Re: F-22 — the other thing to consider is that it is “the” stealth fighter now. Has low-observable + ISR + penetrating strike capability out the ying-yang, and that’s handy since the F-117s are retiring next year. So it can complement a huge variety of low-density, high-demand platforms. All that AND and an air dominance fighter, too.

By “not batshit-crazy enough”, I am referring to McCain’s not being pleasing enough to Limbaugh, Ingraham, Coulter, Dobson et. al.. Local tech-meets-law blogger Rob Hyndman put it quite well: the pundits are terrorizing the party towards the fringe while the Super Tuesday results seem to indicate the voters’ desire to pull towards the center.

As far as his “talk big, spend little approach” re: the military, it’s end-of-era Blair, but it’s also reminiscent of Rummy’s flippant quip about “fighting with the military you have, not the military you want”.

Personally, I object to McCain because he is a latter-day Tony Blair. Tough wartime rhetoric, but in the meantime has voted against serious recapitalisation efforts for the forces making significant contributions to the war effort.

The US Air Force wants to retire 300 aircraft that are too structurally fatigued to safely fly. Congress decided that only 18 of those aircraft are allowed to be retired, because to lose them all would be a giant loss of pork for their districts.

USAF is flying about 275 missions per day in support of OEF/OIF. Air Mobility Command is flying about 120 of those to move around supplies, equipment and personnel. A lot of those missions are intra-theater to alleviate the threat of ambush and IEDs of road-based convoys, which has also resulted in a significant reduction in casualties for ground forces. Guess who was one of the Senators holding up funding for new C-130Js (to replace Vietnam-era C-130Es)?

The C-17 also flies some strat-lift missions direct to forward airfields, and has actually used up a significant amount of the fleet’s structural lifetime in OEF/OIF missions. Guess who doesn’t want to buy replacement C-17s for those ten or twelve-year-old birds who are eating up their combat-useful airframe life at an alarming rate?

The F-15 fighter is used to conduct air patrols worldwide, both by the US as well as allies (Japan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Korea). All of the A-D models have been sidelined due to structural cracks because they are 20+ years old. Their replacement, (the F-22) is not being produced fast enough to cover the strategic gaps caused by grounded and retiring assets. Guess who wants less money funnelled to the F-22 program?

The Air Force relies on 1950s-vintage KC-135s as the bulk of its air refueling fleet. They are approaching the age where, like the F-15, one catastrophic accident could result in the grounding of the entire fleet, leaving just 40-odd KC-10s to handle all of USAF’s worldwide air refueling needs. Guess who sunk the KC-767 tanker lease and has threatened to hold up KC-X/Y/Z funding, should Boeing win the competition to replace the 135? I have no doubt he’ll do likewise is Boeing wins the CSAR-X competition (to replace combat search and rescue helos) as well.

McCain has never met a USAF acquisition program he’s ever liked. He seems to reserve that for his old service, the Navy.

You can call that “not batshit-crazy enough” if you want, but I would expect McCain to want to support all of America’s expeditionary forces with the equipment they need in a timely fashion. Especially since the Air Force is doing a lot more heavy lifting in OEF/OIF than the Navy is.

I respect Senator McCain’s prior service, and I am sure he is a nice guy in person, but there are plenty of good reasons for conservatives to oppose him, none of which involve mental illness.