Football Stars and War Heroes

Consider this scenario: A football team is about to play in the NFL championship game after having lost its starting quarterback to an injury. The head coach is trying to decide which of the backup quarterbacks will start in the Super Bowl. An assistant coach points out that one of their defensive backs has had a great season and that they probably wouldn't be in the Super Bowl without his heroic effort. He reminds the head coach that the defensive back played quarterback in college and suggests that they reward him by letting him lead the team in this important game as quarterback.

How much weight do you think the head coach should give to the defensive back's performance in selecting his quarterback for the big game? He is qualified for the job and deserves recognition for his accomplishments, so why not let him move into the limelight for one game? Because he most likely isn't the best qualified man for the job, that's why.*

We have a similar scenario playing out in the race for president. It seems there are people who believe we should choose John McCain as the Republican nominee because he is a war hero. They must exist. Why else would we be hearing it all the time? To be fair, these people might believe that he is as qualified to be president as the other candidates and feel that his suffering as a prisoner of war in Vietnam should tip the scales in his favor. Some might even believe his war experience will make him a stronger defender of national security. Others might believe the opposite.

Whatever their reasons I disagree with them. The ability to survive torture in an enemy prison has little to do with leading this country. He should be, and has been, commended for his service to the country, but the ability to endure torture in an enemy prison has little to do with executing the duties of the President of the United States of America.

Words can't account for the debt of gratitude we owe those who go to war for this country. I can say this because I am not one of them. I received a draft notice during the Vietnam war. During my processing I was offered and accepted a deferment because I was a civilian employee of the Air Force and a member of a team working on the development of a system that would give Air Force and Navy pilots the ability to detect and evade incoming surface-to-air missiles during bombing runs over North Vietnam. Though eventually used with some success, our product was too late or too little to help John MCain and his prison mates.

Although I feel that I contributed to that war effort and others during my career, nothing I did can compare to actually being in the line of fire. I thank John McCain and others who were. But that won't be a factor in my vote.

*There's also the little matter of the big hole that would leave in the defensive backfield, but that screws up my analogy because McCain wouldn't be missed that much in the Senate.

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