McCain On Defense...From Own Party

It's like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube. What's done is done.

TPM sums up the latest:

After taking criticism for standing by for days while his supporters grew increasingly unhinged and hysterical, John McCain did the right thing today, telling his supporters that there's no need to be "scared" of a president Obama and calling on them to be "respectful" towards him.

...That's all fine. But if McCain wants to lower the temperature, how about stopping with the new ad implying that Obama is currently in league with a current terrorist? And if we see Wright come up next week, will this stuff still be operative?



Rep. John Lewis' thoughts:

"What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history," Lewis said in a statement issued today for Politico's Arena forum. "Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse."

..."George Wallace never threw a bomb," Lewis noted. "He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama."

...“As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all," Lewis said today. "They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better.”