e did what he had to do. He looked like he could be president.
It wasn't George W. Bush who passed the presidential timber test. It was Senator John McCain of Arizona.
Last night McCain easily handled the temperament questions, although there are doubtless more to come. Overall the Vietnam War hero looked confident and sounded substantive. He had a twinkle in his eyes that turned into a flash of passion - not anger - when he talked about the economy, health care and the importance of a strong America.
Bush, the Texas governor and supposed Republican front-runner, came across exactly the way his detractors portray him. This was no towering oak of a candidate, just the lightweight son of an ex-president - a shrub.
It was Bush's first time sharing the stage with his fellow Republican presidential contenders. He is probably better than he appeared. But last night the guy with the $75 million campaign checkbook looked like a poor man's version of William Jefferson Clinton.
He's got the drawl, the good looks, and the earnest gaze of candidate Bill. There's a boyish charm that could be endearing if we weren't so suspicious of what happens to it when it gets to the Oval Office.
Bush kept the jutting jaw in check; he couldn't quite control the smirk. But even worse than his thin-lipped smile were his thin answers to questions.
Basically, he says he's qualified to be the leader of the Free World because he's governor of the second-largest state in the nation. As for how he would handle that naughty Saddam Hussein, Bush said, ''I'd take 'em out .... I'm surprised he's still there.'' Perhaps he should ask his father.
At one point Bush's said of McCain: ''He's a good man. He's a good friend.'' Instead of Bush-McCain, maybe the GOP should be thinking McCain-Bush.
Joan Vennochi is a Globe columnist.
