but if we want to make a rating scale - good, better, best - clearly McCain was "ahead" of GWB in 2000, and someone like Colin Powell was far ahead of both of them, if we just wanted to add another name to the mix for the purpose of this discussion.
That said, I would admit it would have been an advantage to have had McCain in the Oval Office (on this issue only!) because I think he would have overruled Rummy much sooner on jettisoning the "light footprint" strategy and getting enough troops in Iraq to handle a counterinsurgency, back when we had much more room to maneuver in Congress and in the polls.