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Jewish World Review Oct. 30, 2008 / 1 Mar-Cheshvan 5769 What We've Learned About McCain By David Broder http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | As we near the end of another presidential campaign, it is useful to ask ourselves what we have learned about the candidates that we did not know before. When you reflect back on all the rallies, the speeches, the ads and the debates, what insights have you gained about their goals, their methods, their characters? I will turn to Barack Obama next, but today's subject is John McCain. We knew a great deal about him from the past. We knew that he was a product of the military elite, the son and grandson of admirals, imbued with the patriotic impulses and the sense of duty to country that is his family tradition. We also knew that he had the capacity and willpower to endure and resist the terrible abuse he suffered in a North Vietnamese prison camp. We knew that he had the backbone to set his own course — a rebel defying authority — and that he carried that trait into politics, often challenging the leaders of his party and the wishes of his fellow Republicans. We also knew that he had a temper, redeemed by a self-mocking sense of humor, and we knew that he had a capacity for building genuine friendships across party lines. We suspected, and soon had confirmed, that he had limited interest in, and capacity for, the organization and management of large enterprises. His first effort at building a structure for the 2008 presidential race collapsed in near-bankruptcy, costing him the service of many longtime aides. From beginning to end, the campaign that followed has been plagued by internal feuds and McCain's inability to resolve them. The shortcoming was intellectual as well as bureaucratic. Like Jimmy Carter, the only Naval Academy graduate to reach the Oval Office, McCain had an engineer's approach to policymaking. He had no large principles that he could apply to specific problems; each fresh question set off a search for a "practical" solution. He instinctively looked back to Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive era, with its high-mindedness and disdain for the politics of doling out favors to interest groups. But those instincts coexisted uneasily with his adherence to traditional, Reagan-era conservatism — a muscular foreign policy, a penchant for tax-cutting and a fondness for business. McCain was handed a terrible political environment by the outgoing Bush administration — a legacy of war, debt and scandal that would have defeated any of the other aspirants for the nomination. But because McCain could not create a coherent philosophy or vision of his own, he allowed Obama and the Democrats to convince voters of a falsehood: that electing McCain would in effect reward Bush with a third term. A similar ambivalence clouded his relationship with the Republican Party. Neither rebel nor defender of the party's doctrines, he won its nomination because of smart tactics and lucky circumstances in three primaries — New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida — without ever establishing himself as its legitimate spokesman. His vice presidential choice, his best opportunity to put his stamp on the future, was made, typically, more on instinct than careful appraisal. McCain saw Sarah Palin as reinforcing his own reformist credentials. The convention embraced her, not as a reformer but as the embodiment of beliefs precious to the religious right. And the mass of voters questioned her credentials for national leadership. The campaign has been costly in terms of McCain's reputation. He has been condemned for small-minded partisanship, not praised for his generous and important suggestion that the major-party candidates stump the country together, conducting weekly joint town hall meetings — an innovation Obama turned down. The frustration for McCain and his closest associates is their belief that he is ready to practice the kind of post-partisan politics the country wants — and which they believe Obama only talks about. Should McCain win the election, it will demonstrate even more vividly than the earlier episodes in his life the survival instincts and capacity for overcoming the odds of this remarkably engaging man. And the country will have to hope this campaign has honed his leadership skills. Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. To comment, please click here. Previously: 10/27/08: A New England Brawl 10/23/08: Blue Sparks in Red Ohio 10/17/08: Obama's Assurance Policy 10/14/08: Live from the Pennsylvania frontlines 10/12/08: The proposals that could bind Obama 10/09/08: What do we really know about them? 10/06/08: The uplifting debate 10/02/08: Economics Exam in Michigan 09/28/08: McCain out-pointed Obama 09/26/08: Credibility Test for Congress 09/22/08: A debate's high stakes 09/22/08: Down days for McCain 09/15/08: The Next President's Due Bill 09/11/08: GOP celebration and Dem gloom are premature 09/08/08: Can we count on change? 09/03/08: Palin's Learning Curve 09/02/08: How Palin could help 09/02/08: What Happened to the Obama of 2004? 08/26/08: The Women Hit Their Mark 08/25/08: The Joe I know … and what it means for McCain 08/21/08: In N.H., a Deal to Close 08/18/08: Obama's Well-Oiled Machine 08/14/08: Pros and Conventions: Useful Ideas From the Stevensons and Friends 08/11/08: Rivals in Search of Trust 08/07/08: A Way Back to the High Road? 08/04/08: A Slate To Revive The Senate 07/31/08: When Congress Works 07/29/08: Management 101 for Senators 07/24/08: Obama's success abroad was pure luck 07/21/08: Obama's success abroad was pure luck 07/17/08: Governors offer real world wisdom. Obama and McCain would be wise to listen 07/14/08: Foes and allies strive to peg a shifty Obama 07/10/08: Fixing How We Go to War 07/07/08: Decider on the High Court 07/03/08: One Nation No More? Civics Needs a Boost, but Our Identity Endures 06/30/08: Dumbing Down the Presidency 06/26/08: Voting's Neglected Scandal 06/23/08: Why don't we know what makes Obama tick? 06/19/08: Foreign Policy's Best Hope 06/16/08: Perot, Back On the Charts 06/16/08: The Many Gifts of Tim Russert 06/12/08: Why Hillary played the womyn card 06/08/08: Eclipsed by the Adventures of Hillary 06/02/08: Obama in retreat 06/02/08: Reality vs. the Mythmakers 05/29/08: Hamilton Jordan's Message to Obama 05/27/08: Let the Veepstakes Begin 05/19/08: The mental exercise of placing Obama in the Oval Office requires more imagination than did moving Reagan from the silver screen to Pennsylvania Ave. 05/15/08: For Obama, a Lost Moment 05/12/08: The price of delay 05/08/08: Phoniness and inevitability 05/05/08: Winning by destruction: An insider reveals the Hillary game plan 05/01/08: Candidates' high-mindedness is rooted in religiosity; but Hillary and McCain don't have hater as inspiration © 2008, by WPWG

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