There’s little doubt that McCain can be a thorn in the side of his party and President, and for that reason becomes the darling of the Democrats. The likes of David Broder and Chris Matthews fall all over him as not only a hero but as a left of center diplomat. Other than respect for his war record, he is nothing of the sort. He is as much a political opportunist as H. Clinton, both of whom are boldly positioning themselves for a run in ‘08, and remarkably support the President’s stay the course in Iraq as do Kerry and Giuliani. McCain’s greatest fear is Chuck Hegel who doesn’t mince words — perhaps not to the degree of Murtha — when it comes to the war fraught with mistakes and has been forcefully doing so for over a year.

As for Democrats’ fawning over McCain, it is incomprehensible in light of his predominantly extreme right voting record on domestic issues. In spite of his own incisive criticism of handling the war — which doesn’t make him unique by any means — he still has nothing but kind words in public for his President’s decisions, along with his unkind words about Murtha in old age mellowing [suggesting senility] in war strategy. McCain cannot be trusted within the liberal matrix..