the nation’s highest office.  Especially with respect to leadership style and methodology.  Recently, I published a post  listing Sen. McCain’s various approaches to difficult political and personal issues.  As previously stated, I believe that this information is vital in determining whether the Arizona senator should be the next President of the United States.  I have come across additional information profiling the McCain method of dealing with a challenging political issue he faced in his home state of Arizona.  Because McCain is not this writer’s senator, I find illuminating the opinions of the people who know him best.  His fellow Arizona republicans.  This is from the people who have a birds-eye view of how McCain leads.  The leadership of the Arizona GOP have very strong opinions about Sen. McCain and his ability, or inability, to lead.  They are also very dissatisfied with his conservatism.  According to Max Blumenthal of the Nation, Bob Haney, the Republican state committee chairman in Arizona’s 11th District, had this to say:

“People would be calling in to [state committee] headquarters every week, absolutely enraged, threatening to leave the party because of some comments McCain made,’ Haney told me. ‘The guy has no core, his only principle is winning the presidency. He likes to call his campaign the ’straight talk express.’   Well, down here we call it the ‘forked tongue express.’”. .

Dissatisfied with McCain’s commitment to the state, Haney introduced a resolution to censure the U.S. Senator for “dereliction of his duties and responsibilities as a representative of the citizens of Arizona.”  The resolution was introduced before Arizona’s largest GOP county committee and passed by almost unanimous vote.  That was the wrong move as far as McCain was concerned.  Rather then let stand what was viewed by most as a mere symbolic gesture, McCain wanted revenge.  Target:  Bob Haney and his allies.  McCain recruited a  candidate slate to oust Haney and his allies in that November’s state committee election.  Concerned about a loss and potential rebuke by his party, the Arizona senator put himself on the ballot in effort to makeover his image and increase his odds of winning this battle.  Both McCain and his slate suffered a resounding lost.  Arizona republicans gave their take on McCain’s handling of the situation.

Per Blumenthal: “McCain’s botched revenge has solidified his reputation in Arizona’s Republican circles as a divisive, untrustworthy and even dangerous figure. Haney hopes the general public meets this side of McCain before his penchant for angry reprisals is invested with the powers of the presidency. ‘This just shows that McCain is mentally unstable and out of control and vindictive,’ Haney told me. ‘If he is determined to go through that much trouble to attack a district committee chairman, what does that say about his ability to handle real political problems?”

Yes, what does that say indeed.  Is this the way McCain will handle America’s allies and enemies if they happen to anger him?  Will diplomacy or military might be the first line of defense in a McCain administration?  There are too many instances such as this that raise questions as to his ability to handle, not to mention effectively handle, the litany of challenges facing our nation.  In the Senate, checks and balances on each Senator’s power make it difficult for an individual senator to make a catastrophic blunder.  Not so in the Executive Office.  One word…Iraq.

As a voter, this writer is much more concerned that this person has a fifty percent chance of becoming the next President of the United States.