Peggy Noonan in a recent column has him pegged pretty well, I think.
Here's a couple of key excerpts:
"One always wonders with Mr. McCain: What exactly does he feel passionately about, what great question? Or rather, what does he stand for, really? For he often shows passion, but he rarely speaks of meaning. The issues that summon his full engagement are issues on which he's been challenged by his party and others. McCain, to McCain, is defined by his maverickness. That's who he is. (It's the theme of his strikingly good memoir, "Worth the Fighting For.") He stands up to power. He faces them down. It's not only a self image, it's a self obsession....He has positions, but a series of separate, discrete and seemingly unconnected stands do not coherence make. Mr. McCain, in public, does not dig down to the meaning of things, to why he stands where he stands, to what understanding of life drives his political decisions. But voters hunger for coherence, for a philosophical thread that holds all the positions together."
Well said. So far, there is no such philosophical thread.
And I'd add this: Noonan notes McCain's tendency to shoot from the hip, to "pop off."
That too is important. It goes to temperament, to one's being. A conservative needs to be balanced, to think things through, to know that there are a lot of ideas and traditions out there from the past, which must inform our thinking. There aren't too many things new under the sun. There aren't too many instant answers. One must be thoughtful, contemplative, sometimes...that too is part of conservatism (see for example Russell Kirk).
I have my doubts about whether Mr. McCain can manage the homework Ms. Noonan has given him.
