The Man Who Won't Be President

John McCain's campaign is bankrupt. According to MSNBC tonight, his latest flight was made on a commercial airline, and he was carrying his own bag. He had his son, who is being deployed soon, with him in his last campaign stop in New Hampshire. Kind of sad, actually.

Here's John McCain speaking about Iraq this week:

Withdrawing before there is a stable and legitimate Iraqi authority would turn Iraq into a failed state and a terrorist sanctuary, in the heart of the Middle East.

  Real Clear Politics

Two points: What is it now if not a terrorist sanctuary and a failed state? And, seeing as the progress on stability and legitimacy seems to be moving backward, not leaving before it's accomplished begins to look like a permanent occupation. (I know: that was the plan.)

Here's some more of that speech...

The most dramatic advances have been made in Anbar Province, a region that last year was widely believed to be lost to al Qaeda. After an offensive by U.S. and Iraqi troops cleaned al Qaeda fighters out of Ramadi and other areas of western Anbar, the province's tribal sheikhs broke formally with the terrorists and joined the coalition side. Ramadi, which just months ago stood as Iraq's most dangerous city, is now one of its safest. In February, attacks in Ramadi averaged between 30 and 35; now many days see no attacks at all - no gunfire, no IEDs, and no suicide bombings. In Falluja, Iraqi police have established numerous stations and have divided the city into gated districts, leading to a decline in violence. Local intelligence tips have proliferated in the province, thousands of men are signing up for the police and army, and the locals are taking the fight to al Qaeda. U.S. commanders in Anbar attest that all 18 major tribes in the province are now on board with the security plan, and they expect that a year from now the Iraqi army and police could have total control of security in Ramadi. At that point, they project, we could safely draw down American forces in the area.

[...]

In Baghdad, the military, in cooperation with Iraqi security forces, continues to establish joint security stations and deploy throughout the city in order to get violence under control. These efforts have produced positive results: sectarian violence has fallen since January, the total number of car bombings and suicide attacks declined in May and June, and the number of locals coming forward with intelligence tips has risen. Make no mistake - violence in Baghdad remains at unacceptably high levels, suicide bombers and other threats pose formidable challenges, and other difficulties abound. Nevertheless, there appears to be overall movement in the right direction.

You get the idea. Lots of positive spin.

Now let's have a look at the McCain campaign in 2000.

President Clinton's scandals have been a constant, overhanging the Republican presidential race from Iowa's caucuses on, and McCain has made a compelling case that he is his party's best character antidote.

[...]

McCain's distinguished war record plus his Jimmy Carter-esque promise to never lie make him a compelling character contrast with Clinton, who avoided the draft and turned "spin" into high political art. Some folks are showing up at McCain rallies wearing T-shirts saying, "Spinning is lying."

  Free Republic

Maybe they need to pull out those shirts again and remind the man.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.