Check out the new ad John McCain is playing in Nevada:
That's the election in a nutshell, right? Hillary's a hippy (or maybe a harpy, or a shrew, or a socialist, or a castrator) and McCain's a big strong man. He was "tied up," which is to say a Prisoner of War, which could have never happened to Hillary Clinton, because she was a hippy and a woman.
Anyone else remember when McCain's selling point was principle?
'I did advise John [Kerry]. I said, "Look, you shouldn't talk about Vietnam because everybody else will. Let everybody else do it." His advisers figured that was probably not enough, that he had to emphasize that in his campaign. In my campaign, as you know, I didn't talk about it because I didn't need to.'"
I guess now he needs to. It's a pity how desperation and ambition have humbled one of the few apparently principled politicians on the scene.
Jon Chait, by the way, recently wrote a very funny column on McCain's reticence to mention his war record.
