McCain leaves ugly mark on Obama's forehead

Okay, the headline is misleading at best. Senator McCain did not actually touch Senator Obama, but he might as well have. What McCain did was release a letter where he apologized to the senator from Illinois for assuming he was honest. Ouch!

Dear Senator Obama:

I would like to apologize to you for assuming that your private assurances to me regarding your desire to cooperate in our efforts to negotiate bipartisan lobbying reform legislation were sincere. When you approached me and insisted that despite your leadership’s preference to use the issue to gain a political advantage in the 2006 elections, you were personally committed to achieving a result that would reflect credit on the entire Senate and offer the country a better example of political leadership, I concluded your professed concern for the institution and the public interest was genuine and admirable. Thank you for disabusing me of such notions with your letter to me dated February 2, 2006, which explained your decision to withdraw from our bipartisan discussions. I’m embarrassed to admit that after all these years in politics I failed to interpret your previous assurances as typical rhetorical gloss routinely used in politics to make self-interested partisan posturing appear more noble. Again, sorry for the confusion, but please be assured I won’t make the same mistake again.

If there was any doubt that John McCain plans to run in 2008 it's gone now. McCain knows he has a real challenge ahead of himself to get back in the good graces of the Republican base. Releasing this letter had to be done with the knowledge that it would play well with those who vote in primaries.