Clay Burell's Library tagged election08 →  View Popular

Former McCain supporter Frank Schaeffer, writing Friday in the Baltimore Sun, concurred:

John McCain: In 2000, as a lifelong Republican, I worked to get you elected instead of George W. Bush. In return, you wrote an endorsement of one of my books about military service. You seemed to be a man who put principle ahead of mere political gain.

You have changed. You have a choice: Go down in history as a decent senator and an honorable military man with many successes, or go down in history as the latest abettor of right-wing extremist hate.

The Washington Post's Dan Balz warned that McCain is headed down the same dirty path George W. Bush took in the 2000 South Carolina primary.

"McCain's tactics are over the line, with no restraint in sight, and threaten to provoke reactions among partisans on both sides that will continue to escalate."

...

I was in contact over the last 24 hours with another veteran of recent Republican presidential campaigns and asked, on a not-for-attribution basis, whether he believed McCain's campaign is taking a big risk with its negative turn. "Yes," this strategist replied. "Big mistake. If this stuff mattered, then why didn't they raise it five months ago. Sad."