McCain and National Greatness

Matt Welch makes his case for why we (who cherish liberty) should be afraid of a 'President McCain:'

The significance of the McCain Plan transcended horse-race politics. It was a microcosm of the Arizona senator's largely unexamined philosophy about the proper role of the U.S. government. Like almost every past McCain crusade, from fining Big Tobacco to drug-testing athletes to restricting political speech in the name of campaign finance reform, the surge involved an increase in the power of the federal government, particularly in the executive branch. Like many of his reform measures identifying weapons pork, eliminating congressional airport perks, even banning torture the escalation had as much to do with appearances (in this case, the appearance of continuing to project U.S. military strength rather than accept defeat) as it did with reality. And like the reputation-making actions of his heroes, including his father, his grandfather, and his political idol Teddy Roosevelt, the new Iraq strategy required yet another expansion of American military power to address what is, at least in part, a nonmilitary problem.

Yuck. McCain is, and always has been, a big government conservative militarist similar to GW sans the religious zealotry. In other words, the election of McCain would simply be a trade of Constantine for Caesar. No thanks.

UPDATE: Gene Healy at CATO concurs.