FOR MONTHS, Sen. John McCain has been roughed up by critics who say the maverick senator beloved in 2000 has been replaced by a panderer willing to say anything to get the GOP nomination. Those critics are not paying attention.

Sure, McCain has reached out to social and religious conservatives. He's become a more practical, somewhat more cautious politician. This is, after all, his final chance to become the leader of the free world. But that old McCain still breathes, and he still fights to lead his party where he thinks it ought to go, rather than follow the base where it hopes he will go.

That leadership raised its head this past week as McCain emerged as the only Republican presidential candidate to back the Bush-Kennedy immigration reform bill.

McCain knows very well that the bill is unpopular with the Republican base. But he believes it is the best option. Instead of pandering to the base, he has opted to support the bill and try to convince the base that it is the best immigration reform we can get.

"It cries out for reform, and I hope we can convince people to move forward on this," he said yesterday.

"I understand the opposition," he said. But he reasoned that "the status quo is unacceptable," this bill would improve upon current law, and no tougher reform could muster the 60 votes it would need to pass the Senate.

"This issue needs to be addressed. If they have a better idea that could pass both houses of Congress and be signed by the President, I'd be happy to hear it," he said of opponents to the current proposal.

As with Iraq, McCain is taking an unpopular position because he believes there is no better option available -- with the full knowledge that doing so could destroy his last chance to become President.

We disagree with the senator about the immigration bill. But we admire his determination to do what he believes is right even at great personal risk. McCain is gambling his political career on his belief that Americans want a leader, not a follower. So far, no other presidential candidate has had the guts to do the same.