An energized and feisty John McCain took a wide range of questions for 35 minutes today from conservative bloggers, some of whom have been quite critical of his stance on issues ranging from McCain Feingold campaign finance reform to immigration.

He began with an impassioned description of the situation in Iraq and his strong objections to the Congressional Democrats’ attempts to fix a date certain for withdrawal of troops. He described in detail progress in certain areas in Iraq- citing increased recruits in Anbar Province and oil revenue and de-Bathification proposals by the Mailiki government, but also candidly acknowledged difficulties such as the wounding of the Deputy Prime Minister. He repeatedly distinguished Iraq from Vietnam, saying “these people will follow us home” and warning that others in the Middle East including the Iranians’ recent seizure of British troops should be a “cautionary tale.”

As for Democrats who voted to keep the withdrawal timetable in the current Senate bill, he was merciless. With emotion in his voice he declared that if Democrats believed as Senator Reid said that “not one drop of blood” more should be spent in Iraq then they should “bring them home tomorrow.” He repeated that if Democrats opposed continued military involvement they should “propose to cut off funding,” but doubted they would do so because that, he suggested, would mean “they’d have responsibility for the war.” As for Ben Nelson who previously opposed a timetable but yesterday voted to retain it in the Senate bill he said bluntly: “I don’t know how you justify Senator’s Nelson’s flip.” Asked about his Republican friend Chuck Hagel he would only say he was “very disappointed.” However, he took time to mention a number of Vietnam veterans like Hagel who opposed the war, and noted that “being in combat is important but my views and positions are shaped by a lifetime of experiences.”

He urged President Bush to read through the litany of pork barrel measures Democrats included in the bill and to hold weekly or biweekly press conferences with maps spelling out to the American people in detail what is happening on the ground.

Throughout the call he tried to demonstrate his new found appreciation, if not affection, for the new media. Repeatedly he promised to have more calls with bloggers, stream his townhall meetings and invite them on his Straight Talk bus tour. Appearing to catch the internet bug, he urged the Fred Kagan and others to set up a website to provide the general public with updates on Iraq. Recognizing McCain Feingold has been a source of great criticism from websites on First Amendment grounds, McCain indicated he would be opposed to effort requiring disclosure of the makers of internet videos like the popular anti-Hillary Clinton Apple YouTube ad, stating that the internet has “added a new dimension” to political campaigns and praised its effect in “getting more young Americans involved.”

As for the state of the race, he maintained that despite Mayor Giuliani’s lead in the polls he is “happy where we are” although “unhappy with fundraising” which he claims is related to his own reticence to ask for money. He speculated that Giuliani’s lead is attributable to his leadership on 9-11. As for Fred Thompson, he joked that he should have high ratings since the actor “has been President two or three time.”

If the aim of the call was to stress his leadership in the Iraq war, develop an affinity with new media and demonstrate his good humored feistiness he succeeded. Whether this will make a difference in the polls and in the race remains to be seen.