What Clinton is to empathy, McCain is to apology. The recent joke apology is just the latest in a long line of effective regrets. Last year, he compared House Speaker Newt Gingrich's popularity to Jeffrey Dahmer's. He immediately soothed Newt with an abject note. When he was caught up in the Keating mess--McCain had taken huge campaign contributions from the S & L miscreant--he apologized fast and escaped with his reputation mostly intact. He confessed to and apologized for committing adultery during his first marriage. In each case, the apology seemed heartfelt and cleared his name. He is most apologetic about something for which nobody would ever blame him: When he was a POW, he confessed, after days of horrific torture, to being a "black criminal" and an "air pirate." McCain still does not forgive himself for breaking, and he has criticized himself publicly for his failure.