--David Gergen, Former Presidential Advisor & CNN Sr Political AnalystAs a commentator, I am neutral about who ought to be our next president, but I must confess to a certain amount of happiness in seeing John McCain climb back into the competition.
Over the Christmas holiday, I had occasion to read portions of two of the books he has written with his confidante Mark Salter: "Character is Destiny" and
"Why Courage Matters."
Both of them tell stories of his heroes, Teddy Roosevelt to Winston Churchill, Sojourner Truth to Aung San Suu Kyi. But one of the stories I liked best was about his own dad, who commanded all of U.S. forces in the Pacific during the Vietnam War. When the President tried to shorten the war by bombing Hanoi, it was the duty of Admiral McCain to order B-52s to drop bombs over Hanoi, knowing that his own son was being held captive near their targets. "He prayed on his knees every day for my safe return.. But his conscience required him to do his duty..."
By his own admission, John McCain is far from perfect; he writes movingly of past struggles with honesty. Through sheer will, he works every day to improve his character and become more like his dad. His chances of winning the GOP nomination are now very slim -- Romney, Huckabee and Giuliani all have much better chances. But to have someone of McCain's character back in the mix lifts the quality of the campaign.
