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Is John McCain Achilles?

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7/26/00 7:05 p.m.
Is John McCain Achilles?
Or is he just a TV nighttime-soap star?

By Dan Mindus, NRO

ight John McCain be a case of life imitating art? In an NRO article today, Rich Lowry argues that the Arizona senator, not his successful primary opponent, should be blamed for the selection of another man as VP candidate. McCain very publicly indicated a willingness to join the ticket — but only if "Bush were to make a case." In other words, Bush would have to beg — publicly.

On July 20th, Tom Ridge, realizing he would not be the nominee, urged McCain to make himself available to Bush. A McCain aide scurried off to the press, resulting in next-day headlines such as "McCain Said to be Willing to Run as Bush's No. 2" in the New York Times. The man who would be shepherd willing to be the sacrificial lamb — touching, really. "What loyalty," the mainstream media would exclaim, had McCain been selected — so loyal that he has submitted himself to the dull empire of the Bush candidacy. McCain would be a hero, like Achilles rejoining the battle against the Trojans in spite of the foul play and poor leadership of Agamemnon. McCain too would be the less politically powerful, but more honorable man, rushing into battle in part because the field marshal tacitly, and publicly, admitted his own inferiority.

But it's probably been a while since John McCain read the Iliad, and he might have had a much more immediate, more mainstream fount of inspiration for his attempted self-casting as Achilles. On July 19th, the day before McCain spoke with Ridge, NBC aired a rerun of The West Wing in which the President initiates a nasty interchange with his Vice President. "What did I ever do to you," the Vice President asks later, "aside from giving you the South?" "You shouldn't have made me beg," the President responds.

It's not difficult to imagine McCain watching that episode and thinking, hey, that could be me! If only I could get Governor Bush to beg me, I might be able to hold it over his head for the next eight years — always saying, "But I didn't even want the job; I only did it out of loyalty." And what better way to win the spotlight than to be the in-house critic of compassionate conservatism?

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