Nothing -- ever -- at face value

Something seems contrived about this Coulter-Limbaugh-Dobson-right wing attack on McCain. By November, that whole wing will fall in line with some soothing words. Applying the principle of always assuming the worst, a good principle when the party of Karl Rove is involved, it is not paranoid to surmise that this is all orchestrated to shore up McCain’s support among moderates and independents. It’s a good working hypothesis.

The work needs to begin now. Some mileage may be gained by undermining McCain’s ill-deserved “straight talk” reputation, but be careful. He’s a likeable guy who is seen as a genuine American hero. However, there’s nothing independent or moderate about his most important political positions. He needs to be boxed into them before September with no wiggle room, and they must be used to define him before the campaign even begins. Stay the course, for 100 years. Not just in Iraq, but about everything. I liked what I heard Hillary say on the news this morning. It was more or less, “We’re great friends, and I love him to death, but he only offers more of the same and he’s wrong about everything.”