John McCain is on quite a roll, said Peter Brown in the Orlando Sentinel. In the space of a week, the blunt-spoken Republican senator from Arizona has been heralded as the savior of the Senate for brokering a truce on President Bush's judicial appointments, and he has basked in the limelight of the premiere of a TV film based on his memoir, Faith of My Fathers. With no GOP heir in place to succeed President Bush in 2008, the weeklong barrage of glowing publicity was just what McCain needed to begin positioning himself for another run at the White House. Republican voters should be happy with his conservative credentials—he's firmly anti-abortion and gung-ho for the war on terrorism. Add to that the obvious appeal of his 'œmaverick' streak to independents and liberals, and 'œMcCain is the Democrats' 2008 nightmare.'
Actually, McCain is more like the Democrats' dream, said Brendan Miniter in Opinion journal.com. And that's why he's going nowhere in the GOP. Just as he did in 2000, McCain is hanging his hopes on the 'œmyth' that you win elections by 'œbucking a few of your own party's principles.' McCain apparently believes that he can afford to alienate the Republican base by opposing some tax cuts, for example, or by launching 'œdogged attacks' on Bush's handling of postwar Iraq. No wonder Democrats and their pals in the media like him. But there's a small hitch. President Bush didn't win in 2000 and again in 2004 by defying the GOP's ideas on 'œtax cuts, national defense, or reforming the judiciary.' He won by pushing conservative ideas in every arena, from 'œdefense to Social Security to tax reform.' Bush has proven that conservatives, not mushy moderates, 'œcan and do win elections for the Republican Party.'
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