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We've long since documented the desperate lengths that John McCain is willing to go to win the office of the Presidency, even to the point of hiring the same people responsible for those whisper campaigns in 2000 that he might be a little off his rocker from his years as a POW and that he fathered an illegitimate black baby. Chris Matthews seems a little surprised that John McCain is actually seeking to win the election. Not sure what Chris thinks McCain's been doing for the last 18 months, but it's Howard Fineman who gives the real answer to the $64,000 question. The White House wants McCain to win because they know there would be no accountability for all their criminal acts with another Republican in office.

FINEMAN: If you're in this White House, you want another Republican administration to follow. You don't want a Democratic administration coming in there while the evidence is still fresh, so to speak. To look at it the way... MATTHEWS: With the subpoena power... FINEMAN: With the subpoena power and looking through all the records and looking at all the decisions that were made. You want to cover over your two terms with a third term the way Ronald Reagan did with George HW Bush.

All of which is undoubtedly true, and one can only hope that there might be a depressingly rare accountability moment coming from a Democratic White House (although nothing about the current Democratic majority would lead us to believe they have the fortitude to pursue it). But the thing that chaps my hide is the tacit admission by Fineman that the Bush administration would have stuff to hide. Not that they don't...we've been saying so since the beginning of C&L, but that after years and years of having Fineman and Co. make excuses for the Bush administration and be content to regurgitate their talking points (just as Kelly O'Donnell unapologetically does in this clip), NOW Fineman admits it as if it's been common knowledge all along.

Transcripts below the fold

MATTHEWS: As we've said, President Bush and John McCain have had a chilly relationship at best. Things turned arctic after that brutal primary fight back in 2000 and while they warmed up a bit in recent years, few people believe Bush and McCain are close friends. But the president and some of his former staffers are working hard to get their former rival elected. No surprise there. Getting another Republican in there would be Bush's best hope to carry on, even bulk up his legacy. Here's Bush back in March when he made it plain that he wants McCain there to continue his foreign policy.

[video]

BUSH: John McCain will find out when he takes the oath of office his most important responsibility is to protect the American people from harm. And there's still an enemy that lurks. An enemy that wants to strike us. And this country better have somebody in that Oval Office who understands the stakes. And John McCain understands those stakes.

[end video]

MATTHEWS: So Kelly, they're not ready to turn the ball over to the other side, see how well they can play it, huh?

O'DONNELL: Well the President would certainly like to continue that idea of offense as a part of foreign diplomacy, which is something that John McCain talks about a lot. Where McCain does differ is he is more open to some of the diplomatic negotiations that you hear so much from Barack Obama. Different than Obama, but I think McCain does have a slightly different view on foreign policy than the President.

MATTHEWS: Again, Karl Rove is hovering over this campaign. Steve Schmidt, one of his former people... associates is in there running the campaign now. Now it looks to me like they want to win.

RATHER: They want to win and John McCain wants to win. Because he has bought in to the Rovian strategy for this next election and why wouldn't he? Karl Rove ran two brilliant campaigns for president. However, that could cost him on the other side, because on the one hand he's trying to say, ‘you know, what...I'm not Bush III' on the other hand, he's having Bush's operatives run the campaign for him.

O'DONNELL: Obviously top Republican operatives have worked for the Bush/Cheney era. But Schmidt would be the first to tell you he's an Arnold Schwarzenegger man. He ran his re-election campaign, helped him to win coming back from a big deficit. So even this new guy whose sort of running this organization is not as tied to President Bush and Vice President Cheney as you might think.

MATTHEWS: I'm looking at Rove here, over this whole campaign, not just Schmidt, but Rove. I wonder if the polarizing, partisan way that the Bush campaign put his whole operation together the last two terms isn't going to invade and perhaps hurt the McCain effort. ‘

TUCKER: Well, remember Rove worries about his legacy too. Just a little while ago, he was thought of one of the most brilliant political strategists of a generation. But more recently he's been looking like the guy who has diminished the Republican brand.

MATTHEWS: Yeah.

TUCKER: So he wants McCain to win not just for Bush's sake, but for Rove's sake as well.

MATTHEWS: Yeah, he's was five feet ahead of the Special Prosecuter, let's not forget that, in the leak case.

FINEMAN: Yeah. That's part of it too. First of all, belief matters here. Bush and McCain agree on Iraq...

MATTHEWS: Right.

FINEMAN: ...Which is a big deal. One of the biggest, most consequential decisions any president ever made. So there's belief. There's also fear. If you're in this White House, you want another Republican administration to follow. You don't want a Democratic administration coming in there while the evidence is still fresh, so to speak. To look at it the way...

MATTHEWS: With the subpoena power...

FINEMAN: With the subpoena power and looking through all the records and looking at all the decisions that were made. You want to cover over your two terms with a third term the way Ronald Reagan did with George HW Bush.

MATTHEWS: Yeah...