Who IS McNasty?

John McCain has enlisted The Decider's Rovian operatives to run his campaign.... the very ones who slimed McCain and his family in the 2000 GOP primaries. The very ones who Swiftboated another war hero, John Kerry, in the 2004 campaign. Now in McCain's name, these very same operatives savagely and deceptively attack Barack Obama's character in this one.

George W. Bush's toxic influence has finally managed to destroy not just the economy and our moral standing in the world.... it has now infected the tone and substance of McCain's 2008 campaign.

McCain has repeatedly retooled his message and campaign staff in his effort to corner his fatal-obsession need to be president and commander-in-chief. But, as Fred Hiatt suggests today in "What McCain Hasn't Tried".... (WaPo) "imagine if McCain had selected for his running mate not a partisan attack dog but someone with deep knowledge of the economy and a record of reaching across the aisle.

Imagine if McCain had taken the campaign high-road. "Imagine if McCain himself had decided to respond to this crisis as an American first, a candidate second." But the reality is far different. As McCain was speaking at a campaign rally in Minnesota, after having to correct a supporter's assertion that Obama is an "Arab," McCain's "campaign ads were calling Obama a liar."

Even William Kristol in his op-ed today pleads with McCain, "Fire the Campaign." (NYTimes) He counsels that McCain "has nothing to lose. His campaign is totally overmatched by Obama’s. The Obama team is well organized, flush with resources, and the candidate and the campaign are in sync. The McCain campaign, once merely problematic, is now close to being out-and-out dysfunctional. Its combination of strategic incoherence and operational incompetence has become toxic. If the race continues over the next three weeks to be a conventional one, McCain is doomed."

Kristol, an early diehard McCain supporter, continues, "What McCain needs to do is junk the whole thing and start over. Shut down the rapid responses, end the frantic e-mails, bench the spinning surrogates, stop putting up new TV and Internet ads every minute. In fact, pull all the ads — they’re doing no good anyway. Use that money for televised town halls and half-hour addresses in prime time."

All of McCain's frantic low-road tactics and Kristol's suggested "junk the whole thing" Hail-Marying raise worrying questions. If McCain can't run a successful presidential campaign, how can he run a country in financial peril bordering on insolvency, embroiled in two wars with rising unemployment and international relationships on the ropes?

And most worrying.... if McCain can dump his moral code and morph into Bush to further his political ambitions, just who is John McCain?

November 4.

GOP in Hillary's Corner

Have you noticed how many Republicans are encouraging Hillary Clinton to "stay in the fight."

Saying Florida and Michigan should be counted..... that everyone should have a voice.... even though John McCain was coronated long before all GOP voters got their say.

Neocon pundit William Kristol tipped the GOP's hand in today's op-ed "Biography Isn't Enough" (NYTimes).

"As Obama and Clinton go at it over the next couple of months, McCain can ignore the Democrats and set forth his own policy agenda. His focus on substance could provide a nice contrast to their political bickering...."

Hillary can drag out the primary process, she can listen to the GOP apparatchiks, she can tear the party apart and clear the path for a McCain presidency. But, she can't win the nomination.

Instead of hiding behind "not taking sides" homilies, the DNC needs to step up.... the Queen has no clothes.

Kristol: "Heck of a job, Georgie"

William Kristol is busy rewriting history even before the history is made.

This ultra-neoconservative friend of George is predicting.... "Why Bush Will Be A Winner." He wisely tries to defuse the obvious eye-rolling over his assertion that "Bush's presidency will probably be a successful one" by admitting up front that with this prediction he'll merely expose himself to "harmless ridicule."

So, I'll not say the obvious things like, it must be time to renew Kristol's prescription, and just stick to his three justifications.

1) Kristol posits that there has been no second terrorist attack on U.S. soil. This is something with our borders gushing unknown and untracked illegals that is just dumb luck, luck which evidently is about to end. According to the "gut feel" statement from the chief of Homeland Security.... his gut is rumbling that we may have an attack this summer. How many billions did this high tech and professional assessment cost? Feeling safer?

2) Kristol's next point shows the airy heights of his ivory tower... we now have "a strong economy." Not for the average Joe working two jobs, or the new slave labor class.... but hey, corporations are loving it. And, by the way, tried to sell your house lately?

Oh, and China loves it too, owns most of the U.S. now. Kristol even sees an upside to our budget deficit.... "it's lower than it was in 2003".... but he avoids mentioning that the world is using the plunging dollar for wallpaper.

3) The third argument is so obviously pie-in-the-sky it's embarrassing.... to quote: "... a war in Iraq that has been very difficult, but where - despite some confusion engendered by an almost meaningless 'benchmark' report last week - we now seem to be on course to a successful conclusion." Really, this obvious first draft of the rewrite of Bush's legacy needs no comment from me although this fairy tale should start, "Once upon a time there was a wise King George...."

Read Kristol's entire opinion piece, judge for yourself if you agree with him that "Apart from Iraq, there has been less of it [terrorism], here and abroad, than many experts had predicted... The war in Afghanistan has gone reasonably well."

Or, this from Kristol's own nibbed pen.... "Following through to secure the victory in Iraq and to extend its benefits to neighboring countries will be the task of the next president."

Kristol's next article will be on the proposition that pigs do fly.