John McCain and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week

Note to Senator McCain: If you want to win an election, don't ever, EVER say "I would rather lose a political campaign." Specifically, don't say this, especially in relation to Situation FUBAR:

This is a clear choice that the American people have. I had the courage and the judgment to say I would rather lose a political campaign than lose a war. It seems to me that Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign.


From Joe Klein, who's joined Tweety in The Land of Finally Getting a Clue:

This is the ninth presidential campaign I've covered. I can't remember a more scurrilous statement by a major party candidate. It smacks of desperation. It renews questions about whether McCain has the right temperament for the presidency. How sad....

Smart politicians leave the scurrilous stuff to their aides; in fact, a McCain spokesman expressed these words almost exactly on July 14. There is a reason why politicians who want to be President don't say these sort of things: It isn't presidential. A President exists in the straitjacket of literality. His words mean something. So John McCain has to literally believe that Barack Obama would "rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign." I can't imagine that he does. He popped off, out of frustration.

Okay, so Klein isn't totally un-clueless yet. Hey Joe, the really bad part is that McCain is talking about LOSING an election. The word losing is a big ol' colossal no-no on the campaign trail. Why? Because you're campaigning to WIN, okay? That means you don't go up on a podium and say, "You know what? I don't care if I go down in flames come November, because...uh...I've got PRINCIPLES! And having principles means I'm more interested in winning wars than in winning elections. No, I don't know why I'm campaigning for president in the first place if that's what I believe....Say, how come everyone in the crowd looks so depressed?"

(Seriously, check out this video. It's Senator McCain and the glummest-looking campaign crowd you've ever seen since...I dunno...Walter Mondale.)

Per ABC News, while Obama was off in Germany, McCain decide to pay a visit to Columbus, Ohio's German Village neighborhood. Specifically, he had lunch at Schmidt's Sausage Haus und Restaurant. Talk about trying to upstage your opponent.

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