McCain For President?

Mickey Kaus points to this OpinionJournal interview with U.S. Sen. John McCain, the Republican from Arizona. It asks -- and seeks to answer -- "Just who is John McCain?" The answer: a modern-day Teddy Roosevelt. Some highlights:

When I ask Mr. McCain if he's a conservative, he seems slightly agitated at having to defend his credentials in this way. "Hell yes, I'm a conservative. When it comes to a strong defense and smaller government, I'm as conservative it gets. Look at my National Taxpayers Union rating. I'm near 100% every year." (I do. He is.) Then he fumes: "I'm so disgusted with the way my party is wasting money. It's an embarrassment."

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Yet Mr. McCain holds the most eclectic set of economic policy positions of any politician I've ever met. He seems to defy political typecasting, reveling in the role of maverick. He voted against the Bush tax cuts ("Way too tilted to the rich"), while supporting antigrowth initiatives to combat global warming ("Climate change is just a huge problem that really needs to be confronted"), and is the lead sponsor--with Sen. Ted Kennedy--of a guest worker program to allow immigrants to enter the country legally. ... On the other hand, he's a fierce defender of free trade and a champion of school choice.

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Throughout our chat he has referred to Theodore Roosevelt in almost reverential terms and glows when I ask about him. He calls TR "my hero . . . and one of our greatest presidents," and at one point he excitedly searches through his briefcase and pulls out a book that he is reading on the famously tumultuous election of 1912. That was when TR bolted from the Republican Party (which Mr. McCain concedes was "a mistake") and formed the Bull Moose Party to dethrone William Taft. When I mention TR's trust-busting (which was mostly counterproductive economically), Mr. McCain really comes to life, exultantly points his finger in the air, smiles and cries out: "He called the trusts 'the malefactors of wealth.' "

And in this very moment it becomes clear to me that John McCain aspires to be a modern-day TR. The similarities are unmistakable: Both were war heroes, mavericks within their own party, reformers and defenders of the little guy.

The article concludes with my current opinion of John McCain: He's interesting to have around, but perhaps a little too rash to hold the highest office in the land. And he has the downside of only having legislative experience (serving in the House before election in the Senate) and no executive branch background, which tend to speak more clearly to Americans than those lost in the Great Halls of Parliamentary Debate. JFK was the last sitting senator to be elected president. LBJ and Nixon were U.S. senators, but also had stints in the Executive Branch as vice president -- as did former Congressman George H.W. Bush.

Also, if McCain decides to run in 2008, he would be 72 -- two years older than Ronald Reagan when he was elected to his first term. On top of sheer age, McCain has been treated for skin cancer three times (the last in 2002). He has often been called a RINO (Republican in Name Only). But his critics overlook his very strong pro-life stance, as well as his support of teaching "intelligent design" and votes for the Iraq War and against the current President Bush's Medicare drug benefit.

On the other hand, he voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment, and did not support the Bush tax cuts. I was unable to find any discussion of gay issues on Senator McCain's official Web site (surprise!), but there is this stirring eulogy he gave to 9-11 hero Mark Bingham.

2008 will be an interesting race to watch, and the heavy jockeying will begin the day after the 2006 midterm elections, which are now less than a year off. It will also be interesting to watch whether McCain can gain wider appeal -- or have a Howard Dean-like meltdown thanks to his well-known temper.

I have to admit, McCain vs. Hillary would be one helluva good time for political junkies.