All of that is very interesting, but the important thing is that John McCain is a Straight Talking American Hero gutsy Maverick who does great BBQ and a good dry rub (?) at one of his luxury homes in Sedona but he's so totally an ordinary regular guy whom everyone loves.

Plus, Sweet and Warren have used Obama's rise to trash Illinois' (admittedly) sleazy politics, and sully him in the process, two narratives of which the opinion makers in Washington heartily approve.

Talk about McCain not exactly being Gary Cooper, well, who wants to ruin a good story with the facts?

Ronald J. Hansen will undoubtedly be thrown off this Straight Talk Express bus...and deprived of his barbeque.

While the Republic is generally considered a pretty conservative paper

it's refreshing to finally hear this 'maverick' crap debunked (are you paying attention, NPR????), but could I also debunk this notion that the Repugnant is a 'pretty conservative newspaper'???

At one time that was very, very true. The Pulliam family was slightly to the right of Ghenghis Khan. But since Eugene Pulliam died in 1975, the paper has ever-so-gradually drifted to the center-right... especially since Gannett bought the paper.

Now, it's just your typical establishment-status-quo defending newspaper.

AzRep linky no worky.

evidence of then-and-now with the Repugnant:

When Jane Fonda came to Phoenix during the Vietnam War, AzRep ran a front-page story with the headline, "Important Remarks Made By Jane Fonda". Beneath the headline... empty white space.

More recently, the paper endorsed Janet Napolitano for governor twice, endorsed Harry Mitchell over JD Hayworth, and opposed the anti-gay-marriage ballot initiative which AZ voters rejected in 2006.

Not exactly a 'pretty conservative' paper these days.

Last night, Tim Russert made the statement that the media will begin to look at McSame's recent fumbles. He mentioned Hagee and his recent middle east misstatements.

I am not holding my breath waiting for such scrutiny. I predict that as soon as they start letting the local AZ reporters on cable, they'll suddenly get an intivitation to his next barbecue. No reporter can resist the mind bending powers of his grilling sauce.

"Why do you think that is?"

It's simple.

McCain's been in Washington long enough that the big media don't think they need any podunk Arizonans to get to know the real McCain. They've all been to the same cocktail parties, for decades now.

But Obama's new, so they have to rely on the Chicago reporters.

jim warren is a well-established washington dc insider who returned to chicago for his job. same with sweet. there's nothing local about them; their outlook is the village outlook.

Maybe the Republic is more of a classically conservative publication - the kind that would oppose a ban on gay marriage because they feel that government shouldn't be involved in our private lives.

It sometimes really scares me that said idea is considered near-heresy in politics these days (even if some pay lip service to the idea).

John McCain is acceptable to me as a GOOD Conservative willing to be a Maverick.

Kentucky law schools are big on critical thinking.

KYJurisDoctor, Just what does a "good" conservative look like? What are their policy positions and how do they differ from a "bad" conservative?

I'm being serious here, what separates good from bad in your eyes? Whom do you judge to be good conservatives and which are bad?

Intuition tells me that we could likely say the same things about good versus bad liberals.

I'm not sure this line of attack is very fruitful considering that the supposedly bipartisan Obama almost never bucks his party on any issue, major or minor. He's toed the line so much, one wonders if he will even lead, or take his cues from Harry Reid.

If he was foolish enough to take Clinton on as VP, I think Clinton would be more powerful than even Dick Cheney. Obama just doesn't have the guts to make waves. He goes along to get along.