By CARL HULSE – On the Hill
Published: 11-11-08
John McCain has been here before coming up short in a presidential race like so many senators before him and staring at a non-triumphant return to the Senate.
But the circumstances this time are vastly different. In 2000 Mr. McCain was welcomed back almost as a hero once he ended his primary campaign against George W. Bush. He was prized for his openness sought out by fellow Republicans for his endorsement and respected for the national following he had built in his gutsy effort against the future president. There was a sense that he had been wronged dragged down by scurrilous attacks when he had reached for a higher tone in politics.
Now it is Mr. McCain and his campaign who have been criticized as trying to paint President-elect Barack Obama as a pal to terrorists and a socialist in Democratic clothing. In this campaign Mr. McCain’s free-wheeling relationship with the press was badly strained he was accused of pandering to conservatives and party strategists said he damaged the prospects of other Republicans on the ballot.
As a result his colleagues are wondering which John McCain will be returning to the Senate for a term that extends two more years.
Will it be the John McCain who was an enthusiastic coalition builder deal maker and central figure in Congress one as apt to tweak Republicans as much as Democrats? Or the John McCain who seemed so dismissive of Mr. Obama who spent considerable time assailing the opposition rather than making his own case and who to many seemed to become what he had once disdained.
“John is going to have to make a decision” said Senator Kent Conrad Democrat of North Dakota. “I think he will make the right choice and pitch in.”
Many of his colleagues say they believe the same that Mr. McCain will quickly reassert himself in the Senate and could if he so chooses be a valuable asset to Mr. Obama as the new administration seeks to move its agenda on the economy national security immigration and climate change among other issues.
“If President-elect Obama lives up to his rhetoric to reach across party lines and I hope that he will he is going to need John McCain” said Senator Susan Collins a Maine Republican and longtime ally of Mr. McCain. “He is going to be a real player.”
In his concession speech on Tuesday night Mr. McCain said he was ready to do his part.
“These are difficult times for our country and I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face” he said of Mr. Obama in a speech that many Democrats hailed as promising for its conciliatory tone.
Longtime associates of Mr. McCain say they expect him to play a constructive role in the Senate and not sulk in the aftermath of defeat trying to undermine Mr. Obama. They expect him to rededicate himself to the legislative art in his remaining years in the Senate. “It is just not in his nature to stand still” said one longtime adviser who would talk about the Senate return only if he was not quoted by name.
But there is serious fence-mending to be done. Plenty of harsh words were expressed over the course of recent months and many Senate Democrats were angered by what they interpreted as a lack of respect for Mr. Obama from the McCain campaign and the senator’s own warnings about the dire perils of liberal Democratic government.
Some of the hatchets are quickly being buried. Senator Harry Reid a Nevada Democrat and Senate majority leader spoke by telephone with Mr. McCain on Friday; according to an aide they agreed to put the attacks of the last few months behind them. Mr. Reid who for months during the campaign had carried with him a set of negative quotes about Mr. McCain from fellow Republicans to have ready for recitation plans on ripping up the quotes said his spokesman Jim Manley.
Senator Christopher J. Dodd a Connecticut Democrat who returned to the Senate earlier this year after his own abbreviated presidential primary run said Mr. McCain would no doubt have to decompress. But Mr. Dodd expects his colleague to get back on track.
“He has been a here long time” Mr. Dodd said “and people have had their relationships with him including good ones over the years. And ultimately that is what you remember and that is what will prevail.”
Republicans say it is unlikely that Mr. McCain will bear the blame for party losses in the House and Senate with most attributing them to miserable economic conditions and President Bush’s lingering unpopularity.
“He should come back OK” said Senator Pete V. Domenici a retiring Republican whose seat went to a Democrat on Tuesday. “He did the best a Republican could do. The headwinds were just enormous.”
Mr. McCain is simply the latest in a long line of senators turned presidential contenders who have had to sheepishly make their way home to the Senate which until this year has been a political albatross for dozens of presidential hopefuls. Some pick up right where they left off and some drop off the Senate map or make quick exits.
