Dems Now Free to Pound McCain

Now that Mitt Romney has dropped out and Mike Huckabee's campaign is little more than a novelty act, Democrats have decided that they can stop praising McCain. They've accomplished what they set out to do by leaving him alone long enough to win the nomination. Now the gloves will come off:

With John McCain poised to win the Republican nomination, Democrats are already gathering ammunition to use against him in the general election.

In more than a few instances, the best fodder has been provided by the candidate himself.

A case in point: As the economy was rising late last year as a major issue for voters, McCain in New Hampshire delivered this grenade, with its pin still in it: "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should," he said. "I've got Greenspan's book."

Those are not the only words that will come back to haunt him in November.

From the economy to Iraq to immigration to abortion, the Arizona senator's lengthy voting record and his primary season offerings to the Republican Party's conservative wing provide a deep vein for opposition researchers to mine for shifting positions and policy inconsistencies.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is already moving to redefine the presumed Republican nominee. In a fundraising appeal sent out Wednesday, Dean called McCain "a media darling" and warned that "from Iraq to health care, Social Security to special interest tax cuts to ethics, he's promising nothing more than a third Bush term."

The tough part for Democrats will be making any criticism stick. Republican rival Mitt Romney tried to no avail. The sharp, eleventh-hour assault launched by conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh and a cadre of high-profile conservatives also failed to derail his candidacy.

Romney's attacks didn't stick because the media decided to ignore them and others like Rush Limbaugh were marginalized with stories proclaiming the end of their influence. Now that McCain is the nominee, the media will be free to run with every accusation the Dems can come up with, and what do you bet that the complaints from people like Rush will suddenly get new levels of attention?