May the Best Man Lose

Remember John McCain? Oh, sure you do now, but will you remember him 20 years from now? If history is any guide, McCain's 2000 campaign will end up on the curio shelf next to John Anderson's presidential run in 1980 or Paul Simon's campaign in 1988. And yet, as Al Gore and George W. Bush vie for the presidency this month, it's easy to imagine a very different election— one that might better reflect the true wishes of the people.As late as February of this year, McCain's "Straight Talk Express" was on a roll. He won the New Hampshire primary, hit a bump in South Carolina, then won a highly publicized Michigan primary, in spite of the Michigan governor's promise to deliver the state to George W. Bush. The news media loved McCain, and so did the voters. In a February 7 CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, more Americans thought favorably of ...