and after eight years of the unitary theory of the executive branch, it's very refreshing

So you're saying that under a McCain administration the EPA could sue the Department of Justice? That congress could set up executive agencies completely independent of the President? Or are you conflating the unitary executive theory with a theory of untrammeled executive power?

I'm not sure how someone who is a scholar of foreign policy could take McCain seriously after he announced that the US should unilaterally attack North Korea over any objections from South Korea. See McCain's very own article here:

http://www.theweeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/002/093wsmmh.asp

I don't see how anyone could take any of the candidates seriously. I should be president. Actually, I think I should be king.

He didn't keep us out of Iraq though. Late to the party may be better than never but it hardly instills confidence.

If McCain apologizes (or admits he was wrong) for "campaign finance reform" I will happily vote for him, otherwise I suspect I am sitting this one out.

Since I am sympathetic to McCain's views on almost every issue except Iraq -- admittedly a fairly significant exception -- I think I should be the one to point out that the big problem with McCain's being President has been acknowledged but not addressed.

The problem is his age. If elected he would be older than any President except for Reagan during his second term. However well we think we know Sen. McCain, his infirmity for any reason would put us in doubtful territory. Reagan, remember, had the advantage of a surging economy and a crumbling Soviet Union and still managed to stumble into the Iran-Contra nightmare. I grant that McCain is a more intellectually vigorous person than Reagan was, now. After two or three years in what for most people who have held it is a very draining position, will that still be true?

Truth is, were the rest of the GOP field (and indeed the upper echelons of the national Republican Party) not as thin as it is McCain's age would disqualify him as a potential nominee. The tone of his 2000 campaign, in fact, strongly suggested a man embarking on his last adventure in public life. Circumstances have invalidated that expectation. But that doesn't mean McCain is getting any younger.

The man has less respect for individual liberty than Bush does--he's made it clear that he looks on the 1st Amendment as an annoying obstacle to good government. And, most critically, he has zero executive experience and there is no evidence that he can run a disciplined operation even at the level of a campaign.

McCain? You're spending time thinking about McCain?

"Besides cutting back his Secret Service coverage so he could move around Washington in a single car instead of a full motorcade"

It will be a short Presidency!