Senator McCain,

Over the years I have been an admirer of your courage as a POW.  I have also been impressed when it seemed that you were a man of integrity in the Senate, in spite of your opposition to many Republican and conservative positions.  However, during the course of the current campaign, I have become convinced that I was wrong to think so highly of you.  I no longer recognize you as the hero who long ago stood up to your Vietnamese captors and defended what was right.  Let me explain why. 

I have observed your recent debates and political posturing, including your dishonest attacks on Governor Mitt Romney's position on Iraq.  I say dishonest because I have read the entire transcript and watched the video of Romney's April 2006 Good Morning America interview, upon which you based your attack.  Frankly, I do not see how any honest observer could conclude that Romney ever supported the Democrats' proposed legislation imposing a timeline for a withdrawal from Iraq.  In that interview Romney specifically stated that as president he would veto any such proposal.  What part of veto do you not understand?  Romney went on at some length to explain exactly why he would veto that type of "timeline for surrender".  Romney did also discuss some private timelines and benchmarks that he would apply in dealing with the Iraqi government.  but haven't President Bush, General Patreus and even you also supported such requirements as part of our war strategy?  You have even said that if your benchmarks were not met you would withdraw the troops.  Couldn't that be misconstrued as your own timeline for withdrawal?  Your continued attacks on Romney on this phony issue say nothing about Romney, but do raise troubling questions as to your own honesty, character and intellect.

Why is this all so important to me?  It goes far beyond an honest debate on Iraq policy or mere election year politics.  It goes directly to the character issues that I believe are of utmost importance in selecting a president.  I know that you never attended Harvard Law School, but most Americans know, either from jury duty or from inherent good sense, that a person who is intentionally untruthful on one important matter should be distrusted on all others.  If you can look the American people in the eye and blatantly lie about Romney's Iraq position, how can we trust you on other important issues facing our country?  Frankly, your campaign tactics reek of Clinton-style ethics.

Beyond your lack of honesty, I am concerned by your pathological inability to concede any error in political judgment.  Your lie about Romney is just one example where you stubbornly cling to a position even when confronted with incontrovertible evidence that you were wrong.  You somehow believe that you are always right, even when your current position has changed 180 degrees from what your have said in the past.  On the Kennedy/McCain amnesty bill, which the American people rejected so vehemently, you now say that you support securing the border first.  But, if you can't admit that you were wrong previously on amnesty, how can we believe your election year conversion to border security?  In fact, on Meet the Press on January 27, 2008, you told Tim Russert that, if given the opportunity as president, you would sign the Kennedy/McCain amnesty bill.  So, how can we know which is the real McCain policy?

On the issue of the Bush tax cuts that you voted against, you have changed your public justification for your votes.  Do you think that we don't remember what you said at the time about opposing "tax cuts for the rich"?  Why should we believe you when you say that your real reason for voting against the tax cuts was because spending was not being controlled?  Inexplicably, you also say now that you support making the same tax cuts permanent.  Were you wrong before, or do you think that spending is suddenly under control?  If Romney took such inconsistent and illogical positions you would deride him as a "flip-flopper". 

Your choices on campaign tactics, amnesty and tax cuts show that your judgment is seriously flawed.  Your inability to even recognize such errors is itself a flaw in character.  What is it about your psyche that prevents you from saying, "I was wrong."?  Integrity is not believing you are never wrong.  Humility is not weakness.  Stubborn adherence to a known mistake is simply foolish.  As president, how could you objectively deal with complex legal, diplomatic and economic issues if you ignore the plain facts and only see what you want to see?  In a time of crisis, would you misconstrue a foreign leader’s words to fit your own preconceived notions or to justify your own past mistakes?  Where will that lead us?

It is now clear to me that you lack the personal integrity, judgment and intellect the presidency requires.  I cannot support you in the primary, and I will not vote for you if you are nominated.  You are manifestly unfit for office.  You may not like to hear it, but that is straight talk.

Sincerely,

Concerned Voter