Two of a Kind

ON July 4 last year, Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham attended a reenlistment ceremony in Baghdad. Nearly 600 American troops volunteered to keep on fighting, in what Gen. David Petraeus described as possibly the largest reenlistment event in the history of the U.S. military. The next day, on a jet from Kuwait to Paris, the Republicans reflected on what they had just seen. “They think they can win,” said McCain, according to Graham. “If they’re willing to soldier on in a war zone, we can soldier on in this campaign.”

At the time, McCain’s presidential prospects hardly could have looked worse. It was the very opposite of a surge: He was running out of money. He was flopping in the polls. “He was fifth in a four-person race,” says Graham. Yet the South Carolinian remained hopeful. “On the flight, I went down the list of candidates and explained to John why we’re better positioned than each one of them.” McCain began to buck up, in part because of Graham’s optimism but mostly because of the troops they had visited. “That trip was a defining moment for the campaign,” says Graham.

About the Author

John J. Miller

John J. Miller, a former national correspondent for National Review, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.

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ON July 4 last year, Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham attended a reenlistment ceremony in Baghdad. Nearly 600 American troops volunteered to keep on fighting, in what Gen. David Petraeus described as possibly the largest reenlistment event in the history of the U.S. military. The next day, on a jet from Kuwait to Paris, the Republicans reflected on what they had just seen. “They think they can win,” said McCain, according to Graham. “If they’re willing to soldier on in a war zone, we can soldier on in this campaign.”

At the time, McCain’s presidential prospects hardly could have looked worse. It was the very opposite of a surge: He was running out of money. He was flopping in the polls. “He was fifth in a four-person race,” says Graham. Yet the South Carolinian remained hopeful. “On the flight, I went down the list of candidates and explained to John why we’re better positioned than each one of them.” McCain began to buck up, in part because of Graham’s optimism but mostly because of the troops they had visited. “That trip was a defining moment for the campaign,” says Graham.

About the Author

John J. Miller

John J. Miller, a former national correspondent for National Review, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.