McCain Doesn't "Straight Talk", He "Talks Straight" Out Of His ... (use your imagination)

Does anyone remember John McCain saying any of this? Most of it was said only a few weeks ago.

"Tonight we sure showed them what a comeback looks like," McCain said. "When the pundits declared us finished, I told them, 'I'm going to New Hampshire, where the voters don't let you make their decision for them.' And when they asked, 'How are you going to do it? You're down in the polls. You don't have the money,' I answered, 'I'm going to New Hampshire, and I'm going to tell people the truth.'" (Boston Globe)

McCain said, he was proof that "negative campaigns don't work"--a clear shot at Mitt Romney (Newsweek)

I think Senator McCain has said it best, "we are going to continue to run a positive campaign." (Newsweek)

These are just a few McCain quotes from MANY that show that McCain is suffering from the common political disease "Iamfullofcrapitis". The guy calls Mitt Romney a flip-flopper, but I don't think he's ever looked in the mirror to see the flip-flopped (reversed) image of a professional flip-flopper. Hopefully that makes sense!

It sure seems like the Straight Talk Express has derailed. McCain has consistently told us that he ALWAYS tells the truth, that he runs a squeaky clean positive campaign, and admitted that he has his weak points such as the economy. Now (only a couple weeks later) he is straight up lying about Mitt's record to elicit support for himself in Florida, saying all kinds of dirty negative things about Romney, and saying that he never told anybody that he was weak on the economy (another blatant lie). McCain built his comeback in New Hampshire on the premise that he was a straight talkin’ good guy. It is a mystery to everyone as to why he is currently deviating from his high-minded maxims while campaigning in Florida.

National Review Online (NRO) wrote about what might viewed in the future as McCain’s downfall, where he abandoned the very principles that helped him to re-surge in the polls and become the apple in the media’s eye. Some notable excerpts from the article McCain's Dishonest Attack:

The writer, Rich Lowry, starts by giving McCain credit for his part in lobbying for the surge in Iraq.

As I've said before, McCain deserves a large part of the credit for the surge—he pushed to have it implemented both in his public advocacy and his behind-the-scenes lobbying of the Bush administration, and he has been its foremost defender. Romney wasn't as enthusiastic about it and in his body language, if nothing else seemed ready to distance himself from it if it failed. This is a perfectly legitimate issue for McCain to raise, and he has, by saying things like Romney was "looking at his shoes" while he was putting it all on the line for the surge.

Giving credit where credit is due, he then goes on to criticize McCain, who is practically a self proclaimed saint, for his recent unwarranted and dishonest attacks on Romney.

But that doesn't justify the rank dishonesty of his attack on Romney over the weekend. It's so shamelessly unfair, it's the kind of thing you'd expect of Bill Clinton attacking Barack Obama. Clearly, McCain wants to change the topic from the economy. And since he's suffering from his "straight-talk" about his relative lack of knowledge of and interest in the economy, he's trying to compensate with the opposite of straight talk—blatant distortions—about Romney's record. As Ramesh notes (citing Paul Mirengoff), McCain may feel entitled to this cheap shot given his own courage on the surge. He also might think that his press coverage is so adoring that he can get away with anything, and Romney is so firmly branded as a "flip-flopper" that any charge will stick. But I think something else is going on. McCain has always given the impression of reserving his true scorn for his enemies within his own party. I have a hard time imagining McCain making this kind of dishonest accusation against a Democrat—it would be uncivil and dishonorable. But making it against a fellow Republican running to his right? No problem. On top of this, there's the personal animosity McCain feels toward Romney. Indeed, in one of those debates in New Hampshire, McCain spoke warmly of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama at the same time he was giving off waves of hatred toward Romney.

The author then gives his analysis on how McCain's negativity, lying and hypocrisy might affect his campaign for the GOP nomination.

I wouldn't be surprised if it back-fires on McCain. The attack succeeded in the sense that it tipped the conversation back toward Iraq, but at a potential cost to McCain. His most important political asset is his political character, his reputation for truth-telling and honorable politics. This dishonest low-blow—if it continues to get attention in the closing hours—could chip away at that asset.