Ignatius on McCain
Best case ever for this ticket ...
McCain matters this year because he has come to symbolize bipartisanship. He broke with the Republican leadership years ago to push for campaign finance reform. He was early to question whether the administration's strategy for postwar Iraq was working. And he demanded accountability for abuse at Abu Ghraib by bluntly telling the secretary of defense, "No, Secretary Rumsfeld, in all due respect, you've got to answer this question."Many Democrats would be furious at the thought that a Kerry-McCain "national unity" ticket might mean more pro-life judges; Republicans similarly would loathe any embrace of the party of Bill Clinton. But that's the point: This is an election in which both sides need to give up things that matter to them, for the sake of a country that matters more.
In normal times, people would accept McCain's response to joining Kerry: "I have totally ruled it out." But these aren't normal times, and McCain's response is unworthy. Simply put, the country needs him. The logic of a Kerry-McCain ticket isn't to win an election but to provide leadership for a divided country at war.
If one accepts the idea of a 50-50 nation, or even that of a 52-48 nation, the point remains that there is not a clear mandate on either side to suggest a decidedly partisan approach to government one way or the other. One party has to show itself as the party of grownups moreso than the other to win out.