Wall Street Journal: McCain's Mojo By Editorial, The Wall Street Journal

January 9, 2008

Article Excerpt

Mr. McCain's victory catapults him back into contention in a GOP race that he once led, only to implode last year. The Arizona Senator can thank New Hampshire voters who knew him well from his primary win there in 2000. But the candidate himself also deserves credit -- for sheer doggedness, and because his determination on Iraq when everyone else was running for cover has now paid off politically.

Three out of four New Hampshire Republicans yesterday said they support the Iraq War, and Mr. McCain got the bulk of them.

On the question of who would be the
better Commander in Chief, the exit polls showed that Mr. McCain beat Mitt
Romney decisively.

The Senator's performance suggests that, at least among Republicans and independents, the war was unpopular mainly because the U.S. seemed to be losing it.

General David Petraeus's "surge" has not only saved Iraq from defeat, it has also helped to rescue the McCain candidacy.

The race now heads to Michigan next week, where independents can also vote and where Mr. McCain prevailed in 2000. Mr. Romney signaled that he'll also fight in a state where his father was once Governor, offering his latest retooled theme that he's the Republican Obama, the best man to "change" Washington.

While making that case this week, however, he also made the same mistake he did in Iowa, assuming that immigration was the kill shot against his opponents. Yet the smooth businessman never seemed natural impersonating Tom Tancredo.

Mr. Romney is now portraying Mr. McCain, a four-term Senator, as an "insider." But this may also be a tough sell considering Mr. McCain's status as an outside insider, someone who has never been part of the Senate club.

Mr. McCain's opportunity -- and challenge -- is to show that he is now the best candidate to unite the anxious and fractious wings of the Republican coalition.

With Rudy Giuliani suspect among cultural conservatives, and Mike Huckabee trashing Wall Street and corporations, Mr. McCain is now the candidate best positioned to appeal to all Republican voters.

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