Remember this memo? To: Campaign Leadership

From: Rick Davis, Subject: McCain Message, Date: 3/11/2008 John McCain is now the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party. It is critical, as we prepare to face off with whomever the Democrats select as their nominee, that we all follow John's lead and run a respectful campaign focused on the issues and values that are important to the American people...read on

Did anyone ever really believe that McCain would run a very respectable election except for the Villagers? McCain made up a bogus story about Romney wanting a timetable to withdraw from Iraq during their primary battle.

John McCain accused Mitt Romney of wanting to withdraw troops from Iraq, drawing immediate protest from his Republican presidential rival who said: “That’s simply wrong and it’s dishonest, and he should apologize.”

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Asked about the comment in Land O’ Lakes, Romney balked. “That’s dishonest, to say that I have a specific date. That’s simply wrong,” he said. “That is not the case. I’ve never said that.”

Romney then responded and called McCain a liar and then just plain dishonest.

Mitt Romney was caught on tape Sunday saying his GOP rival John McCain was "lying" about his position on the Iraq war, before quickly telling a reporter he regretted his words. The Arizona senator was merely "dishonest," Romney said. "Well, he's lying," replied the former governor, with a slight laugh. Within a second his tune changed. "He's dishonest [inaudible]. He's being dishonest about that. That's not accurate." "Are you calling him a liar?" the reporter asked. "No I'm not. I'm saying he made a dishonest comment. I misspoke."

Even Brit Hume called McCain---dishonest over this story.

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Hume: …and I think that for McCain to claim that is dishonest. Not straight talk. Wallace: Is that anymore dishonest than Mitt Romney saying that McCain is not an expert on the economy? Hume: Well, McCain did in fact say that.

As Digby says:

The McCain campaign is coming hard after Obama right now, being very aggressive and nearly hostile, adopting a tone of righteous indignation that this interloper is trying, basically, to steal the country from its rightful owners. It's pretty standard right wing populism and it's always been an effective approach for Republicans during hard times. We'll see if he can make it work, but I would hope that the Democrats start fighting this back right now. It's not going to get any better and there's no margin in letting it lie...read on

So we know McCain is a liar, but that didn't stop the media from running the phony Obama didn't want to see the wounded troops story. Hang on, it's just starting...