McCain Stands With Old Foe Falwell

LYNCHBURG, Va., May 13, 2006 — -- Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., gave the commencement address at Liberty University today, the evangelical college started by a man who was once one of the senator's fiercest political foes, the Rev. Jerry Falwell.

"The ilk of John McCain is very scarce, very small," Falwell told graduates and their families Saturday morning at the Vines Center auditorium, recounting McCain's experiences as a prisoner of war during Vietnam. "And so we today pay tribute to a great American, a man who, young people, has made your bright future of the 21st century a continuing reality."

McCain delivered an address arguing that dissent and disagreement in American political life are good things. It was a not inappropriate topic given both his past animosity toward Falwell and other conservative Christian activists, and the fact that he'll be delivering the same address next week before more liberal audiences in Manhattan, when he speaks at Columbia University's class day and at commencement for the New School. At both locations, students and faculty are protesting his presence, given his support of the war in Iraq, his opposition to same-sex marriage and his rapprochement with Falwell.

"We have our disagreements, we Americans," McCain said in his speech, referring to debates over government, faith and national security. "These are important questions, worth arguing about. We should contend over them with one another. It is more than appropriate: It is necessary that even in times of crisis, especially in times of crisis, we fight among ourselves for the things we believe in. It is not just our right, but our civic and moral obligation."

The fact that McCain continues to harbor not-so-secret presidential ambitions is, of course, a part of this simultaneous turning of other cheeks.

"If McCain's second bid in 2008 is going to end up differently than his first bid in 2000 he's got to reach out to fundamentalist and evangelical Christians," said Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia, "and this is a great way to do it."