Maverick

Now that McCain has recaptured frontrunner status, or at least the appearance of frontrunner status, quite a few conservatives are gnashing their teeth over his perceived heresies on immigration, campaign finance, global warming, etc., etc. Dean Barnett has an excellent piece up at THE DAILY STANDARD today that captures McCain's "uncanny ability to drive virtually all conservatives nuts":

There's an obvious nobility in this path. But sometimes, McCain's disdain for conservative positions takes on an almost childish air. In expressing his opposition to drilling in ANWR, McCain felt compelled to compare ANWR to the Grand Canyon. This is the kind of irritating moral preening that McCain should probably refrain from if he wants enough Republican votes to get the party's nomination.

McCain's rhetoric on global warming does indeed drive me nuts. But you can't expect a candidate's positions to perfectly mirror your own, and as Pete Hegseth writes over at NRO today:

He's not perfect, but he places our country first - even when it's politically unpopular. And now that the Iraq war has turned, he - and he alone - in this field of Republican candidates, deserves the credit.

With battles still left to be completed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and certainly more challenges to come, I want a commander-in-chief who will make the tough choices to keep this great country strong. John McCain's heroic military past, and heroic Iraq stance, make him more than qualified for the job.

Take him on for other issues, but give the man his due for Iraq.

On the big issue--the war--the one that matters most for many of us, McCain has done far more than any other politician to secure success, a.k.a. victory. That's no small thing. But he does have that grating independent streak. Tomorrow's results will tell us much about which matters more to conservatives.