The “No Surrender Tour”: John McCain Back in the Running?

I love it!

This guy, be he potentially the oldest man to become President of the United States, never gives up. And furthermore, he stands on principle no matter what; namely, Iraq is doable.

Here’s an interesting piece contemplating whether the McCain campaign is coming back to life after a tough summer. I sure hope it is!

As Stephen Hayes tells it:

Our first stop in New Hampshire became newsworthy for reasons having nothing to do with Iraq. Two students from Concord High School asked the kind of look-at-me questions that have more to do with impressing their peers than with grilling the candidate. (Reporters never do this.) One wanted to know whether McCain was worried that he was too old to be president and whether he thinks he might get Alzheimer’s in office. Snickers everywhere. McCain joked that his son thinks he’s old enough to hide his own Easter eggs, then punctuated his comments, with impeccable comic timing: “Thanks for the question, you little jerk!” The students loved it.

A second questioner sought McCain’s views on LGBT issues. McCain was confused by the acronym–short for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender–and after a clarification, the senator acknowledged differences of opinion with his interrogator. The student responded angrily. “I came here to see a leader,” he said. “I don’t.” McCain was unfazed. He told the student that such disagreements are “what America is all about,” smiled, and moved on.

Later that evening, I rode with McCain to the fire department in Bow, for a town hall meeting. A nondescript white van with two “McCain” stickers affixed to the back windows served as a poor man’s Straight Talk Express. The senator’s wife, his daughter Meghan, and a longtime family friend were waiting in the van with two staffers when McCain climbed in. After welcoming me to the van, he smiled broadly and gestured to those sharing the ride.

“I’m sorry you have to sit here surrounded by all of these jerks,” he said to great laughter.

I reminded him of the exchange at the school and said: “That’s the word of the day, isn’t it?”

“Oh yeah,” he said, as the memory of the morning registered. “Then there was that other question about the TB-GYN community,” McCain added, drawing laughter from the others in the van, most of whom knew the right acronym.

John McCain is having fun on the campaign trail–more fun than he did last spring when he was one of the frontrunners, and certainly more fun than during the summer of trouble. He is more carefree, more feisty, and more effective. Voters in New Hampshire seemed to notice.

Worth reading the rest. Incidentally, Hayes is also the author of Cheney: The Untold Story of the Most Powerful and Controversial Vice President in American History.