As someone who has been highly critical of McCain and skeptical of his political prospects, I do think he deserves tremendous credit for his strong, brave stand on Iraq. He’s not doing the political thing. He’s doing the right thing.

However, my sympathy goes only so far, because I happen to believe that the national McCain boomlet in the late 1990s and his candidacy in 2000 were based on the reverse—cynical politics instead of political principle. The cynicism wasn’t all, or even mostly, McCain’s. He was used by the political establishment to advance their own interests and bash Republicans. But he allowed himself to be used.

This report about McCain’s upcoming Michigan swing underlines an important point: he is courting GOP conservatives this year in part by necessity, as he will not be able to pull Democrats in open primaries as he did in 2000.