John McCain Scolds His Party

John McCain is back to his old maverick ways. This morning he decided to take his party to task over the Blagojevich scandal that erupted this week out of Illinois. While we do respect the senator from our state, Arizona, we would kindly suggest he sit down and pipe down. From Mike Allen @ Politico:

In a surprising rebuke to the warriors who fought for him through tough times, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Sunday sided with President-elect Barack Obama and scolded the Republican National Committee for fanning the Illinois corruption scandal.

On ABC’s “This Week,” host George Stephanopoulos asked: “The chairman of the Republican National Committee, Mike Duncan, has been highly critical of the way President- elect Obama has dealt with this.

"He's had a statement every single day, saying that the Obama team should reveal all contacts they've had with Governor [Rod] Blagojevich. He says that Obama's promise of transparency to the American people is now being tested. Do you agree with that?”

McCain replied: “I think that the Obama campaign should and will give all information necessary. You know, in all due respect to the Republican National Committee and anybody — right now, I think we should try to be working constructively together, not only on an issue such as this, but on the economy stimulus package, reforms that are necessary. And so, I don't know all the details of the relationship between President-elect Obama's campaign or his people and the governor of Illinois, but I have some confidence that all the information will come out. It always does, it seems to me.”

With all due respect to Senator McCain, when has Barack Obama ever been forthright with anything that is asked of him? He spun his associations with Tony Rezko, William Ayers, Bernadine Dohrn, Jeremiah Wright, and Michael Pfleger during the election -- associations you chose not to pursue. We now know that Barack Obama's newly-appointed chief of staff, Rahm Emmanuel, had discussions with the embattled Illinois governor concerning the former senator's vacant seat. Furthermore, the governor stands accused of attempting to "sell" the seat to the highest bidder that contributed the most to his coffers. He is also on record, as revealed by Patrick Fitzgerald, that if he did not receive the amount of money he was demanding, he would have kept it for himself. That last point is perfectly within his purview as governor, but it is the shadiness of picking a successor that landed Governor Blagojevich in hot water.

As to slamming Mike Duncan over bringing this scandal up, what part of strategy does Senator McCain not comprehend? The Illinois state legislature is moving forward to strip Governor Blagojevich of his appointment powers, and move the vacant seat to a special election. The RNC, which is still led by Mike Duncan, is simply preparing for that election by reminding people in Illinois of just how corrupt Governor Blagojevich is, and the ties to his various criminal cronies, such as Tony Rezko.

We find Senator McCain's statements lambasting the RNC to be petty, at best; at worst, it reinforces the belief held by many Republicans during the election.

He is not to be trusted. He will reach across the aisle in a bipartisan manner that is not beneficial to our side, or the nation.

Senator McCain, again we ask you to sit down, and shut your mouth. You are doing precisely what we predicted you would do. You are now back in the fold of the Senate, and your Democrat friends love it when you criticize your own party.

Marcie