If John McCain wasn't running one of the vilest campaigns the nation has ever seen, and thus caused my contempt for him to expand by the second, I would probably feel sorry for him.
He just delivered one of the most uncomfortable, awkward, and embarassing performances I've seen on Meet the Press. I should confess,like many others, I used to have great admiration for McCain, but he has squandered all the political capital he had accrued over almost two decades. So with his showing on M.T.P. this morning, I couldn't help but get the mental image of a 37 year old Joe Louis getting knocked out of the ring by Rocky Marciano. McCain just looks spent. His arguments against the polling Brokaw pointed to were weak, and seemed completely devoid of any passion and actual belief. He seemed irritated, no surprise there, but it wasn't in his usual fiery way. It was more demoralized than anything, like a footbal team who's down 63-0 with a minute to go, and just wants desperately for the game to be over. That moment when he couldn't name the fifth secretary of state (Shultz), and he just stammered for what seemed like 5 minutes, and then had to start all over, that was excrutiating. His defense of the RNC's $150K shopping spree was pathetic, and you could just tell that he himself didn't buy the excuses he was giving, but they were a formality he had to follow. I think perhaps the biggest lie John McCain has told in this campaign, is his claim that he will fight till the last dog dies. He may be full of anger, resentment, astonishment, and uncertainty, but this morning it was evident that he has no real fight left in him.