Worst. Week. Ever.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

In more than 30 years in politics, I cannot recall another campaign in which a presidential candidate suffered a worse week than John McCain.  Most of the fault lies with the candidate himself, but I have to say, the McCain campaign is among the most amateurish and incompetent that I have ever seen.  I hope these guys aren’t being paid.

The McCain campaign’s attempts to blunt the media coverage of Barack Obama’s overseas tour has been so comical that I had to double-check to make sure that this was not a spoof from The Onion News. 

There are two principal things that the McCain campaign does not want to do: draw attention to the advanced age of their candidate, and draw attention to the fact there is not a wit of difference between their candidate and George W. Bush. 

So what brilliant strategy did the McCain campaign roll out this week?  "Geezer Road Trip." 

McCain shared a photo op with George H. W. Bush, who is older than McCain but looks much younger and fitter.  Driving around in a golf cart didn’t help.  And it also drew attention to the fact that there is not a wit of difference between McCain and George’s boy, George W. Bush.  This was a two-fer mistake.

McCain later in the week shared a photo op with the Dalai Lama, who is also older than McCain but looks much younger and fitter.  Another mistake.

There was the classic dairy counter interview in the Pennsylvania supermarket.  Framed in the photos behind McCain were cartons of "Dole" juice drinks to serve as a helpful reminder of the last geezer to run for president.  Then there was this comedy classic moment in which McCain was pretending to shop with a customer when he was suddenly attacked by applesauce.  "Clean up in aisle 4!"

But the McCain campaign saved the very best for last with the trip to Schmidt’s Sausage Haus and Fudge Haus in Ohio.  Are you frigging kidding me?  Did McCain arrive in time for the "early bird special" so he would not miss his rerun of The Lawrence Welk Show before retiring early to bed?  And Lindsey Graham standing next to him trying to work a piece of gristle out of his teeth during the interview was hilarious.  I laughed so hard it brought tears to my eyes.  Can this guy really be this bad?

It’s no wonder that comics love John McCain.  The material just writes itself.

But it was the candidate himself who did the most damage to his campaign.  This Prima Donna who demands adoration from the McMedia could not stand it that he was not the center of their attention for one week. "Look at me!  Look at me!" So McCain derided "his base" in the McMedia to pressure them into giving him equal time interviews on the networks opposite Barack Obama. 

And what did he do with this golden opportunity?  McCain broke the needle on the Gaffe-O-Meter as he tried to redefine The Surge® into a one-word-fits-all definition for all that is good and holy in this world, and asserted revisionist history to explain what The Surge® was and when it began (he apparently still does not know that it has ended).  Actually, to call his misstatements "gaffes" is overly generous.  McCain’s false statements were either deliberately misleading, or he is suffering from confusion, perhaps even dementia. The McMedia really needs to start taking his misstatements seriously.

One more week like this and Republicans have to seriously consider drafting a nominee at their convention and cast Captain McCain overboard to avoid sinking the GOP ship on the reefs of an electoral landslide defeat in November.