Presidential Punditry

Since my vote in Iowa is worth as much as yours:

Don't count out John McCain.

For some Republicans, he ain't perfect since he doesn't believe in torture, deportation of undocumented workers and is something of an environmentalist - - but listen, you political purists:

No candidate is, and his flaws, real and perceived, should be less worrisome on election than, say, Guiliani or Romney's.

Besides: people like a comeback: it'd be a nice political story - - McCain, down and out and broke and dissed as old and irrelevant and too grouchy for the once worshipful Jon Stewart - - now a force again.

That could happen on the other side, with John Edwards, too.

Perhaps like McCain, Edwards is true enough to enough basic party principles, and familiar enough to enough party regulars to be, well, a decent and pragmatic, lower-risk choice - - with all things considered, or at least rationalized.

Campaigns rise and fall somewhat cyclically. Front-runners become targets, fall back, get lost in the pack as others become the Flavor Of The Day - - Fred Thompson, Mike Huckabee, - - but in a long race, you can go from first to last to first, or close to it.

It's all about timing in a fluid process, which is why you shouldn't count out either New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg or Ralph Nader as third-party or independent hopefuls.

I still think the Dems strongest candidate is Barack Obama because he brings in independents, youth, and some GOP-crossovers.

And I don't think Iowa or New Hampshire wraps it up for anyone, but it could be a done deal after the first wave of big-state, TV-based primaries.