The Pendragon's Hall

And so another lackluster candidate joins the ranks of Republican hopefuls. Senator John McCain, who has been angling for the spotlight since his defeat in 2000, officially announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination today. My man Mitt Romney commemorated the occasion by attacking the McCain-Feingold bill that restricts freedom of speech in the name of ending special-interest control of politics. You can find Romney's whole column here. What can I say? He's right--if McCain and Feingold were really interested in curbing special interest control over political campaigns, they could push for more transparency in the making of political donations. The DNC, of example, has refused for years to release the list of contributions it receives (most obviously because it would be embarrassing to have so many foreigners and Hollywood billionaires financing "the People's Party"). A law forcing them to do so would probably reveal many illegal maneuvers that could then be corrected. The RNC, incidentally, has released all its lists, and I believe I read, the average donation is $50. But that is neither here nor there. Restricting political action groups from championing their chosen candidates within thirty days of the election (e.g. the law can be used to punish Right-to-Life groups for airing commercials within thirty days of the election that mention any candidate by name) is a violation of every American's right to freedom of speech, and the Pendragon can only hope that the Supreme Court will put this law where it belongs--in the trash can. Romney is the only Republican candidate I am aware of who has made the repeal of this law a central theme in his campaign--one more reason to select him for President on primary day.

That being said, the Pendragon bears John McCain no real ill-will. Despite his RINO credentials, he is the lesser of two evils when compared to Giuliani, let alone to anyone on the Democratic side of the aisle. Good luck, senator. And try not to offend too many Christians this time.