Why John McCain is good for America (even though I probably won't vote for him)

The thing about McCain that I love is how virulently the "conservative" wing of the Republican party hates him.

The extreme right has held too much sway over the GOP for too long, just as the extreme left has had too much influence over Democratic policy. The extreme polarization has given us elections where we have to choose between extremes, with nobody representing the moderate, centrist values held by a majority of Americans.

John McCain might lose the votes of the extreme conservatives, but he also has a chance of pulling a lot of independents and even moderate Democrats (like me), who may feel uncomfortable with some of the far left leanings of the eventual nominee (if it's Obama, forget about it... I'm voting for Obama!).

This puts pressure on the Democrats to compete for those votes by fielding less polarizing, less far-left leaning candidates and positions. Heck, they might even be able to snag some moderate Republican votes that aren't satisfied with the radical-right-wing candidates that have been fielded.

McCain is good for the country because it's pressure away from the extremes and back toward the center for both parties. I don't know if I'd vote for Hillary over McCain if she's the nominee. That's something for the rest of my party to think about next time around, because I know I'm not alone.

- "'Well, I didn't vote for you.' 'You don't vote for kings!'"