Texas Gov. George W. Bush has proven that he is both a lousy winner and a sore loser.

After using his establishment Republican backers to claim a victory in last Saturday’s South Carolina primary, Bush proved that his much-hyped message is little more than co-opted Arizona Sen. John McCain’s ideas.

Why did Bush, the “compassionate conservative,” suddenly become the “true reformer” of the Republican Party? And when did McCain, according to the Texas governor, suddenly become not conservative? His record certainly proves otherwise.

McCain was a little less than charitable after the South Carolina loss, and you can’t really blame him.

After all, it was the Dubya’s camp that was responsible for push polling, an astronomical amount of negative advertising and stealing McCain’s campaign ideals just because Bush isn’t deft enough to proclaim his own ideas, beyond what his handlers tell him he should think.

So Bush went into Tuesday’s Michigan primary with the momentum and the support of the state’s Republican governor. Although the polls, which have often been inaccurate during this season’s primary races, were predicting a very close race, Bush had expressed confidence that a victory was inevitable, and McCain’s maverick campaign would soon be coming to an end.

What a difference a couple of days make.

Once again, in what will probably go down in history as one of the most interesting races for the presidency in recent history, the tables have turned. McCain came away Tuesday with both the Michigan and Arizona primaries, and the momentum back on his side.

Although it’s true that Michigan Republicans largely voted for Bush, thanks to the state’s having an open-primary system, independents and Democrats turned out in droves to support McCain, giving him the edge and the victory.

Of course, classless as he is, Bush largely downplayed the Michigan primary, saying that real Republicans supported him, and that the independents and Democrats only turned out to throw a monkey in the wrench. They won’t support McCain if he were in the general election, he said.

Bush is not only being a sore loser; he’s incorrect, and he’s ignoring what’s really happening.

There’s currently a McCain phenomena going on in America, and it has nothing to do with whether you’re a Republican, Democrat or Green Party member. McCain’s a straight-talker who’s captivating just about everybody, and Bush should stop making excuses and start getting ready to step aside.

Iowa State Daily Editorial Board: Sara Ziegler, Greg Jerrett, Kate Kompas, Carrie Tett and David Roepke.