wj I see one big bar to a McCain Presidency. He is the only candidate in sight who could, without major damage to his Presidency, bring war crimes charges against all those, up to and including George W. Bush, responsible for the torture that has occurred. None of the other Republicans appear to even understand that torture is not only wrong but illegal. And any Democrat who did so would face howls of outrage from the right. But McCain knows, and keeps saying, that torture is wrong. And I think he would have his Justice Department go after the commanders of Abu Graib and Guantanamo, Donald Rumsfeld, and everybody else responsible -- all the way up and down the chain of command. Obviously he is not going to announce such intentions now -- it would destroy any chance he has of winning the nomination. And announcing before the general election would almost guarantee that the base would stay home and let him lose -- even if Clinton was the alternative. But even without an announcement, and even if they refuse to admit to themselves, the right likely knows it's a possibility. We won't actually know until and unless McCain gets sworn in. But a guy can hope....

kmorrison I can't see McCain taking any action against a former president, but I do think his stance on torture likely makes him the most electable Republican. A lot of moderates are going to have trouble voting for someone who doesn't flatly condemn torture.

Michael van der Galiën I agree with that. In national elections it would help him. A lot. McCain - Hillary ... I'd say McCain would have quite a shot as well btw.

kreiz Couldn't agree more, Michael. As I've said, my perception (purely anecdotal) is that mainline GOPers strongly dislike McCain- view him as traiterous. You would think his prolife stance would inure to his benefit vis-a-vis the Christian right. His only chance is that the GOP will give him a second look based upon his strong polling against Hillary.

Michael van der Galiën Kreiz I agree with that. Mostly. We also have to realize that the far-right isn't a fan of Giuliani either. He's tough on terrorism, but weak on social issues. Seven years ago, they could rally around Bush. They can't rally around Giuliani like they did with Bush.