Echoing my syndicated column this week, John McCain talked today about how a president needs to encourage Americans to join the military:

Republican White House hopeful John McCain said Wednesday that President Bush made a mistake after the Sept. 11 terror attacks by encouraging people to shop rather than urging citizens to join the military or volunteer. “I believe that the big mistake that our leadership of our nation made after 9-11 is we told people to go shopping and we told them to take a trip,” McCain told students at a military prep school in this early voting state. A month after the attacks, Bush said, “We cannot let the terrorists achieve the objective of frightening our nation to the point where we don’t conduct business or people don’t shop.” People would have joined the military or volunteer groups had the president urged them to do so, McCain said. “I think Americans would have responded overwhelmingly and I believe they still will,” he said. The Arizona senator made the comments critical of Bush on Wednesday after shelving a prepared speech that was highly critical of Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton.

My two cents, from my column: After relaying what the president said to a group of commentators at a small meeting recently at the White House, I write:

We’re in a war where we’re occasionally asked to shop to help the economy; we’re not hearing a real call to arms. We need one.
Pete Hegseth, the articulate head of Veterans for Freedom — some folks who know true wartime sacrifice — agrees with me. He tells me, “I don’t understand why he wouldn’t call on Americans to serve their country, in uniform, in this extremely important war. President Bush understands the stakes of the fight in Iraq and should call on the best and brightest to serve on the battlefield. That message, to me, seems like a no-brainer.”
….
Scan the cast of characters running for president: Who is more serious when it comes to understanding the stakes of this war on terror? In fact, in some polls he’s seen a surge of support in the late summer — undeniably tied to news from Iraq. McCain’s service to our country in Vietnam is a story of character and heroism. I’ve heard him say, many a time, that military service many decades ago does not make anyone more qualified than another to make present-day foreign-policy decisions — which is true enough and an important thing for a former POW to say (that only a former POW can say). But it may put him in a better position to say, “Serve, your country needs you.”

More here.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not an endorsement, but even with all his shortcomings (on the Constitution and things!) if he considered Ramesh’s one-term idea, I think I wouldn’t be the only conservative who at least gave him a second look.