Miss Management

"It's pretty clear that the Clinton surrogate is just aiding and abetting John McCain. And, when you know that surrogate is the despicable Lanny Davis, it makes sense. In 2006, Davis, after all, [was] one of Joe Lieberman's most vociferous supporters in 2006. Note again where Davis ran his op-ed: The Wall Street Journal's editorial pages. I guess if Hillary can cozy up to Richard Mellon Scaife, every other right wing venue is acceptable, too."

Across the spectrum, Tom Bevan at Real Clear Politics agrees with the basic argument:

"Davis is probably overstating his case when he suggests 'many loyal, progressive Democrats remain troubled by this issue.' I don't think we've seen much evidence of that at all. In fact, the polls seem to indicate the opposite. But I do think Davis is correct when he warns about the potential fallout among Reagan Democrats and independents, and he's absolutely right that the issue is not going away. As sure as the sun rises in the East, a Republican-leaning 527 is going to use Rev. Wright against Obama in the general.

"This may offend Joe Klein's political sensibilities, but it's clearly within bounds. To most people, Obama's twenty year relationship with Rev. Wright (not to mention his long association with shady dealer Tony Rezko) goes directly to the question of Obama's much-touted judgment."

Klein had criticized Lanny for spreading "poison."

I've never seen so many campaign surrogates get into trouble in just a few months. The Nation's John Nichols pounces on the latest example:

"The John McCain campaign is all excited about a statement that West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller, the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, made about McCain's service in Vietnam.

"Unlike other war heroes who have been shot down in battle and risked their lives behind enemy lines, such as former South Dakota Senator George McGovern, McCain has chosen to make his military service a central feature of his political campaigning. Unfortunately, McCain and his supporters are hyper-sensitive about discussion's of the Arizona senator's service as a fighter pilot and a prisoner of war.

"So they go crazy whenever anyone deviates from the campaign's official story-line.

"Rockefeller did that when he told the Charleston Gazette in an interview that, 'McCain was a fighter pilot, who dropped laser-guided missiles from 35,000 feet. He was long gone when they hit. What happened when they [the missiles] get to the ground? He doesn't know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues.' "

On the left, Carpetbagger's Steve Benen doesn't defend the remark:

"I'll gladly concede that Rockefeller's comments were cheap and definitely warranted an apology, which he promptly offered. And I suppose I don't blame the McCain campaign for trying to capitalize on every available opportunity.