REAGAN ALUMNI ENDORSING MCCAIN
If McCain is so bad, why did 100 individuals who were part of THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION (a conservative’s version of Mecca) endorse him? If real, honest go goodness people who were there and knew Ronald Reagan…and today’s celeb multi-millionaire conservatives are no Ronald Reagan (sorry, I couldn’t help it) – then why are these people opposing him. These people knew Reagan. They are endorsing John McCain. It seems to me if people who actually knew and worked for Ronald Reagan are endorsing John McCain, it just goes exactly to the point of what I’ve been saying. Today’s celebrity conservative multi-millionaire talk show hosts are completely out of touch with reality! I think more than a few could say to Rush Limbaugh, "I knew Reagan...and You are no Reagan."
WONDERFUL IRONY
There is an absolutely wonderful irony here. I don’t know if you’ve picked it up yet, but I have, and I am enjoying it to no end. For two years I’ve been telling you that the “leading conservatives” of today are the very ones who detested Ronald Reagan. They are now lying about the way they felt about him. These same people are the ones who absolutely detest both John McCain and to a lesser extent Mike Huckabee. They also don’t like Rudy Giuliani all that much. It is beautiful, simply beautiful. The people who worked for Ronald Reagan while he was POTUS are endorsing John McCain en masse. Ed Rollins who ran Reagan’s campaign is working for Huckabee. Yet our dear conservatives today are crying and wringing their hands about how there is no one like Reagan. They are also the ones taking out both McCain and Huckabee.
Life is good. These people are just proving once again exactly who and what they are. And they sure the heck aren’t “Reagan” conservatives. Deal with it and get over yourselves. Either shut up or start acting like adults.
Every once and awhile someone over at NRO behaves rationally and comes out with something entirely sensible about Reagan. Victor Davis Hanson has stirred the pot and will probably find himself consigned to hell alongside Newt Gingrich if he isn’t careful.
“…Instead, the candidates try to “out-Reagan” each other by claiming they alone are the true Reaganites while their rivals in the primaries are too liberal, flip-floppers, or without consistent conservative principles.
In short, Ronald Reagan has been beatified into some sort of saint, as if he were above the petty lapses and contradictions of today’s candidates. The result is that conservatives are losing sight of Reagan the man while placing unrealistic requirements of perfection on his would-be successors.
They have forgotten that Reagan — facing spiraling deficits, sinking poll ratings and a hostile Congress — reluctantly signed legislation raising payroll, income, and gasoline taxes, some of them among the largest in our history. He promised to limit government and eliminate the Departments of Education and Energy. Instead, when faced with congressional and popular opposition, he relented and even grew government by adding a secretary of veteran affairs to the Cabinet.
Two of his Supreme Court appointments, Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony Kennedy, were far more liberal than George W. Bush’s selections, the diehard constructionists, John Roberts and Samuel Alito.
Reagan’s 1986 comprehensive immigration bill turned out to be the most liberal amnesty for illegal aliens in our nation’s history, and set the stage for the present problem of 12 million aliens here unlawfully. Republicans forget all this — but so do Democrats, who for their own reasons want to perpetuate an unflattering myth of Ronald Reagan as an extremist right-wing reactionary. In foreign affairs, Reagan was not always sober and judicious. He shocked Cold Warriors by advocating complete nuclear disarmament at his Reykjavik summit with Michel Gorbachev.
In the middle of Lebanon’s civil war, he first put American troops into a crossfire. Then, when 241 marines were blown up, he withdrew them. That about-face, and the failure to retaliate in serious fashion, helped to embolden Hezbollah’s anti-American terrorism for decades.
The Iran-Contra scandal exploded when a few rogue administration officials sold state-of-the-art missiles under the table to Iran’s terrorist-sponsoring theocracy, and prompted opposition talk of impeachment.
In other words, a great president like Ronald Reagan made mistakes. He sometimes reversed positions, played politics, and baffled his conservative base — some of the very charges now leveled against Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Fred Thompson.
When a candidate today says, “Reagan would have done this or that,” he apparently has a poor memory of what Reagan — the often lonely, flesh-and-blood conservative in the 1980s — was forced to do to get elected, govern, and be re-elected. While in office, he proved more often the pragmatic leader than the purist knight slaying ideological dragons on the campaign trail. So what is the real Reagan legacy?..."
They have forgotten that Reagan — facing spiraling deficits, sinking poll ratings and a hostile Congress — reluctantly signed legislation raising payroll, income, and gasoline taxes, some of them among the largest in our history. He promised to limit government and eliminate the Departments of Education and Energy. Instead, when faced with congressional and popular opposition, he relented and even grew government by adding a secretary of veteran affairs to the Cabinet.
Two of his Supreme Court appointments, Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony Kennedy, were far more liberal than George W. Bush’s selections, the diehard constructionists, John Roberts and Samuel Alito.
Reagan’s 1986 comprehensive immigration bill turned out to be the most liberal amnesty for illegal aliens in our nation’s history, and set the stage for the present problem of 12 million aliens here unlawfully. Republicans forget all this — but so do Democrats, who for their own reasons want to perpetuate an unflattering myth of Ronald Reagan as an extremist right-wing reactionary. In foreign affairs, Reagan was not always sober and judicious. He shocked Cold Warriors by advocating complete nuclear disarmament at his Reykjavik summit with Michel Gorbachev.
In the middle of Lebanon’s civil war, he first put American troops into a crossfire. Then, when 241 marines were blown up, he withdrew them. That about-face, and the failure to retaliate in serious fashion, helped to embolden Hezbollah’s anti-American terrorism for decades.
The Iran-Contra scandal exploded when a few rogue administration officials sold state-of-the-art missiles under the table to Iran’s terrorist-sponsoring theocracy, and prompted opposition talk of impeachment.
In other words, a great president like Ronald Reagan made mistakes. He sometimes reversed positions, played politics, and baffled his conservative base — some of the very charges now leveled against Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Fred Thompson.
When a candidate today says, “Reagan would have done this or that,” he apparently has a poor memory of what Reagan — the often lonely, flesh-and-blood conservative in the 1980s — was forced to do to get elected, govern, and be re-elected. While in office, he proved more often the pragmatic leader than the purist knight slaying ideological dragons on the campaign trail. So what is the real Reagan legacy?..."
REAGAN DEMOCRATS
John McCain is attracting Reagan Democrats. Well once they were Reagan Democrats who were courted and cherished. Today they are the enemy. In Michigan McCain took something like 41% of Dems who voted in the GOP Primary. This translates into Victory in November, but conservatives don’t care. If you aren’t pure and don’t worship at the Limbaugh Altar of Reagan, you’re dirt.
There is a bottom line here. If you want to keep the White House in Republican hands, and insure excellent SCOTUS nominations to maintain a conservative agenda for the nation, you go with a winner, John McCain. If you want pure conservative ideology, go with an also-ran who can't deliver a general election.
ENDORSEMENTS
Portions of this list were shamelessly stolen from the McCain web site. I could be snippy and mention that other POTUS candidates who are "Conservative" have endorsements from the media, celebs, religious leaders, and conservative "leaders" but none have a list of been there done that like McCain has.
FORMER U.S. SENATORS
Dan Coats, Indiana
Peter Fitzgerald, Illinois
Slade Gorton, Washington
Phil Gramm, Texas
Warren Rudman, New Hampshire
Mike DeWine, Ohio
U.S. REPRESENTATIVES
Spencer Bachus, Alabama
Mike Castle, Delaware
Tom Davis, Virginia
Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Florida
Mario Diaz-Balart, Florida
Jeff Flake, Arizona
Ric Keller, Florida
Mark Kirk, Illinois
Ray LaHood, Illinois
Steven LaTourette, Ohio
Dan Lungren, California
Todd Platts, Pennsylvania
Chip Pickering, Mississippi
Peter Roskam, Illinois
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Florida
John Shadegg, Arizona
Chris Shays, Connecticut
John Shimkus, Illinois
Fred Upton, Michigan
FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVES
Steve Bartlett, Texas
Jim Courter, New Jersey
Joseph J. DioGuardi, New York
Chuck Douglas, New Hampshire
Ambassador Fred J. Eckert, New York
Greg Ganske, Iowa
Tom Loeffler, Texas
Joe Schwartz, Michigan
Dick Zimmer, New Jersey
GOVERNORS
Mitch Daniels, Indiana
Jim Douglas, Vermont
Jon Huntsman, Utah
Tim Pawlenty, Minnesota
FORMER GOVERNORS
William Clements, Texas
Tom Kean, New Jersey
Frank Keating, Oklahoma
Jim Martin, North Carolina
John McKernan, Maine
William Milliken, Michigan
Walter Peterson, New Hampshire
Tom Ridge, Pennsylvania
Buddy Roemer, Louisiana
Jane Swift, Massachusetts
ECONOMIC POLICY ADVISORS
Grant Aldonas, Department of Commerce
Carlos Bonilla, Sr VP Washington Group
Jeff Brown, Associate Professor of Finance, Univ of Illinois
Juan Buttari, Independent Consultant and Researcher in Development Economics
Kathleen Cooper, Dean, College of Business, Univ Of North Texas
Steve Davis, CRA International And University Of Chicago Graduate School Of Business
Richard Dekaser, Senior Vice President And Chief Economist, National City Corporation
John Diamond, Edward A. and Hermena Hancock Kelly Fellow in Tax Policy, Baker Institute Of Public Policy, Rice University
Martin Feldstein, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, President Reagan's Chief Economic Adviser, member of President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board
Emil Frankel, Transportation Consultant And Former Assistant Secretary For Transportation Policy, Department Of Transportation
Luke Froeb, Professor, Vanderbilt University
Senator Phil Gramm, Former U.S. Senator From Texas
Kevin Hassett, Resident Scholar And Director Of Economic Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute(AEI)
Greg Jenner, Former Executive Vice President, American Council Of Life Insurers & Acting Assistant Secretary(Tax Policy), U.S. Treasury Department
David John, Senior Research Fellow, Heritage Foundation
Tim Kane, Director, Center for International Trade and Economics, Heritage Foundation
Melissa Kearney, Assistant Professor Of Economics, University Of Maryland
Anne Krueger, Professor At The Johns Hopkins School Of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) & Former First Deputy Managing Director, IMF
Adam Lerrick, Visiting Scholar For The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) And Friends Of Allan H. Meltzer Professor Of Economics For Carnegie Mellon
Phil Levy, Resident Scholar for the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and Former Senior Economist for Trade on the President's Council of Economic Advisers
Will Melick, Gensemer Associate Professor of Economics, Kenyon College
Michael Moore, Professor Of Economics And International Affairs, George Washington University
Tom Miller, Resident Fellow for American Enterprise Institute (AEI)
Tim Muris, Foundation Professor, George Mason University School Of Law, Former Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission
Sean O'Keefe, Former Secretary Of The Navy, NASA Administrator, & Deputy Director Of Office of Management & Budget, The White House
Gerry Parsky, Senior Economic Advisor
Nancy Pfotenhauer, Former President, Independent Women's Forum
James Rill, Partner, Howrey LLP and Former Assistant Attorney General (Antitrust), U.S. Department of Justice
Kenneth Rogoff, Professor Of Public Policy, Harvard University
Harvey Rosen, Professor Of Economics And Business Policy, Princeton University
John Silvia, Managing Director, Chief Economist, Wachovia Bank
Aquiles Suarez, Vice President For Government Affairs For National Association Of Industrial And Office Properties & Former Special Assistant To The President For Domestic Policy
Dr. John Taylor, Professor Of Economics At Stanford, Senior Fellow At The Hoover Institution & Former Under Secretary Of Treasury
Anthony Villamil, Chief Executive Officer, The Washington Economics Group, Inc. & Former Under Secretary Of Commerce For Economic Affairs
Joseph Wright, Chairman Of The Board For Intelsat
Mark Zandi, Chief Economist For Moody's Economy.Com
FORMER U.S. OFFICIALS
Former Secretaries of State
Lawrence S. Eagleburger, Former Secretary of State
Alexander M. Haig, Former Secretary of State
Henry Kissinger, Former Secretary of State, New York
George P. Shultz, Former Secretary of State, California
Former Cabinet Secretaries
Jack Kemp, Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Former U.S. Representative, New York
Robert Mosbacher, Former Secretary of Commerce, Texas
Peter Peterson, Former Secretary of Commerce, New York
Anthony Principi, Former Secretary of Veteran Affairs, Maryland
Former Governor Tom Ridge, Former Secretary of Homeland Security, Pennsylvania
James R. Schlesinger, Former Secretary of Defense
Former National Security Officials
Tom Kean, 9/11 Commission Chairman, New Jersey
Robert C. "Bud" McFarlane, Former National Security Advisor, Washington, DC
R. James Woolsey Jr., Former CIA Director
Robert Inman, Former National Security Advisor and Deputy Director of the CIA
Former Navy Secretaries
William Ball, Former Secretary of the Navy, South Carolina
John Lehman, Former Secretary of the Navy, New York
FORMER POW'S
Commander Everett Alvarez, (ret), Maryland
Al Carpenter (ret), Virginia
Captain Mike Cronin USN (ret), Maryland
Colonel Bud Day, MOH USAF (ret), Florida
Commander Paul Galanti USN (ret), Virginia
Lt Colonel Orson Swindle USMC (ret), Virginia
Click here to read about more military Veterans who support John McCain and click here to read the endorsements of over 100 Admirals and Generals.
BUSINESS LEADERS
John Chambers, CEO of Cisco
Carly Fiorina, Former CEO of Hewlett-Packard
James Huffines, Banking Executive
David Pottruck, Chairman of Red Eagle Ventures
Frederick W. Smith, CEO of FedEx
Dax Swatek, President of Swatek and Associates
John Thain, CEO of Merrill Lynch
ADDING INSULT TO INJURY
National Hispanic Advisory Board
ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign today announced its National Hispanic Advisory Board. The advisory board is made up of elected officials, scholars, and church and community leaders. The board will counsel John McCain on issues important to the Hispanic American community and will work to continue to build the campaign's growing grassroots organization across the country.
"John McCain is the only candidate prepared to lead our great nation as commander in chief from day one," said Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart. "Throughout his career John McCain has shown leadership on issues important to the Hispanic community, including expanding economic prosperity and advancing democracy and freedom around the world. "John McCain's leadership on immigration reform proved that while he believes we must secure the borders first, we must also treat all people in our country with compassion."
Representative Illeana Ros-Lehtinen added, "John McCain understands that the Cuban people have been living under tyranny for far too long. John has been a strong supporter of the U.S. embargo and has long been working with us to help bring freedom and democracy to Cuba. We deeply value his commitment and are proud to stand with him."
John McCain thanked Reps. Diaz-Balart and Ros-Lehtinen, along with the advisory board members, adding, "I am proud to have the support of this distinguished group of Hispanic community leaders. I look forward to their support and expertise as I work to take on the tough challenges facing all Americans."
NATIONAL HISPANIC ADVISORY BOARD
Chairs
Mayor Carlos Alvarez, Florida
Honorable Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Florida
Honorable Mario Diaz-Balart, Florida
Pastor Mark Gonzalez, Texas
Honorable Manuel Lujan, New Mexico
Mr. Tony Orlando, Florida
Honorable Illeana Ros-Lehtinen, Florida
Mr. Solomon D. Trujillo, Colorado
Major General Freddy Valenzuela, Florida
Honorable Albert C. Zapanta, Texas
Co-Chairs
Mr. Ruben Alvarez, Arizona
Mr. Greg Celaya, Arizona
Mrs. Veronica Celaya, Arizona
Mr. Blanca Esparza, Arizona
Mr. Jose Esparza, Arizona
Mr. Gary Husk, Arizona
Ms. Alice Lara, Arizona
Mr. Humberto Lopez, Arizona
Mr. Jaime Molero, Arizona
Mrs. Bettina Nava, Arizona
Mr. Andrew Pacheco, Arizona
Mrs. Jessica Pacheco, Arizona
Mr. Jose Rivero, Arizona
Councilman Martin Sepulveda, Arizona
Mr. Leo Cortez, Californi a
Mr. Ben Lubbon, California
Mr. Ryan Morfin, California
Reverend Sam Rodriguez, California
Mr. Jim Serrata, California
Mr. Juan Carlos Benitez, District of Columbia
Reverend Luis Lopez, Florida
Dr. Juan Melgarejo, Florida
Mrs. Ana Navarro, Florida
Mr. John M. Aguilar, Illinois
Mrs. Mary Jo Arndt, Illinois
Mrs. Rose Mary Bombala-Tobais, Illinois
Mr. Noelle Castellanos, Illinois
Mrs. Sunny Chico, Illinois
Mrs. Lydia Gutierrez, Michigan
Mr. Richard Aguilar, Minnesota
Mrs. Zulma Barrios, Nebraska
Mr. Larry Meneses, New York
Mr. Luis Manuel Garcia Passalacqua, Puerto Rico
Mr. John Regis, Puerto Rico
Mr. Raul Lopez, Tennessee
Mr. Robert Amundsen, Texas
Pastor Lynn Godsey, Texas
Mr. Vidal Gonzalez, Texas
Mr. Francisco Hernandez, Texas
Mrs. Becky Armandariz Klein, Texas
Ms. Margaret Martin, Texas
Mr. Manuel Negrete, Texas
Mr. Mario Ramirez, Texas
Ms. Shiree Sanchez, Texas
Dr. Antonio Longo, Virginia
Dan Coats, Indiana
Peter Fitzgerald, Illinois
Slade Gorton, Washington
Phil Gramm, Texas
Warren Rudman, New Hampshire
Mike DeWine, Ohio
U.S. REPRESENTATIVES
Spencer Bachus, Alabama
Mike Castle, Delaware
Tom Davis, Virginia
Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Florida
Mario Diaz-Balart, Florida
Jeff Flake, Arizona
Ric Keller, Florida
Mark Kirk, Illinois
Ray LaHood, Illinois
Steven LaTourette, Ohio
Dan Lungren, California
Todd Platts, Pennsylvania
Chip Pickering, Mississippi
Peter Roskam, Illinois
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Florida
John Shadegg, Arizona
Chris Shays, Connecticut
John Shimkus, Illinois
Fred Upton, Michigan
FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVES
Steve Bartlett, Texas
Jim Courter, New Jersey
Joseph J. DioGuardi, New York
Chuck Douglas, New Hampshire
Ambassador Fred J. Eckert, New York
Greg Ganske, Iowa
Tom Loeffler, Texas
Joe Schwartz, Michigan
Dick Zimmer, New Jersey
GOVERNORS
Mitch Daniels, Indiana
Jim Douglas, Vermont
Jon Huntsman, Utah
Tim Pawlenty, Minnesota
FORMER GOVERNORS
William Clements, Texas
Tom Kean, New Jersey
Frank Keating, Oklahoma
Jim Martin, North Carolina
John McKernan, Maine
William Milliken, Michigan
Walter Peterson, New Hampshire
Tom Ridge, Pennsylvania
Buddy Roemer, Louisiana
Jane Swift, Massachusetts
ECONOMIC POLICY ADVISORS
Grant Aldonas, Department of Commerce
Carlos Bonilla, Sr VP Washington Group
Jeff Brown, Associate Professor of Finance, Univ of Illinois
Juan Buttari, Independent Consultant and Researcher in Development Economics
Kathleen Cooper, Dean, College of Business, Univ Of North Texas
Steve Davis, CRA International And University Of Chicago Graduate School Of Business
Richard Dekaser, Senior Vice President And Chief Economist, National City Corporation
John Diamond, Edward A. and Hermena Hancock Kelly Fellow in Tax Policy, Baker Institute Of Public Policy, Rice University
Martin Feldstein, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, President Reagan's Chief Economic Adviser, member of President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board
Emil Frankel, Transportation Consultant And Former Assistant Secretary For Transportation Policy, Department Of Transportation
Luke Froeb, Professor, Vanderbilt University
Senator Phil Gramm, Former U.S. Senator From Texas
Kevin Hassett, Resident Scholar And Director Of Economic Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute(AEI)
Greg Jenner, Former Executive Vice President, American Council Of Life Insurers & Acting Assistant Secretary(Tax Policy), U.S. Treasury Department
David John, Senior Research Fellow, Heritage Foundation
Tim Kane, Director, Center for International Trade and Economics, Heritage Foundation
Melissa Kearney, Assistant Professor Of Economics, University Of Maryland
Anne Krueger, Professor At The Johns Hopkins School Of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) & Former First Deputy Managing Director, IMF
Adam Lerrick, Visiting Scholar For The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) And Friends Of Allan H. Meltzer Professor Of Economics For Carnegie Mellon
Phil Levy, Resident Scholar for the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and Former Senior Economist for Trade on the President's Council of Economic Advisers
Will Melick, Gensemer Associate Professor of Economics, Kenyon College
Michael Moore, Professor Of Economics And International Affairs, George Washington University
Tom Miller, Resident Fellow for American Enterprise Institute (AEI)
Tim Muris, Foundation Professor, George Mason University School Of Law, Former Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission
Sean O'Keefe, Former Secretary Of The Navy, NASA Administrator, & Deputy Director Of Office of Management & Budget, The White House
Gerry Parsky, Senior Economic Advisor
Nancy Pfotenhauer, Former President, Independent Women's Forum
James Rill, Partner, Howrey LLP and Former Assistant Attorney General (Antitrust), U.S. Department of Justice
Kenneth Rogoff, Professor Of Public Policy, Harvard University
Harvey Rosen, Professor Of Economics And Business Policy, Princeton University
John Silvia, Managing Director, Chief Economist, Wachovia Bank
Aquiles Suarez, Vice President For Government Affairs For National Association Of Industrial And Office Properties & Former Special Assistant To The President For Domestic Policy
Dr. John Taylor, Professor Of Economics At Stanford, Senior Fellow At The Hoover Institution & Former Under Secretary Of Treasury
Anthony Villamil, Chief Executive Officer, The Washington Economics Group, Inc. & Former Under Secretary Of Commerce For Economic Affairs
Joseph Wright, Chairman Of The Board For Intelsat
Mark Zandi, Chief Economist For Moody's Economy.Com
FORMER U.S. OFFICIALS
Former Secretaries of State
Lawrence S. Eagleburger, Former Secretary of State
Alexander M. Haig, Former Secretary of State
Henry Kissinger, Former Secretary of State, New York
George P. Shultz, Former Secretary of State, California
Former Cabinet Secretaries
Jack Kemp, Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Former U.S. Representative, New York
Robert Mosbacher, Former Secretary of Commerce, Texas
Peter Peterson, Former Secretary of Commerce, New York
Anthony Principi, Former Secretary of Veteran Affairs, Maryland
Former Governor Tom Ridge, Former Secretary of Homeland Security, Pennsylvania
James R. Schlesinger, Former Secretary of Defense
Former National Security Officials
Tom Kean, 9/11 Commission Chairman, New Jersey
Robert C. "Bud" McFarlane, Former National Security Advisor, Washington, DC
R. James Woolsey Jr., Former CIA Director
Robert Inman, Former National Security Advisor and Deputy Director of the CIA
Former Navy Secretaries
William Ball, Former Secretary of the Navy, South Carolina
John Lehman, Former Secretary of the Navy, New York
FORMER POW'S
Commander Everett Alvarez, (ret), Maryland
Al Carpenter (ret), Virginia
Captain Mike Cronin USN (ret), Maryland
Colonel Bud Day, MOH USAF (ret), Florida
Commander Paul Galanti USN (ret), Virginia
Lt Colonel Orson Swindle USMC (ret), Virginia
Click here to read about more military Veterans who support John McCain and click here to read the endorsements of over 100 Admirals and Generals.
BUSINESS LEADERS
John Chambers, CEO of Cisco
Carly Fiorina, Former CEO of Hewlett-Packard
James Huffines, Banking Executive
David Pottruck, Chairman of Red Eagle Ventures
Frederick W. Smith, CEO of FedEx
Dax Swatek, President of Swatek and Associates
John Thain, CEO of Merrill Lynch
ADDING INSULT TO INJURY
National Hispanic Advisory Board
ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign today announced its National Hispanic Advisory Board. The advisory board is made up of elected officials, scholars, and church and community leaders. The board will counsel John McCain on issues important to the Hispanic American community and will work to continue to build the campaign's growing grassroots organization across the country.
"John McCain is the only candidate prepared to lead our great nation as commander in chief from day one," said Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart. "Throughout his career John McCain has shown leadership on issues important to the Hispanic community, including expanding economic prosperity and advancing democracy and freedom around the world. "John McCain's leadership on immigration reform proved that while he believes we must secure the borders first, we must also treat all people in our country with compassion."
Representative Illeana Ros-Lehtinen added, "John McCain understands that the Cuban people have been living under tyranny for far too long. John has been a strong supporter of the U.S. embargo and has long been working with us to help bring freedom and democracy to Cuba. We deeply value his commitment and are proud to stand with him."
John McCain thanked Reps. Diaz-Balart and Ros-Lehtinen, along with the advisory board members, adding, "I am proud to have the support of this distinguished group of Hispanic community leaders. I look forward to their support and expertise as I work to take on the tough challenges facing all Americans."
NATIONAL HISPANIC ADVISORY BOARD
Chairs
Mayor Carlos Alvarez, Florida
Honorable Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Florida
Honorable Mario Diaz-Balart, Florida
Pastor Mark Gonzalez, Texas
Honorable Manuel Lujan, New Mexico
Mr. Tony Orlando, Florida
Honorable Illeana Ros-Lehtinen, Florida
Mr. Solomon D. Trujillo, Colorado
Major General Freddy Valenzuela, Florida
Honorable Albert C. Zapanta, Texas
Co-Chairs
Mr. Ruben Alvarez, Arizona
Mr. Greg Celaya, Arizona
Mrs. Veronica Celaya, Arizona
Mr. Blanca Esparza, Arizona
Mr. Jose Esparza, Arizona
Mr. Gary Husk, Arizona
Ms. Alice Lara, Arizona
Mr. Humberto Lopez, Arizona
Mr. Jaime Molero, Arizona
Mrs. Bettina Nava, Arizona
Mr. Andrew Pacheco, Arizona
Mrs. Jessica Pacheco, Arizona
Mr. Jose Rivero, Arizona
Councilman Martin Sepulveda, Arizona
Mr. Leo Cortez, Californi a
Mr. Ben Lubbon, California
Mr. Ryan Morfin, California
Reverend Sam Rodriguez, California
Mr. Jim Serrata, California
Mr. Juan Carlos Benitez, District of Columbia
Reverend Luis Lopez, Florida
Dr. Juan Melgarejo, Florida
Mrs. Ana Navarro, Florida
Mr. John M. Aguilar, Illinois
Mrs. Mary Jo Arndt, Illinois
Mrs. Rose Mary Bombala-Tobais, Illinois
Mr. Noelle Castellanos, Illinois
Mrs. Sunny Chico, Illinois
Mrs. Lydia Gutierrez, Michigan
Mr. Richard Aguilar, Minnesota
Mrs. Zulma Barrios, Nebraska
Mr. Larry Meneses, New York
Mr. Luis Manuel Garcia Passalacqua, Puerto Rico
Mr. John Regis, Puerto Rico
Mr. Raul Lopez, Tennessee
Mr. Robert Amundsen, Texas
Pastor Lynn Godsey, Texas
Mr. Vidal Gonzalez, Texas
Mr. Francisco Hernandez, Texas
Mrs. Becky Armandariz Klein, Texas
Ms. Margaret Martin, Texas
Mr. Manuel Negrete, Texas
Mr. Mario Ramirez, Texas
Ms. Shiree Sanchez, Texas
Dr. Antonio Longo, Virginia
08 Bloggers Alliance
">
View my page on Political Voices of Women
![Pink Flamingo [Home]](http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii147/blog_photos_album/flamingo_crossing.jpg)
