Sore Winner

McCain isn't acting like a frontrunner.

By Mona Charen
National Review Online

Usually the guy who’s ahead finds it within himself to be gracious to his competitors whereas the desperate runner-up goes negative and reaches for any stick. So it was peculiar to watch John McCain sneering and slicing his way through the debate with Mitt Romney at the Reagan library. When McCain was given up for dead last summer, he was witty and fun on the stump. Now that he is the frontrunner he is snarky and obnoxious. Dr. Freud, call your office.

They say that John McCain harbors a particular dislike for Romney. And why would that be? Well, Romney is pretty much the only candidate in the race who has had the temerity (a.k.a. cash) to run ads criticizing McCain. The senator from Arizona has some fine qualities but no one has ever suggested that enduring criticism manfully is one of them. He tried his best to make such effrontery illegal with the McCain/Feingold campaign finance law. Romney found a loophole and Sen. McCain is irritated.