McCain would like to blow Osama bin Laden away

The Boston Globe reported yesterday that G.O.P. presidential candidate John McCain told the workers in a weapons factory that, if elected, he wants to catch Osama Bin Laden.

"I will follow Osama Bin Laden to the gates of hell and I will shoot him with your products," McCain said.

McCain later told reporters he was joking when he made the comment at Thompson Center Arms in Rochester.

Perhaps. But the bottom line is, he succumbed to the moment, when those workers stared raptly at him, and it was the political equivalent of saying "talk dirty to me."


The Senator gives The President a man-hug
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None of the above: the top Republican Presidential candidate

Lanky Link is turning triple axels in his grave, considering the

shambles into which his beloved party has fallen

A recent A.P./Ipsos poll found that nearly a quarter of all Republicans are unwilling to back any of the top four hopefuls—Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, John McCain or Mitt Romney—and that nary a candidate is a clear front-runner among Christian evangelicals. The top vote-getter in the G.O.P., so far, is "none of the above."

The moribund G.O.P. not only can't make up their minds about a candidate, but they seem to he hanging onto their shekels, piastres, and pesos. The Democrats have thus far raised far more cash--$80 million against a meager $50 million in the most recent quarter, as they also did in the previous period (Jan.-March 2007).

"Democrats are reasonably comfortable with the range of choices. The Democratic attitude is that three or four of these guys would be fine," David Redlawsk, a University of Iowa political scientist. "The Republicans don't have that; particularly among the conservatives there's a real split."

More Republicans have become apathetic about their options over the past month. 23 percent can't or won't say which candidate they would back, a jump from the 14 percent who took a pass in June.

Interestingly for the party of "the family," the three-times married Giuliani was still at the top of the polls, followed by Fred Thompson and John McCain, who have each been married twice. Mrs. Giuliani was even recently forced to admit thatRudy was actually her own third marriage. The candidate--Mitt Romney--who actually remained married for 30 years was at the bottom of the polls, in the single digits.

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The McCain campaign meltdown picks up steam

According to dozens of media outlets, Sen. John McCain's media team has resigned--an indication that the campaign's firings two weeks ago have resulted in a hellish blowback that threatens to sink the one-time frontrunner's moribund campaign.

Political ad-jockeys Russ Schriefer and Stuart Stevens (vets of the '04 and Y2K Bush campaigns) emailed the new campaign manager--to say that they were quitting (nice touch, you gutless pansies). The campaign manager, lobbyist Rick Davis has not exactly won friends on the campaign staff. Schriefer and Stevens told friends they had considered leaving for days because they had not been paid and it was not clear when, if, or how much they might actually be paid.

The Schriefer and Stevens resignations follow close on a story in The Wall Street Journal Monday about Rick Davis's business and lobbying activities. McCain campaign advisers say those activities involving a business he started, and another launched by an acquaintance of his, risked embarrassing the senator. I'm not so sure they would do anything he hasn't already done to himself. At this juncture, it looks like McCain could f**k up a two-car funeral procession. He has perfected the Reverse Midas Touch. Who'd have thunk this a short four months ago? I was sure it was Giuliani who would implode; we still have that to look forward to.

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The Big Exodus: Senator McCain's Chief Strategist and Campaign Manager Throw In The Towel

Sen. John McCain's campaign manager Terry Nelson and chief strategist John Weaver resigned today (or were more likely sacked for their pathetic performance in the polls and fundraising), which the Arizona senator accepted with "regret and deep gratitude for their dedication, hard work and friendship." Translation: "I hope they all die!"

"out of nowhere, he transmogrified from a charmingly off-kilter maverick to a bellicose Administration cheerleader and apologist for the war in Iraq"

This has to be bittersweet for the Senator, who emerged early on as an unbeatable candidate, only to fluff it in the early turns of the race. There was a time when I thought he would sweep every primary and caucus. And then, out of nowhere, he transmogrified from a charmingly off-kilter maverick (not unlike fellow Arizonan Barry Goldwater in his later years) to a bellicose Administration cheerleader and apologist for the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the coming war in Iran. Maybe he believed in the cause or maybe he misread the electorate, but in any case, the change cost him the White House.

It's puzzling why he hasn't checked out of the race already, although at this point, he doesn't have much to lose. Even so, it can't be pleasant to be bitch-slapped daily by the anti-war candidates, not to mention his fellow Senators and the Governors in the race. It has to be particularly galling being stomped in the polls by Fred Thompson, who jumped in at the last minute, not to mention being bested by Rudy Giuliani, an even more deranged and unstable candidate (if that is even possible). If you're being mocked and hectored by one-issue lightweights like Cindy Sheehan, Dennis Kucinich, and Ralph Nader (a/k/a "The Dingbat"), you know you have taken a mortal blow. . .

Recent All This Is That articles on the Senator:

Pfffft! Senator McCain's campaign fizzles out

The Republicans And Democrats Are Running Scared Re: Mitt Romney

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Pfffft! Senator McCain's campaign fizzles out

It appears to be all over for Senator McCain's Presidential ambitions. In a stunning decline for the candidate who was the absolute front-runner not long ago, McCain now appears poised to throw in the towel.

In late June, Sen. John McCain slashed his presidential campaign staff and then finished fifth in a straw vote June 30 during at the summer conference of Pennsylvania's Republican State Committee.

Rudy Giuliani was first with 87 votes, besting unannounced candidate Fred Thompson's 40. McCain pulled only seven straw voters, and finished behind Mitt Romney and possible-candidate Newt Gingrich.

The money is running out and new donors are few and far between. Maybe the Senator will wait until fall to withdraw, hoping one of the other frontrunners stumbles; but why bother? It's over.

It was only in March that Fred hadn't even blipped yet: Front-runners Clinton and McCain losing ground fast/All This Is That's dark horses are mired in the back of the pack.

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