Oh snap.

It's becoming a bit ridiculous that the GOP nominee has more scruples than the Democratic trailer (no pun intended).

What if Hillary Clinton kneecaps Howard Dean by saying that the DNC intervening in this shows favoritism to Barack Obama, and that Dean should stay out of it?

What if Hillary Clinton kneecaps Howard Dean by saying that the DNC intervening in this shows favoritism to Barack Obama, and that Dean should stay out of it?

Or conversely one could see this as an attempt to get this settled for the good of everyone.

And especially the good of the Democratic Party.

This is fast shaping up as a test case for the fall campaign. It's been pretty clear for several months that McCain himself is never going to sanction the more scurrilous attacks on his opponent. But that's not the same as policing his own ranks.

In fact, it fits with a general pattern - when confronted, McCain angrily asserts his own general probity as evidence that he himself couldn't possibly be tainted by his association with others of more dubious character. That's how he's handled his ties to lobbyists; to wealthy contributors; to crazy fundamentalist preachers; and to local Republican activists. Having so distanced himself, he claims that he can safely maintain his ties without being corrupted. It's his very awareness of and experience with the corrupting influences of political life that serves to innoculate him against them. It amounts to a claim that St. John is not like other men.

I don't think that's going to hold up terribly well over the course of the campaign. The Times and the Post are already hammering away at his ties to lots of dubious folks, and perhaps more importantly, producing an abundance of evidence that he has, in fact, been swayed by these relationships. It's not going to be enough for McCain to condemn the sin and love the sinner - he's going to have to start demonstrating that he's willing to take concrete action against those who violate standards of legal and ethical behavior. Otherwise, he'll lose his biggest advantage - his public image as moral crusader.

So Dean's attack is spot-on. The question is whether he can make it stick. If he and the DNC can tie McCain to the NC GOP, and convince the public that McCain could stop the ad if he actually meant what he's said, that'll be damaging. We'll score it a win if McCain actually gets them to yank the ad. That'd be a hugely promising sign - it'd set a precedent forcing McCain to police his own ranks, and to take responsibility for the actions of those he ought to be able to control. (We're not talking about wingnuts or activists - we're talking about a state Republican Party.) If McCain manages to shrug this off, though, that'll be ominous. If he can gain the benefit of ground-level venom, without incurring the cost of rising negatives, he's going to be a formidable foe. Should be interesting to watch.

Get use to it, there will be many more.

I love that Dean is doing this. The notion that McCain's strategists aren't relying on the 527's or his party to do character assassination is nuts. C'mon, Straight Talk! Be more than just talk.

McCain Votes Against Equal Pay: Women Need "Education And Training".

Clinton should make an ad to get more gop women.

Good idea, Howard.

And Hillary? You could demonstrate that you actually care about the Democratic Party by demanding that the North Carolina Republicans stop these attacks.

You might pick up some votes in the process, too.

But I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for this to happen.

Election Central? The Rasmussen numbers are wrong.

Obama should immediately use McCains' apparent inability to make the N.C. GOP stop their ad as the reason he won't go against the republicans using only public financing. How can McCain make a campaign financing deal with Obama if he can't even control his own party's actions, let alone the 527s?

In general, I'd like to see Obama be much more aggressive and rapid in applying the verbal aikido skills that we've witnessed in the debates, to immediately place McCain on the defensive.

Much as I hate to agree with GoatLife, I think he's spot on. Whether or not McCain can tamp this one down, there'll be a flood of them behind it.

Look, you have a nail. You look around and you see a brick, a pipewrench and a hammer. Which one do you grab?

Trusting McCain to be constantly vigilant against something that benefits him is unrealistic.

Trusting McCain to be constantly vigilant against something that benefits him is unrealistic.

I don't think anyone does trust him or expect him to do this. The point is to make it public that he is saying one thing while refusing to do anything to change it.

C'mon, this is the kind of rope-a-dope that McCain will employ all the way to November, he has to in order to keep both the wingnuts and the independants in his camp. Step 1) Dog-whistle ad runs on the web 2) McCain brings it to the attention of the media and the wingnuts 3) He "deplores" the message. If Dean or other Dems complain then they just bring more attention to it and give the media more excuses to continue the feeding frenzy. McCain wins all around.

The only way to combat it is to speak to the electorate like adults and call it for what it is; deeply cynical have-it-both-ways divisive politics that idicts both Republicans and the media. Repeat it over and over again every time it happens.

This is a great line of attack against McCain. Let's hope the NC GOP remains defiant. Because then the meme becomes "McCain can't even control his own party, so how can he lead the country?"

It also stirs up intra-Republican battles, which is something McCain can't afford because his support within the party has never been all that solid.

And anything that adds to disarray for Republicans is all good for us.

That Howard Dean is one smart guy!

"But no allowance is given that they might just think Obama is the wrong black candidate."

Because motives are so hard to discern, even to those having them.

What would the "right" black candidate look like? Not belong to a black church? Not think that small town Americans might have retrograde values for economic reasons? Not have "racial views" at all?

Would he even be black?

Where is Kerry?

I thought he was going to stop it.

I guess Dean does it for him.