John McCain’s recent speeches on Iraq have hit a certain nerve in the ears of the pundits. For some McCain’s pronouncements sound like the harmony of a brass band leading the way forward; for others McCain is creating a clashing cacophony of partisanship and rightwing pandering. It seems that however well his campaign is going, McCain is the new litmus test.

E.J. Dionne longs for the good old days of McCain the maverick when his campaign was an “unruly and joyous romp.” That was 2000, now Dionne says that McCain’s campaign is “carefully planned, meticulously calculated—and a tragedy.”

The National Review stands by McCain as he is “dumped” by the mainstream media. McCain, they say, is defending an Iraq strategy that shows real promise and is being “ignored by mainstream media that apparently love the narrative of defeat more than they every loved John McCain.”

Bill Maher doesn’t think John McCain is foolish. For Maher, McCain’s foolishness comes only by trying to please the Republican base. This is a move that Maher thinks will make Republican candidates look “increasingly ridiculous and out-of-touch as the months go on.”

The Washington Times calls McCain a true statesman who is willing to “tell unpleasant truths regardless of the political consequences." His speech to the Virginia Military Institute, they say, demonstrated a Churchillian flair.

John Dickerson, writing on the same speech, sees a new partisanship in McCain’s language. McCain’s jabs at Democrats are out of character for the man who once won the respect of the left and right. Dickerson worries that McCain is no longer “holding much red meat for the right in reserve.”

The Wall Street Journal, admittedly not always friendly to McCain, praises him for his courage. When McCain said that he’d “rather lose a campaign than lose a war,” the WSJ recognized a leader at his finest hour.