The Call of Chameleon

Robert Novak reports on the latest fundraising effort of Senator John McCain's presidential campaign:

Sen. John McCain's virtually bankrupt presidential campaign has made a desperate fund-raising bid for small contributions, on grounds that "the liberal Hollywood elites would love to see Sens. [Barack] Obama, [Hillary] Clinton or [John] Edwards face off against any Republican other than John McCain."

Contrary to Senator McCain's self-image as a Republican Charles Martel standing strong against the Democratic hordes, Senator Barack Obama, Senator Hillary Clinton and former Senator John Edwards are probably somewheres between "positively delighted" and "absolutely ecstatic" about their chances in the presidential election against him. McCain, known to Democrats as "that guy who cosponsors all of our legislation" or "our little stooge", has been carrying water for the Democrats for years. The Democratic Party's presidential nominee wouldn't even have to run campaign ads against McCain; he or she could simply order McCain to surrender and be able to expect that order to be carried out.

The single positive benefit for Republicans from nominating McCain as their presidential candidate would be that McCain would almost certainly be forced to resign his Senate seat at some point. This action would dramatically increase the Republican chances of winning back Congress overnight.