GOP '08 Frontrunners Dropping Like Flies

When I heard that thumbsucker Joe Klein speak a couple weeks ago I distinctly remember him defending John McCain for going to Jerry Falwell's Liberty University to speak because it's good for candidates to "go to their enemies and tell them why you disagree with them." He assumed that McCain would pick a fight after accepting the commencement speech invitation. I wonder what he thinks now that McCain has said this:

Known for his maverick streak, McCain has been burnishing his conservative credentials in recent months as he readies a likely White House run. As part of that effort, he'll deliver the commencement address at the Rev. Jerry Falwell's Liberty University on Saturday - an opportunity he described Tuesday as "an honor."

He's not going to engage anybody. He won't even address the points of difference. To suggest otherwise is absurd.

Meanwhile, McCain went into red-state Nebraska and gave his endorsement to the man who everyone considered the most popular politician in the state, former Husker coach Tom Osborne. McCain's imprimatur must mean a lot. Osborne promptly lost the primary. Matt Stoller has more.

So put McCain on the fire along with George Allen and his love of all things Confederate and Bill Frist and his persistent legislative state. (By the way, upon googling that I realized that Will Saletan and Lindsay Beyerstein used that about a year ago during the Schiavo brouhaha. I'm in good company, I guess).

It's going to be bad enough for the GOP just getting to 2008. This suggests it might be worse when they arrive.