Michael Goodwin: McCain shines during debate

John McCain is an emotional man with a volatile temper that sometimes gets him into trouble. But McCain’s emotions became a decided political asset Tuesday night and led him to victory in the Republican presidential debate. McCain won the night with a show-stopping performance that was straight from the heart.

Give the man credit – he faced two huge challenges. He is the most vocal supporter of the unpopular war in Iraq and he is an author of the controversial immigration bill before Congress. Yet the Arizona senator managed to tackle both issues with heartfelt and heartwarming answers.

Images are everything on TV, and McCain’s response to a question on the war was the defining picture of the debate. Unexpectedly rising from a chair to walk toward a woman in the audience who had lost a brother in Iraq, McCain approached as if he wanted to hug her. His voice choking, the heroic Vietnam vet assured her that, although the war had been “badly mismanaged,” we now “have a fine general and strategy that can succeed.”

He was the only candidate in either party who could have dealt with the issue that way, and it was brilliant stagecraft as well as a touching display of compassion. It was a very commander-in-chief moment.

McCain did something similar in defending the immigration bill. Again rising from his chair, he talked of Spanish names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and of immigrants serving and dying in Iraq. When he was finished, his rivals seemed to realize that their arguments against the bill had been, for one night at least, trumped by an honest appeal to the heart.

Rudy Giuliani also did well and, as expected, grabbed every opportunity to push his views that we must stay on offense against Islamic terrorists. Giuliani followed McCain in rising from his chair on the Iraq issue and he continued his assault on Democrats, saying they are “in denial” on the issue. It’s what he believes and it reflects the fact that he does best in head-to-head matchups against all Dems, including front-runner Hillary Clinton.

The only pro-choice candidate onstage, Giuliani showed that he has gotten his answer down to a clear statement of principle that might have some appeal to conservatives, or at least offend them less. “My view on abortion is that it’s wrong, but government shouldn’t be forcing that decision on a woman,” he said.

Giuliani was far less persuasive on health care. He said we needed to change the whole system because it’s dominated by government and employers and railed against “socialized medicine.”

He also compared health care to home and car insurance. The analogy isn’t readily apparent – oil change versus heart attack? – and making it seems a risky bet unless you offer a clear, practical solution. He didn’t.

The big loser of the night was Mitt Romney, who had been running second in New Hampshire and third in most national polls. But he was flat and out of sync, and was caught off-guard by a question from the audience. Asked about his opposition to the immigration bill while he was simultaneously running ads in Spanish, Romney came off as too slick by half. He ducked the question and launched into a series of platitudes about American values and ended by saying we have to sell more things to Asia.

I’m still trying to figure that one out.