John Mccain

Campaign-finance legislation is getting new life on Capitol Hill because of a surprisingly successful revolt led by Republican Sen. John McCain against his party's congressional leadership. McCain's supporters won a stunning concession yesterday, when the House rejected a Democratic bid to force a new breed of campaign organization to disclose its donors, but only after Republican leaders agreed to bring a GOP version to the floor later this month. "I believe that the leadership has come to the realization that this is a growing problem," said Rep. Michael N. Castle of Delaware, one of a small group of moderate Republicans who met with Speaker J. Dennis Hastert before the vote.

There is no precedent in modern American politics for what will happen today in New Hampshire. Two serious White House hopefuls, a Democrat and a Republican, will traverse the partisan divide to speak in one voice on a major national issue. Bill Bradley and John McCain are to meet this morning in the hamlet of Claremont to decry the influence of big money on politics, and to pledge to cleanse the system at the earliest opportunity - namely, this coming year. If they are the nominees, they intend to direct their national parties not to spend any special-interest "soft" money in the autumn campaign - a radical idea, considering that the political establishment has been busy raising those unregulated funds in record amounts for the electoral showdown of 2000.

After weeks of pregame speculation, the day of judgment is at hand. And when the numbers are posted, it is a cinch that somebody's dream of glory will be dented or dashed. No, this is not about the Super Bowl. It is about the clash of presidential ambitions now being played out in a New England state whose voters may well determine, on Tuesday night, which candidates live or die in campaign 2000. It is probably a stretch to view the New Hampshire primary as the Super Bowl of politics, given that most big states will not stage presidential primaries until March.

In my previous life, I witnessed far more difficult postmortems. This one is easy. The patient was fatally stricken on Sept. 15 - caught in the rubble when the roof fell in (at Lehman Bros., according to the police report) - although he did linger until his final, rather quiet demise Tuesday. In the excitement and decisiveness of Barack Obama's victory, we forget that in the first weeks of September, John McCain was actually ahead. Then Lehman collapsed, and the financial system went off a cliff.

John McCain's speech last week about the war on terror may not win him the White House. And it's too soon to tell whether the strategy he's endorsed can turn things around in Iraq. But the speech, at the Virginia Military Institute, raises the bar for discussion of the war by presidential candidates. Not because of his assessment of progress being made, or his outline of the consequences of failure, or even his attack on the war's critics. Those were all on point and eloquent. What sets McCain apart is simply how he frames the debate: as a matter of honor.

NBC's Saturday Night Live has harked back to its rebel roots by booking Sen. John McCain as guest host on the Oct. 12 show. The former presidential candidate, prisoner of war, Arizona senator, and thorn in the side of President Bush said he agreed to be a guest because his children love the show. McCain said it's the first time he has impressed his 17-year-old daughter since she became a teenager. McCain's children aren't the only young people the senator hopes to reach by appearing on the live sketch comedy show.

TV Review Game Change 9 p.m. Saturday on HBO. In the political docudrama Game Change , Sarah Palin is dealing with the whirlwind of being named John McCain's running mate in 2008 with unearthly assurance. Until, that is, she sees Tina Fey spoofing her on Saturday Night Live . Seeing herself held up as an object of ridicule on national TV plunges the Game Change Palin into a bitter spiral of withdrawal and anger. Thanks a lot, Tina! The real-life Palin, now a commentator for Fox News, has already expressed her ire with this HBO film.

As the confetti fell from the ceiling and President Obama took the stage for his 2012 victory speech, there may have been a factor he forgot to thank - social media. And as Republican candidate Mitt Romney learned of his defeat, there may have been a factor that wasn't foremost in his mind - social media. In a world where people yearn for information at lightning speed, where perception via social media sites like Twitter and Facebook can be a candidate's best friend or worst enemy, it has become increasingly crucial for today's politician to master the information technology of the day. Kevin Arceneaux, an associate professor of political science at Temple University, has watched the use of social media grow from 2004, where they played a minor role, to the present day, where they have become "a central tool for campaigns.

ABORT THAT LANDING! JOHN MCCAIN (ABOVE, WITH WIFE CINDY) SHOWS HE'S LOST THE DEPTH PERCEPTION THAT MADE HIM A CRACK NAVY PILOT. LIGHTEN UP: GEORGE W. (ABOVE) GIVES A SUPPORTER THE FABLED TEXAS YOU-WILL-VOTE-FOR-ME NECK GRIP SWELL? WE HOPE WE HAVEN'T CAUGHT THE ANTI-TOBACCO VEEP (LEFT) SNEAKING A LITTLE CHEW WHILE NO ONE'S WATCHING.

Dressed to Kill star Angie Dickinson , 78, writes about her daughter's autism in an essay in Los Angeles magazine, excerpted by Newsweek. Troubles for Nikki Bacharach , Dickinson's daughter with composer Burt Bacharach , began early: She was born three months premature in the summer of 1966, weighing only one pound, 10 ounces. She was placed in a preemie isolette and was not allowed to be touched - a bad move for any baby, Dickinson notes. "Even the doctors back then didn't know the value of touch," she writes, "that if you never get touched or hear a loving voice or get held in those first months, you won't ever feel real or feel connected to anything.