EATING BOOGERS & BRIDGETTE McCAIN

In the last 24 hours I have seen two different people ask Sen. McCain the same basic question. "Why do you approve the message of campaign commercials that are proven lies?" I've wondered how the engineer of the "STRAIGHT TALK EXPRESS" would answer this question. I have had no idea how he could reconcile his sense of fairness with the lies being put out by his campaign presumably in his name. And I have not been alone in my wonderment. Many of McCain's friends on the left (most notably James Carville and Chris Mathews) swear that it must be the campaign and not Sen. McCain. "He's too good for that", they say. Well now we know.

Sen. McCain's answer was in two parts both times and the same both times. First he tells us that the tone of the campaign would have been different if Sen. Obama would have done town hall meetings with him. Then he tells us that "this is a tough campaign". How incredibly first grade of him! You remember back in grade school, when you didn't want to play at someone's house so they told the rest of the class that you "eat boogers"! It's pretty much the same mentality. Whether Sen. Obama was right or wrong to turn down the town hall meetings, it should not influence your personal behavior. Come on Senator, show some personal responsiblity.

This is something new for McCain. He really didn't start these "swift boat-esque" attack ads until his campaign hired the same people who smeared Sen. McCain in the 2000 primary. You know the people who claimed he was crazy and had an illegitimate black daughter? Worked for Karl Rove & George Bush. Now they work for McCain and they are still very good at their job!

I suppose that the bottom line is that it's politics. But I had hoped for better from Sen. McCain.

One does wonder what Bridgett must think about this? Who's Bridgett you ask? Bridgett McCain is the adopted daughter of Sen. John McCain. She is never seen on the campaign trail (and rarely mentioned). Years after the 2000 election, she googled her father's name on the internet and was horrified by the terrible things said about her. She was embarrassed. Cindy McCain said that to protect her, they don't take her out on the trail anymore. (And I'm not blaming her for that. It shows parental responsibility) But I do wonder what Bridgett thinks about this. How must it feel to know that your step-father wants to win so bad, he's willing to hire the man who smeared his daughter.

Sen. McCain, you probably do eat boogers!


UPDATE:

This Sunday on Fox News, Karl Rove weighed in on McCain's attack ads.

"McCain has gone in his ads one step too far, and sort of attributing to Obama things that are, you know, beyond the 100-percent-truth test," said Rove. "Both campaigns ought to be careful about... there ought to be an adult who says: 'Do we really need to go that far in this ad?"

WHEN KARL ROVE THINKS YOUR TV ADS GO TOO FAR, YOU HAVE OFFICIALLY "JUMPED THE SHARK"