McCain wants to spoil the DNC party, showing off his continued immaturity

BE-ELECTED
by Chad Rubel

It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
You would cry too if it happened to you

In the Lesley Gore 1963 hit, she gets upset when her boyfriend, Johnny, leaves her and takes up with a girl named Judy, to whom he gives a ring. Well, the Democrats are throwing a party this week, and John McCain is trying whatever he can to play the role of "Judy."

Traditionally, the parties lay low during the other's celebration. Oh, there are some antics but they are generally quiet, allowing the other party to have the spotlight. And it's a selfish act since the other party wants the same treatment for them during its time in the sun.

But John McCain has run a desperate campaign. McCain really wants to win, and not in a healthy way. So the traditional laying low is going out the window.

This started, perhaps, when McCain's campaign made it adamantly clear that McCain would pick his running mate second, regardless of when Obama went. True, Obama fell for the trap, giving McCain the best opportunity to announce his running mate -- the day after Obama's speech in Denver (also drowning out the fact that McCain turns 72 years old that day).

Over the weekend, McCain churned out several ads, one on Biden, one about Sen. Hillary Clinton. Why can't he turn out position papers with nearly that speed?

The RNC is having a happy hour party for Clinton supporters, though according to Wonkette, "Space is limited, and attendees must present both a valid DNCC and press organization credential to gain admittance."

But don't worry about McCain being alone: the Republicans are bringing out several heavy hitters:

Leading the list of Republicans heading to Denver are former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Romney will anchor the GOP's Tuesday press availability - the same day Obama's former presidential rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), is scheduled to speak to the Democrats.

The heavy GOP presence at the Democratic convention is a sharp change from four years ago, when there was not much of a response team on the ground in Boston.

Romney, along with Republican Reps. Eric Cantor (Va.), Lincoln Diaz-Balart (Fla.) and Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), will be camped out in the Republican war room, which houses its own television studio and is within "walking distance" of the Democratic convention floor, GOP officials said.

And let's not forget the pièce de résistance: McCain is the major guest on Monday's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." That isn't laying low.

Yes, politics has always been dirty, even rough in years past. But there was some civility even back then. And since the MSM will be obsessed over Obama, Clinton, and the gang, the Republicans may not even get a whole lot of mileage from the matter.

But even a little is a lot for McCain. For being the oldest major party presidential candidate, McCain has sure being acting childish. For an unrelated issue, Keith Olbermann recently had some good advice for McCain:

Let's have an adult campaign here, in other words and I am embarrassed to have to say this to a man who turns 72 at the end of this month Senator, grow up!

You could argue that the gentlemen's agreement needs to be broken, but in the already overloaded campaigns we currently have, a 1-week break isn't a horrible idea. And even if the Democrats do some retaliation next week in St. Paul, well, the Republicans started it. And no one thinks the Democrats will come close to the level of events the Republicans already have scheduled.

McCain might want to consider the lyrics of a 1965 party-related song, "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" by the Beatles, so that he doesn't go where he isn't wanted.

I don't want to spoil the party so I'll go,
I would hate my disappointment to show,
There's nothing for me here so I will disappear

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