Suddenly, John McCain is no more than a series of rehashed sound bites and overworked talking points. Why has the straight talker gone mostly mum, letting the likes of Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin do his bidding? Could it be that even McCain doesn't have the stomach for the level of negativity being dictated by his campaign managers? Could be -- it was Cindy McCain, after all, who said that her husband would never engage in negative campaigning.

John McCain may have said that he'd rather lose an election than lose a war but I think what he really meant was that he'd rather win an election and lose all self-respect.