Senator John McCain is campaigning hard and having fun again as he draws more fans and coverage in New Hampshire, writes Stephen F. Hayes of the Weekly Standard:
At dinner the night before, McCain told me this debate would be the most important one yet. Then he won it in decisive fashion, with steady answers that demonstrated the leadership qualities McCain talks about on the campaign trail.As it happens, that wasn't an accident. Before the debate, Mark Salter, McCain's longtime aide, gave the senator the same advice given young journalists: Show, don't tell. Salter told McCain he should spend less time telling people that he is a strong leader and more time showing them. It worked.
It is far too early to start writing the McCain comeback narrative. But it is equally early to be writing his political epitaph.
Read it all at the above link. With Thompson's entry coming off with more of a whimper than a bang, and Romney on the defensive, it doesn't require a great leap of imagination to envision Senator McCain getting back into the thick of the race. On the critical issue of our time, he is not only aligned with Republican voters, he is the philosophical leader.
The fact that he was openly critical of the conduct of the aftermath of the Iraq invasion gives him credibility among war skeptics, and opponents of good will, as well.
I have strong disagreements with McCain's positions on a number of important issues - BCFRA, the "Gang of 14," and the Kennedy immigration bill come immediately to mind - but at least I don't have to read tea leaves to figure them out.
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Filed under:
2008 Presidential Race, McCain, New Hampshire, Primaries, Republican, debates
Tags: McCain, New Hampshire, presidential campaign, primaries, Republicans
Comments (4)
McCain trashed the Swifties... (Below threshold)1. Posted by kim | September 8, 2007 4:03 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
McCain trashed the Swifties impulsively, incorrectly, and so far, without apology. He, too, is Unfit for Command. In truth he is Unfit to Be Commanded'.
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1. Posted by kim | September 8, 2007 4:03 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on September 8, 2007 16:03
2. Posted by John in CA | September 8, 2007 8:07 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Maverick is not my guy in this race. But, if anyone thinks he's going to quit just because of the setbacks he's suffered and inflicted on himself, then they just haven't talked to a former POW.
Whatever we or the political machinery has for John McCain pales in comparison to what he's been through and survived.
2. Posted by John in CA | September 8, 2007 8:07 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on September 8, 2007 20:07
3. Posted by bryanD | September 8, 2007 11:50 PM | Score: -2 (2 votes cast)
John in CA,
McCain tried to debunk the clear supporting evidence presented during the Senate hearings on MIA/POW left behind in 1973.
Probably because he is known to have offered himself as a propaganda tool in return for medical care and didn't want the Viet witnesses to mention it. Blackmail?
He appeared on TV as POW and was interviewed in Havana Granma. Admits leaving the POW camp.
Might explain why he denounces fellow PWOs as weaklings to this day; a pre-emptive discrediting method he has returned to for 30 years, lest they may be taken seriously.
Still, compared to the top-tier candidates, he looks GREAT! And THAT'S a problem.
3. Posted by bryanD | September 8, 2007 11:50 PM |
Score: -2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on September 8, 2007 23:50
4. Posted by kim | September 9, 2007 8:40 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
How do you straight talk with a crooked tongue?
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4. Posted by kim | September 9, 2007 8:40 AM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on September 9, 2007 08:40