http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/OPINION/70503050/1001Yepsen: Forceful McCain talks his way straight to top of field
By DAVID YEPSEN
REGISTER POLITICAL COLUMNIST
May 3, 2007John McCain was his old self in Thursday night’s Republican presidential debate: Feisty, pointed and a straight-talker who wasn’t afraid to tell Republican activists things they didn’t want to hear.
It made him the big winner of the night.
The senator’s campaign has been lagging a bit lately. Despite a slow start in Thursday’s gabfest, he turned in an increasingly forceful performance that is sure to re-caffeinate his campaign.
Mitt Romney also did himself some good, but only because he got a lot more face time than the other candidates, thanks to the proclivity of moderator Chris Matthews to call on him first.
Another leader of the GOP contest, Rudy Giuliani did well when he had a chance to speak but often was overlooked. For a guy from New York City, he seemed unusually reticent.
The debate was the first gathering of GOP presidential candidates in the 2008 campaign, a fact that made it closely watched in the political community. Ten Republicans gathered on the stage of Ronald Reagan’s presidential library in California, where they talked for 90 minutes in an event telecast by MSNBC.
(Do the math and that means the candidates got nine minutes apiece, and some of them probably didn’t even get that.)
The candidates also observed Reagan’s admonition about not speaking ill of other Republicans. Unfortunately, that commandment cheated GOP voters of the real clash of ideas they need to see to come up with a winning contender for the November election.
Some candidates seemed lost in the shuffle. Tom Tancredo, who has led the national debate against illegal immigration, was the shrinking violet and never really got a good chance to argue the issue. Mike Huckabee, who likes long-winded answers, was pinched by the 30-second time limits.
Sam Brownback has a scowl that isn’t presidential. Tommy Thompson has interesting ideas about all sorts of issues, but he didn’t get much time to talk about them.
By contrast, Jim Gilmore was sometimes able to stand out with his strong conservative positions. Duncan Hunter looked tanned and in command as he argued for a strong national defense.
One candidate who certainly profited from being on the national stage was darkhorse Ron Paul, the libertarian Texas congressman who voted against the war. He wants a more isolationist foreign policy, smaller government and sound money. That’s not popular among many Wall Street Republicans, but the Pat Buchanan wing of the GOP loves it.
Like other multi-candidate debates, this one suffered from format troubles. Too many candidates were forced to truncate answers too much — if they got the chance to answer at all. On top of that, Matthews wasted time with a softball question about whether they’d like to see Bill Clinton back in the White House. (Of course not, and that was an answer he knew he’d get.)
The format problems of these early debates almost makes one yearn for the political equivalent of a football Bowl Championship Series of debates or a playoff system to somehow cull the field of candidates so the better ones get put together in smaller debates. (Did I say Bowl Championship Series? Strike that. As cumbersome as this field is, adding that sort of nuttiness to the process would only make it worse.)
McCain seemed to understand the limitations of the format and took advantage of it. His voice was forceful and his mannerisms aggressive. While Romney looked like the executive, McCain acted the part.
He was critical of the early conduct of the war but stood steadfast in his support for the troop surge despite its unpopularity. He was critical of President Bush for allowing too much spending and went against the Republican grain on issues such as stem-cell research. He also said Congress made a mistake meddling in the Terri Schiavo case.
McCain often comes off well when he says things people don’t like. If you say it with conviction, voters will respect you even as they disagree.
Thursday night’s debate indicated McCain’s “Straight Talk Express” has fresh plugs and new tires and looks to be running on premium ethanol.
