The Bee recommends: McCain

With no incumbent in the 2008 presidential race, the American people (and the Republican Party) face a clean break from the eight-year Bush presidency. That makes John McCain the clear choice for us. As a senator with 20 years experience, a former Navy pilot and Vietnam prisoner of war, McCain has the independence, moral compass and public service ethos to renew the presidency and his party.

McCain is a partisan Republican in the mold of Theodore Roosevelt. And, like T.R., he is not a prisoner of doctrinaire thinking or poisonous hyperpartisan politics.

On issues that matter to California – such as immigration, climate change and free trade – McCain has forged bipartisan coalitions and been willing to take unpopular stands.

Climate change is real; that debate is over, he says. He was an early leader in Congress in proposing "cap and trade" legislation to reduce emissions.

On immigration, he has been a national leader for a humane, realistic immigration policy that combines a guest-worker program, a path to citizenship and border enforcement. He insists that "America is still the land of opportunity. … And we're not going to erect barriers and fences."

He has long insisted that "isolationism and protectionism are fool's errands."

McCain was one of two Republican senators to vote against President Bush's $1.35 trillion tax cut in 2001. He also voted against the proposed repeal of the federal estate tax in 2002 and the Bush tax cut of 2003 (though he voted to extend the Bush tax cuts in 2006). He has relentlessly fought to expose and eliminate wasteful pork projects.

With McCain, there would be no more presidential hedging on waterboarding or support for torture. "I'd close Guantánamo Bay and I'd declare we never torture another person in American custody," he has said. Terrorists, he insists, are "the quintessence of evil." But, he continues, "it's not about them; it's about us" – what Americans stand for in the world.

The most important thing that McCain brings to the 2008 race is a clear position on the war in Iraq. He thinks we need more troops in Iraq. He's willing to endure a 100-year occupation or longer. He believes President Bush's surge is working. He remains committed to "Iraq's transformation into a progressive Arab state."

With all the Democratic candidates favoring phased withdrawal, McCain would provide the American people with a clear choice: Either vote for the candidate who wants to stay in Iraq indefinitely (McCain) or vote for the candidate who wants to get out (the Democrat).

Let us be clear: We believe McCain has an unduly rosy picture of Iraq and is wrongheaded in advocating long occupation. But he is a principled proponent of his view, and he would force the other side to present a strong case to the American people. We'd love to see Lincoln-Douglas style debates between McCain and the Democratic nominee – on Iraq and all the great issues challenging this nation in a post-Bush world.