Former U.N. Ambassador Weighs In on McCain

Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, made news today at the Conservative Political Action Conference by announcing his support for the likely Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain. Bolton is very highly regarded by conservatives for his tenure at the U.N. and for his willingness to combat the policies of the State Department, where Bolton was once an assistant Secretary of State for arms proliferation. His assessment of Sen. McCain could carry great weight among conservatives who believe that national security and the war on terror are the most important issues in the upcoming presidential election campaign.

Bolton did not endorse McCain outright, but he gave a strong defense of McCain and his positions on national security. Bolton told the assembled delegates that the state of affairs in the world required that the next president be "ready on day one" to handle national security challenges.

In his State Department post, Bolton ran the Bush Administration's Proliferation Security Initiative and oversaw the United States' efforts to prevent weapons of mass destruction from falling into the hands of rogue governments worldwide. He was so successful in the program and in getting other nations to sign on the project, that President Bush nominated him for the U.N. Ambassadorship in the summer of 2004. Bolton was vigorously opposed by Democrats and moderate Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Ultimately, he was given a recess appointment by the president when it became clear that his nomination would not be confirmed in the full Senate.

Bolton revealed for the first time in his CPAC address that Sen. McCain was very active behind the scenes in trying to secure his confirmation in the Senate. Bolton said that to his knowledge, McCain had never spoken publicly of his role in trying to secure confirmation for the controversial nominee; and suggested that it was a measure of McCain's character that he was willing to vote for and work for Bolton's confirmation in the face of very difficult opposition.

Bolton said that he appreciated Sen. McCain's positions with respect to Iran's nuclear program, calling them stronger than the Bush Administration position. He remarked that Iran and North Korea's illicit nuclear weapons programs are the greatest national security threats to the United States. Bolton suggested that McCain is the candidate best prepared to handle these challenges.

Bolton concluded his comments on the presidential race by making a surprise comparison of conservatives wary of supporting McCain to Vladimir Lenin. He said that those conservatives who would rather see a Democrat elected than support McCain are essentially espousing the former Soviet revolutionary's axiom "Worse is better." Bolton said that conservatives should realize that their failure to support McCain for president would lead to the election of a president they would consider far worse. "I will be supporting John McCain for president, and I hope you will too," he told the conference.

Bolton's support should help sway some of the conference attendees to McCain's side. His speech was presented to a packed ballroom and was very well received. It was an unexpected development that Bolton threw his considerable foreign policy and conservative credentials behind McCain. He will need several more unexpected developments like this if his campaign is to begin to gain traction among the conservative base of the Republican Party.