Politics / John McCain Mac Is Back, Pushing Reforms GOP stalwart returns to Senate, eye on reining in lobbying and earmarks By Drew Nelles, Newser Staff Posted Jan 8, 2009 4:00 PM CST Copied Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., left, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., center, and Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., leave a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington yesterday. (AP Photo) Sen. John McCain, forgotten but not gone after his failed bid for the presidency, was back in form this week as he pushed bipartisan reform of earmarks and lobbying, Congressional Quarterly reports. Though the Arizona Republican’s eyes were watery and he had some trouble reading at the press conference, “He’s engaged and ready to go,” a GOP colleague affirmed. But Mac’s latest chapter isn’t all about healing partisan wounds: He also unveiled a new conservative political action committee this week and privately stressed that Republicans had to reach out to young and Hispanic voters, the Hill adds. “He talked about his own race and the devastating loss of Hispanic voters and how that arose on the rhetoric on immigration,” a source said. (More John McCain stories.) Report an error