Former presidential hopeful and ex-POW Sen. John McCain rarely backs down from a fight. Months ago he was on a fight for the Republican presidential nomination. His &uot;Straight Talk Express&uot; bus tour traversed the country touting his primary goal – campaign finance reform.

And two days after his Republican foe took the oath of office, McCain is still charging ahead. His mission is unchanged.

McCain wasted no time Monday in pushing his campaign finance reform bill into the limelight.

McCain and Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., held a press conference Monday politely urging President George W. Bush for a quick vote on the matter despite the fact that Bush has said the issue doesn’t top his list.

The McCain-Feingold bill would outlaw unregulated &uot;soft money&uot; donations. The point is to keep unaccountable money out of politics. And it’s a worthy cause.

Voters deserve the right to know who&160;- exactly – is footing the bill for the expensive campaigns that politicians use to propel themselves into office.

Our current system is rife with loopholes and gray areas where ethics and the lust for power mingle like people at a singles’ bar.

Americans want this to change.

It should be a no-brainer. Unregulated money filtering into politics is bad. And it needs to change.

We hope that President Bush, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., and other key leaders will back the McCain-Feingold bill and push this legislation through.

It’s high time the fight for what’s right ends – soon.