John McCain: Suddenly just an old, bitter man?

McCain, in
contrast, went from being a hero, a cowboy (in the good sense of the word), a
loner, a maverick who voted his convictions, not his party’s line, to a geezer
more ridiculed than revered, a politician who toes the party talking points — falling
in line against the healthcare bill and the stimulus. Last month, McCain was
reduced to asking Palin to campaign for him in Tucson. He needed her to help
him survive the Republican primary against the more right-wing J.D. Hayworth — a
younger, more vigorous former congressman/sportscaster/radio talk show host.

When Democratic
congressman Barney Frank appeared last week on “The Tonight Show with Jay
Leno,” guest and host played a game of word association:

Leno: Sarah
Palin

Frank:
Quitter

Leno: Mitt
Romney.

Frank:
Flip-flopper …

Leno: John McCain

Frank: Old.

Frank is 70;
McCain 73. And while Frank is fat and routinely ill-groomed and -dressed, he
does look younger than McCain, who suffered five and a half years as a POW at
the Hanoi Hilton. McCain actually looks pretty good for a man who, during a
bombing mission, was forced to eject from his plane, breaking both his arms and
his leg, the injuries untreated and exacerbated by regular beatings and
torture. The scars on his face result from bouts with melanoma. (He often jokes
that he has “more scars than Frankenstein.”)

If anyone but
Chris Matthews pointed out that McCain should be given a pass on his
appearance, I missed it. (Matthews played the “Tonight Show” clip on “Hardball”
and he correctly called the McCain association a “cheap shot.”)

How fickle, how
quickly people forget what made John McCain an American hero. And it’s not just
those who are disappointed with McCain for tossing aside his ideals in a
last-gasp grasp for the White House; not just the lefties who were never
charmed by McCain or the Vietnam War in which he fought.

Public life does
that. Take Barack Obama. Before healthcare passed, he went, within months, from
being the best president since Lincoln and FDR to being a failed one-termer. My
guess is that Obama will soon once again be walking on water.  

John McCain’s
predicament is tougher. He might want to heed Harry Truman’s advice: “If you
want a friend in Washington, get a dog.”