In a political world that made any sense, the most prominent issue of any presidential campaign, in any year, would be which candidate can best serve as Commander-in-Chief and secure American national interests in a hostile world. The Constitution lists “Commander in Chief” as the very first duty in a president’s job description. In that light, it is amazing that John McCain is not running laps around Barack Obama in the polls. McCain has a 25-year record in public office, and another 20 years before that in military leadership roles, including, of course, his combat years and imprisonment in Vietnam. Obama, by contrast, has no military experience and a history of profoundly misguided judgment or conduct on critical national security issues.

In the 1980s, McCain was right to support President Ronald Reagan’s efforts to win the Cold War with the Soviet Union. But McCain also had the courage to break with Reagan by very publicly warning that U.S. Marines would be sitting ducks if deployed in Lebanon. Tragically, America lost 240 of its finest when Reagan went against McCain’s advice.