You can read David Brooks's encomium to John McCain here. Here's the key paragraph:
Telling the truth is a skill. Those who don't do it habitually lose the ability, but McCain is well-practiced and has the capacity to face unpleasant truths. While other conservatives failed to see how corporations were insinuating themselves into their movement, McCain went after Boeing contracts. While others failed to see the rising tide of corruption around them, McCain led the charge against Jack Abramoff. While others ignored the spending binge, McCain was among the fiscal hawks.
Brooks mentions the surge later in the piece, but it would have made a nice addition to this paragraph. "While others stood by the failing Rumsfled-Abizaid-Casey strategy in Iraq, McCain - as early as September 2003 - pushed for the administration to send more troops to Iraq and adopt a counterinsurgency strategy there." Seems to me like that's a pretty strong case for McCain's candidacy.