It appears that Senator John McCain almost included a one-term pledge is his speech in which he announced his presidential candidacy last year. His speech writers had already included a one-term pledge in the speech, but shortly before giving it, McCain ordered them to take it out, fearing that such a pledge would tie his hands too much and would draw too much attention to his age.

As Marc Ambinder points out, including the pledge would have been ‘an earth-shifting moment for the campaign and the primary. At the time, McCain’s fundraising pace was falling well short of its target and Republicans were not treating McCain as the frontrunner.’

Many of his top advisers believed then, and seem to believe now, that McCain should make clear to the American people that he only intends to serve for one year. They believe a one-term pledge is a strength for him, because it would emphasize the difference between him and the others running for president (who could then be made out to be more opportunistic and selfish); it would send ‘an unmistakable message that McCain intended to be a different kind of president’; ‘it would free him from having to spend the last two years of his presidency running for re-election.’

One adviser put it as follows: “It would have been the most selfless act in modern American politics.” Ramesh Ponnuru, a National Review editor agrees with that saying: “It would highlight his devotion to service.”

But there are drawbacks to taking such a pledge, and McCain considered the drawbacks to be more powerful last year. Albeit merely.

Campaign advisers said that, as they discussed the merits of the pledge, the drawbacks were obvious: it might tie McCain’s hand with Congress. It would certainly raise the profile of his heir apparent and vice presidential nominee, who would be treated as a de-facto presidential candidate for McCain’s entire term. And it would draw attention to his age.

From a political perspective, I think that a one-term pledge would make a lot of sense. It would send a message that Obama doesn’t “own” change. It would send the message that McCain doesn’t think about himself first and foremost, but about his country. And it would send the message that he doesn’t have to serve special interests while in office, because he will not be running for reelection anyway.

Yes, their are drawbacks to a one-term pledge, but I think that the advantages clearly outweigh them. At least for McCain… who is a Republican after all (in a time when Republicans aren’t exactly popular).