By: Jonathan Martin

Want more evidence that McCain is now moving to statesman mode and hoping to reclaim his role as the Senate’s chief pragmatist?

In rallying Republicans yesterday for Sen. Saxby Chambliss ahead of next month’s Georgia run-off, McCain stayed above the fray and said nothing to reinforce his colleague’s chief message: that Republicans need a bulwark in the Senate to guard against Democratic excess.

That, of course, is a variation of the message McCain himself pressed in the final weeks of the campaign, just swapping out White House for Senate.

AJC:

McCain never mentioned Obama’s name during his 12-minute speech, in which he joked about his election defeat. McCain said someone recently asked him how he’s doing.

“I told him I sleep like a baby,” McCain said. “I wake up every two hours and cry.”

When Chambliss first used the words “President-elect Barack Obama,” the partisan crowd booed loudly.

“Let me say, I will pray for him every day, just as I’ve prayed for every other president,” Chambliss said. Chambliss, however, warned that a Democratic supermajority would unleash a rash of “liberal” initiatives.

“The race looks like it could be the firewall,” Chambliss said.

 

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