John McCain says he's one lucky guy – John McCain says he's one lucky guy — presidential election or no presidential election.
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By Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY
Arizona Sen. John McCain greets the crowd during his acceptance speech at the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul.
By Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY
Arizona Sen. John McCain greets the crowd during his acceptance speech at the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul.
Declining to retire from public life after his 2008 loss to Barack Obama, McCain won a fifth term to the U.S. Senate and resumed his role as a prominent Republican spokesman — and equally prominent critic of the man who defeated him four years ago.
"I've always enjoyed being in the arena," McCain said in a telephone interview from his home state of Arizona.
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Befitting a veteran who spent 5½ years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, McCain's specialties remain national security and foreign policy.
These are the topics McCain plans to emphasize Wednesday when he addresses this year's Republican convention.
Expect McCain to criticize Obama, as he has in recent months, for what he calls inaction in the face of bloodshed in Syria. He has also accused the administration of leaking national security secrets to promote Obama's re-election bid, a claim the president and his aides vehemently deny.
"Obviously, I will be critical — as I have been — about some of his policies, and his failure to lead," McCain said of the president.
Charles Black, a longtime adviser to McCain, describes him as "one of the leaders of the loyal opposition" to Obama. McCain "continues to be one of the key experts in the country on national security and foreign policy," he says.
McCain said his relations with Obama administration have not all been "adversarial." He has worked with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and others on procurement reform and other military issues.
A survivor's spirit
In plotting his recovery from the 2008 loss, McCain said he drew lessons from a political opposite, Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass. Among them: Fight as hard as you can, then move on to the next fight and don't look back.
"I didn't like losing, particularly," McCain said. "But I knew the best cure for losing was to get back in the arena."
McCain's first major step, post-election: keeping his Senate job. In the 2010 election, he had to get past a Republican primary opponent who had some — but not all — support from the Tea Party.
Political analysts believe that experience pushed McCain into a more conservative political direction, away from the maverick image he sought to mold during the 2000 presidential primary race against George W. Bush, and again in 2008.
According to the ratings of the American Conservative Union, McCain rated only a 65 on the conservative scale in 2006, back when he occasionally bucked the Republican establishment.
In 2010 — the year of the Tea Party — the ACU gave him a best-possible conservative rating of 100.
ACU Chairman Al Cardenas says McCain's voting record "has been more conservative over the last years," but that describes many Republicans in Congress. "Overall, voting in Congress has become more conservative" among Republican members, Cardenas says.
Still, McCain said he's always called them as he sees them, and "I have the same values and principles that I did before."
Beyond his convention speech Wednesday, McCain said he will be campaigning enthusiastically this fall for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, one of the candidates he defeated in the 2008 Republican primaries.
McCain and Romney had their share of disputes during that race, but patched things up. The Arizona senator said Romney worked hard for him in the general election four years ago; McCain reciprocated by endorsing Romney early in this year's Republican primaries.
McCain and Romney have a political affinity: Both took heat from the GOP's conservative wing during their presidential runs.
Be that as it may, McCain said the right voted with him in the fall of 2008, and in no way cost him election. He said the culprit was the economic collapse in September, less than two months before Election Day.
"I'm sure we could have waged a better campaign," McCain said. "But, certainly, the economy tanking was a significant factor."
'Another big chapter left'
McCain won't be president, but a successful presidential election this time around would enhance his stature on Capitol Hill. He would almost surely become chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee if Republicans win control of the Senate.
On a less positive note, McCain has also been the subject of an Emmy-nominated film, Game Change, the HBO production that profiles his selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate. McCain said he has not seen his portrayal by Oscar-winning actor Ed Harris, and he doesn't plan to. "I've got better things to do with my time," he said.
McCain follows a long line of people who found their place after losing — many of them senators.
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who lost to President George W. Bush, now chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is mentioned as possible secretary of State in a second Obama term.
Barry Goldwater (who lost the presidential election in 1964) and Hubert Humphrey (1968) both went on to complete distinguished careers in the Senate.
Goldwater served until after the 1986 election — when he was replaced by John McCain.
Arizona's senior senator turns 76 on Wednesday, the day of his convention speech ("I choose to ignore it as much as possible," McCain said of his birthday).
Despite his age and accomplishments, many McCain fans don't believe history is finished with him.
Mark McKinnon, a past adviser to both McCain and Bush, says he thinks McCain has "another big chapter left in him," though he's not sure what it will be and doubts McCain does, either.
"Given his years of experience, instinct for reform and deep understanding of national security issues, John McCain will continue to be a dominant force to be reckoned with in the GOP," McKinnon says.
McCain said he will continue "to be a voice for the future" from the floor of the Senate. As for his place in history, he said that's up to others.
"I've moved on from the (2008) campaign," McCain said. "I try to look back with pride and the feeling we did the best we could."
McCain's biography is a long one — military service, a prisoner of war in Vietnam, a four-decade political career and a high-profile presidential candidate in 2000 and 2008.
"Every day, I am grateful for the opportunities I've had," McCain said. "I'm the luckiest guy you will ever talk to."
