Richard Whalen

Originally dubbed “Senator Hothead” by the Washingtonian Magazine in 1997, Republican nominee Senator John McCain’s temper continues to be a lingering concern among the slew of enemies he has amassed over his 25 years in Congress.

But there are exceptions. Former GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole came to McCain’s defense on CNN’s “Larry King Live” on March 5 2008 assuring King that McCain can control his temper as he has during the campaign so far. “It’s not a problem anymore,” Dole believes, adding that he cuts McCain some slack because of the torture and deprivations he endured as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.

One day in 2005, in Senator McCain’s outer office, I watched as a hapless new staffer gave him what he called the wrong briefing one-pager. McCain crumpled it in his right fist, shook it under the terrified aide’s nose and thrust out his left hand, all the while snarling oaths under his breath. The aide darted back to his desk and returned with the right paper. McCain grabbed it, wheeled around and walked away. As we walked outside together, McCain was all smiles as if nothing had occurred. Scary.

A Boston Globe report included a much-repeated quote from Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi: “The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He is erratic. He is hot-headed. He loses his temper and he worries me.” These concerns led Cochran to endorse former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney but after Romney dropped out, Cochran endorsed McCain.

McCain’s run-ins with other Republican Senators are legendary. In an interview, Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa said that he was so upset by a McCain tirade – “I’m calling you a f_ jerk” – that he didn’t speak to him for two years. ABC News reports that McCain told the former Budget Committee Chairman, Senator Pete Domenici in 1999: “Only an a_ would put together a budget like this.” This expression of political differences led Domenici to tell Newsweek in 2000: “I decided I didn’t want this guy anywhere near a trigger.”

And last year, he shouted at Texas Senator John Cornyn: “F_ you.” But according to Cornyn, McCain apologized almost immediately and he says “we’ve moved on down the road.”

Outside the Capitol, McCain has other problems. Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, who slammed McCain in 2005 as a “gun grabbing, tax increasing Bolshevik,” now perceives him as a Bush clone, according to U.S. News & World Report . Rush Limbaugh has been urging his radio listeners to prolong the nasty nomination fight on the Democratic side by crossing over to vote for Clinton in the primaries. And conservative old guard Richard Viguerie is disappointed by McCain’s address to the Council for National Policy in New Orleans in early March, saying he sidestepped a question on whether he would appoint conservatives to key positions in his administration.

All this has prompted many serious questions as to whether McCain is temperamentally or emotionally qualified to be Commander-in-Chief. Naturally, the Limbaughs and Vigueries as well as the Clinton and Obama camps will be delighted if he blows his cool during a presidential debate.