McCain enters the ring

John McCain formally announced his candidacy for president today in New Hampshire. Currently he's lagging in the polls behind fellow Republican Rudy Giuliani, and at 70 years of age, he's the oldest candidate in a very large field. But the man has got fire. Timing is everything, and John McCain just might be the man our country needs at this moment in history. You can read the full text of his speech by clicking on the link above. I was particularly impressed by these words:

We face formidable challenges, but I'm not afraid of them. I'm prepared for them. I'm not the youngest candidate. But I am the most experienced. I know how the military works, what it can do, what it can do better, and what it should not do. I know how Congress works, and how to make it work for the country and not just the re-election of its members. I know how the world works. I know the good and the evil in it. I know how to work with leaders who share our dreams of a freer, safer and more prosperous world, and how to stand up to those who don't. I know how to fight and how to make peace. I know who I am and what I want to do.

I don't seek the office out of a sense of entitlement. I owe America more than she has ever owed me. Thirty-four years ago, I came home from an extended absence abroad. While I was away, I fell in love with my country. I learned that what's good for America, is good enough for me. I have been an imperfect servant of my country ever since, in uniform and in office, in war and peace. I have never lived a single day, in good times or in bad, that I haven't thanked God for the privilege.

You can't sell me on hopelessness. You can't convince me our problems are insurmountable. Our challenges are an opportunity to write another chapter of American greatness. We must seize it, and those of us privileged to lead America must remember the principles that made us great, have the faith to stand by them, the integrity to honor our public trust, and the courage to keep our promise to put the nation's interests before our own. Don't tell me what we can't do. Don't tell me we can't make our country stronger, and the world safer. We can. We must. And when I'm President we will.