Matt Welch of Reason is perhaps one of the biggest McCain-despising libertarians around. He even wrote a book about it. He has given many very good reasons to vote against McCain or simply to stay home on election day.

That said, he makes a grudging effort to find a silver-lining in a McCain presidency. I think his points are well-founded and even though he does too, he says his own reasons are not enough to convince himself to vote for the guy.

His "silver lining", "look-at-the-bright-side" points all some with caveats

1. He's a Free Trader with a strong anti-protectionist streak. With the dark clouds looming from the about-face Democrats have taken on steps toward freer trade, it would help to have a free trader in the WH to stave off protectionist urges. The caveat is that he's big on sanction for interventionist purposes as part of his chest-thumping foreign policy.

2. Divided Government....one of my favorites. ;) Yes, divided government forces concessions and prudence with legislation. Less happens. The caveat is that McCain has been known to make deals with Democrats to get his way on other matters. This could be a problem for limited government if he starts to like it too much.

3. He'll be a veto-maniac on spending. I like this one. He could even out-veto Clinton. Hmmm. Caveat: McCain likes spending on things he likes...like defense and military. Hopefully, he'll piss Pelosi and Reid off enough that they'll stick it to him too when it comes to what HE wants.

4. He opposes torture and is for shutting down Gitmo.

5. He is big on reforming...not expanding...entitlements. This one could be interesting. Caveat: So was Bush and Bush had a GOP congress for a long time and he did was reform Medicare by increasing its cost....a lot.

6. He's not bad on immigration. And unlike many of his GOP comrades, he's not a hateful, xenophobic basket-case when it comes to Hispanics. Caveat: It may not matter.

7. He would, along with Sarah Palin, bring sexual tension back to the White House. Caveat: If you're a libertarian who finds "politics" more as tawdry entertainment than anything useful, there's no caveat at all. :)

Welch's disclaimer:

But if you worry about the accumulation of power in Washington, D.C., you should probably think twice before assuming that John McCain would amass less of the stuff than his opponents. Even if there are silver linings in his presidential clouds.

Yeah. Almost forgot...

6.