Killing Him Softly

I listened to John McCain on Imus this morning and, recognizing that McCain had said he would not become a Democrat and run as Kerry's VP, Imus asked McCain if he would be willing, as Senator Bob Kerrey apparently has suggested, to remain a Republican and, in order to create a bipartisan government to stop the current rancor, form a unity government as Kerry's VP. McCain said that he would not do that either, noting that not only would he remain a Republican but that he planned to vote for Bush.

Then things got interesting.

Imus asked McCain if, in light of all of the intelligence failures and 9/11 issues, McCain himself could name any mistakes he had made. McCain tellingly chuckled before rattling off four or five mistakes he claimed to have made. The final one was most significant, and came a bit out of left field, since they were discussing national security issues: that he regretted not having the courage to stand up against the confederate flag when he campaigned in South Carolina in 2000, and that he was proud to have gone back to South Carolina and admitted that mistake after the fact.

The stark contrast between McCain's candor and Bush's response at the press conference Tuesday night was evident to everyone. Imus finally punctured the silence by noting the obvious -- that an answer like that was what everyone was waiting for from the President.

Even though I suspected it before, I've realized it now -- plainly, McCain is relishing a covert operation. He won't openly destroy Bush as the Democratic VP candidate, but he will do things like this from now until November. God bless him.
- posted by Joshua @ 10:26 AM