Repeat of '00: Right-wing lapdogs attack McCain "temper"

Some creep at neocon propaganda outlet Newsmax is pulling the same crap Rove's boys did in 2000 in the run-up to key GOP primaries: calling Sen. John McCain an angry, unpopular bastard.  Let it be known up front that it is the strong desire of the Right to get Condoleeza Rice elected in '08, not lone wolf McCain, and here's why:

1. Rice has no skeletons in her sexual closet (she's never even been married) and thus no potential for lurid media distractions.  Unless you count this stuff, which the DNC will likely not touch since they take the wimpy high road these days.  They could spin the lesbianism rumors, but what good is that when half of D.C. is gay now?  As for McCain, memories of his "illegitimate black child" will be enough to drive many Southern Republicans, ironically, into the arms of high yella Condi.

2. Rice is an egghead, fragile as that is.  She gives off the aura of intellectualism but until she was appointed Secretary of State, it was mostly a thin veneer.  "Hardcore" diplomatic experience will steel her, the reasoning goes.  Anyone but a stuttering chimp this time... Bush's blatant stupidity was a serious liability; Rice's mild, bookwormish persona will correct that.  They'd also have you know that McCain is a hate-filled, selfish grandstander who probably went nuts in his six years in the cage.

3. Rice is steerable.  Having little to no street smarts and no apparent sense of guile, she'll be easily persuaded by the real powers behind the throne once she gets elected, so the status quo of corruption and cronyism is preserved.  (You did know the '06 elections will be an exercise in futility, right?)  No one tells McCain what to do, and the thought of a maverick flying solo with the reins of power fills the chickenhawk heart with fear and loathing.

At any rate, Rice is the perfect antidote to presumed Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, who is relatively unpopular among leftist Democrats and moderates too.  So expect more of these kind of attacks on McCain in the propagandist press.