St. John of Arizona

George Will examines the coming media dismantling of John McCain now that it appears he's the frontrunner for the GOP nomination in 2008:

First Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, now John McCain and the media. Even torrid relationships are perishable. It was only a matter of time before the media turned on their pin-up, and that time has arrived. A rivulet, soon to be a river, of journalism is reporting -- as a mystery deciphered, even a scandal unearthed -- that McCain, who occupies the Senate seat once held by Barry Goldwater, is a conservative Republican.

He has been unmasked as a "pro-life, pro-family, fiscal conservative." Those words are his, and they are a reasonably accurate description of the man who voted against the prescription drug entitlement and the most recent transportation bill because of their costs.

McCain proclaims his extravagant admiration for Teddy Roosevelt, a man of many virtues, not one of which was moral modesty. Speaker of the House Thomas Reed once said to TR, "If there is one thing for which I admire you more than anything else, Theodore, it is your original discovery of the Ten Commandments." St. John of Arizona can seem insufferably certain that he has cornered the market on incorruptibility. So, as he begins trying to assemble a presidential majority, he seems, as anyone trying to do that will, like a run-of-the-mill sinner.

McCain's "Straight Talk" act was eaten up by the press when the only thing McCain could be was an irritant to President Bush. As long as McCain was on the outside throwing bombs, the media horde loved him and tagged him with the "maverick" label. Now that he has a chance of actually becoming the GOP nominee, or possibly even the president, the media has decided that it's time to tear down what they built up and start exposing McCain. After all, they can't let the egomaniac Arizona senator ruin the ascent of Queen Hillary to her rightful place as leader of all.

Need an example? Crazy Aunt Bethany of the press corps writes today how McCain will just be another Bush.

Back to George Will. There are those who think McCain could actually make California competitive again, and with 55 electoral votes, that could be a big deal:

But to those Republicans who turn out to pick presidential nominees, one electoral consideration could trump ideological aversions: California. Ken Khachigian, a veteran of Ronald Reagan's White House, is a California Republican strategist who in 2000 was a senior adviser to McCain's campaign. Khachigian says McCain could "put California in play." McCain might be the only conceivable Republican nominee who could.

To put California in play is not the same thing as carrying it. But carrying it is not necessary to significantly improve a Republican nominee's national chances. If the nomination of McCain could force the Democratic nominee to spend a number of days and, say, $30 million to secure California's 55 electoral votes, those days and dollars could not be spent in Ohio, Florida and other battleground states.

This November could produce what McCain could use -- grim election returns for Republicans. If on Nov. 8 Republicans are reeling and a reelected Hillary Clinton is rampant, hitherto unenthralled Republicans might suddenly consider McCain as virtuous as he considers himself. For the politically nervous, "virtuous" is a synonym for "electable."

Does that sound familiar? It was politically nervous Democrats that fled Howard Dean for the relative safety (and sanity) of John Kerry, though it didn't help in the end. Read the rest of Will's piece here.