Back from the Dead Again: McCain Rising

By Richard Baehr
American Thinker

Political journalists all too often get caught up in the day-to-day momentum of a race and have short memories, making them poor judges of character. A few months back, John McCain's run for the GOP Presidential nomination was considered to be all but over, with perhaps a chance for a decent finish in New Hampshire (a state where he won the GOP primary contest in 2000), but no money to sustain a run through the big state primaries. In a particularly savage assessment of McCain on this website, a partisan for Fred Thompson, said this of McCain:

"John McCain's candidacy may not be dead, but then again, neither is Ariel Sharon. McCain has been at war with the Republican Party for a decade. The idea that he could win the GOP's presidential nomination was never more than a fantasy. His presence in the race will soon become an embarrassment, if it isn't one already."

Mocking two war heroes from two nations in a single sentence is a real feat. But predicting an inauguration of President Fred Thompson on January 20 2009, as this author did, now looks ridiculous. Thompson has marshaled all his meager resources for a last ditch effort to gain some traction in Iowa. But a new poll yesterday shows McCain doubling his support in Iowa to 14%, now standing third in that state, and a strong second in New Hampshire at 27%, within 4 points of Mitt Romney .