Touchy, Touchy

John McCain, who has delusions of Kerry-dom dancing in his head (not entirely delusional with this sorry Republican field, though somebody oughta tell him that John Keery lost), is pushing back dramatically against a rumor of a New York Times story promoted by Drudge. If this doesn't show how Matt Drudge rules the world of the political class, I don't know what does. Drudge, whose 15 minutes of fame actually ended in 1998 but nobody told the media, who artificially inflates his own Web stats to deceive his advertisers, has a pathetic amount of reach into the general population. But because his reach into the desks of the Russert-ites is large, and because McCain is essentially running a media campaign based on getting free coverage, any chink in his armor among that class would torpedo him. So he has to push back vigorously against an Internet rumor.

"It is unfortunate that rumor and gossip enter into political campaigns. John McCain has a 24-year record of serving this country with honor and integrity. He has never violated the public trust, never done favors for special interests or lobbyists, and he will not allow a smear campaign to distract from the important issues facing our country.

"Americans are sick and tired of this kind of gutter politics. John McCain is the most experienced and prepared to lead as commander and chief, and he will continue to run a positive campaign on the issues."

Somebody protesting too much? Well how about the fact that he's not only lobbying the editor of the NYT to deep-six the story, but he's hired Bill Clinton's old lawyer:

The Arizona Republican has hired a prominent Washington criminal attorney, Robert Bennett, to deal with the matter. "What is being done to John McCain is an outrage," Bennett said in an interview.

This doesn't pass the smell test. You don't hire a lawyer to rebut a rumor. You hire a lawyer because you're in legal trouble. So this story must not only be damaging, but reveal some criminal liability that would spark an FBI investigation. There's no other way to read it.

You actually don't need a new article to portray John McCain as a complete hypocrite on federal spending. His views on war, not just supporting the Iraq war but all war, provides billions of dollars to his buddies in the defense industry in Arizona. War is good for business in his home state. So his supporters benefit from the bloated defense budget more than practically any other state. So spare me the talk of St. McCain the king of porkbusting.