Last month, I noted on this site that John McCain's plan to escalate the war in Iraq was never supposed to see the light of day. The logic for avoiding enactment was clear -- McCain could refuse to endorse the failing status quo without embracing withdrawal, leaving him free to criticize his eventual opponent as a "cut-and-runner" while saying Bush failed by failing to embrace the McCain plan.

But something happened on the way to the nomination. Bush decided to embrace the McCain plan. So what is McCain doing now? He's upped the ante and is saying he wants even more troops than the President is offering. Yet, as Greg Sargent notes, McCain himself has offered 20,000 troops as the necessary number as recently as October -- and Bush is ramping up by more than that. And earlier this month, he indicated that as few as 18,000 may be sufficient.

So the Straight Talk Express is zigging and zagging. The strategy remains clear: Criticize Bush for failing to execute the war properly while criticizing opponents for being weak in war. Too bad for McCain that he's out-of-touch with the experts. The military is overstretched. It can't handle Bush's escalation, much less the much larger escalation now demanded by Senator McCain.

It's been fun pointing out the signposts that mark the way to John McCain's withdrawal from the presidential race. Here's another one, a Rasmussen poll for Arizona:

Arizona is the home state for John McCain, but Fred Thompson is the strongest GOP Presidential candidate in the state at this time.

A Rasmussen Reports telephone survey found that Thompson leads Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton by seventeen percentage points, 51% to 34%. Thompson will be formally announcing his candidacy this week.

McCain's edge over Hillary Clinton was 46% to 36%. Which means that John McCain lost 5 points against Fred Thompson in his home state. Clearly John McCain is very much over. I am now intensely interested in the 3rd quarter fundraising numbers for the McCain campaign.

One of the most unappealing aspects of John McCain's character is his propensity for anger and spite. It surpasses even Howard Dean's. In 2000, the media fell in love with McCain and his Straight Talk Express, not because he was always spouting the 'truth', but that his version of the 'truth' often was aligned with the mainstream media's version of the 'truth'. In fact, it was McCain's willingness to viciously attack fellow Republicans and social conservatives that led to the McCain/media love fest.

But, as the admittedly early Republican polls are showing, the Senator's mutual love affair with himself and the press isn't playing as well with the populace as he had thought. McCain has acted, since 1999, not as a Republican but as a populist. That's one of the reason why he is scrambling all over the place, appeasing those he once attacked, in an effort to gain support.

In South Carolina this weekend, McCain visited one of his favorite pass-times - criticizing Don Rumsfeld, the ex-Secretary of Defense. Providing that we persevere in Iraq, something that Bush seems intent on doing regardless of what histrionics come from the Congress, Rumsfeld's term as SecDef will look better as time goes on, especially his efforts at force transformation. And this is where he first incurred the wrath of McCain and the other Senators.

This is a side of John McCain that we should see much more often:

After being grilled by Stewart , McCain jokingly told him that he had a present for him - an IED that he could place under his desk.

Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., was furious and publicly assailed McCain on the House floor.

...

"I don't know how to react to that kind of hysteria to a comedy show," he told Diane Sawyer on "GMA." "All I'm going to say to Murtha and others. ... Lighten up and get a life."

Sure, this is a fat easy target, but McCain has been down, desperate and almost frantically hardcore on Iraq and other depressing news lately. This was a great opportunity to show a lighter side and he took it. Good for him.

While I have to agree with so many that John Kerry's "joke gone bad" toward our soldiers was unfair and uncalled for, I wonder if Senator John McCain is possibly looking ahead with his early criticism on Kerry.

Of course, Kerry is doing the same. Remember it was Kerry who accused McCain last month of playing politics by blaming Korea's nuclear weapons test on Clinton. Now McCain is targeting Kerry.

I wonder if the strong response to Kerry's statement is really just about demanding an apology from Kerry. I think there is more to it, as this article beautifully states. I think it's about gaining seats in the house, and our soldiers are trapped in the middle of it . I also think that both John Kerry and McCain are already seeing each other as political opponents for the 2008 Election.

Keep in mind there was much talk about their long time friendship during the last presidential election. Some even thought that McCain was going to be Kerry's running mate back in 2004. And we all recall how McCain called the swift boat adds against John Kerry unfair. It could be of course that Kerry feels strongly for our soldiers. After all he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

However, all of a sudden both of them seem to be the first in line to to criticize each other. I guess the long friendship ends when it comes to a possible run in 2008 with both being in the opposite party.

John McCain's stand-up comedy routine rolls on through the heartland of America, where his potential supporters want to know, when are we going to get on with bombing the hell out of Iran, already? McCain doesn't miss a beat with queries like this, as is evidenced below.

I wonder what Brian Wilson thinks?

Previously on 'The Stump':
· McCain Supporters Stick
· McCain Bets on Iraq

The new Rasmussen Poll just came out and it looks like John McCain's parachute hasn't opened yet. In this newest poll, Hillary Clinton is now ahead of John McCain 47% to 38%. According to the article, Clinton was ahead of McCain by 4%one month ago. Two months ago, McCain was ahead by 6%. What is even worse is that 47% now have an unfavorable rating regarding Senator McCain. This surprises me because almost everybody that I talk to now has an unfavorable opinion.

Just quit John and let your friend Fred Thompson take over your supporters.

This is remarkable, although not surprising. CNN's man in Baghdad, Michael Ware, openly mocked and heckled Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, according to an item at the Drudge report:

During a live press conference in Baghdad, Senators McCain and Graham were heckled by CNN reporter Michael Ware. An official at the press conference called Ware's conduct "outrageous," saying, "here you have two United States Senators in Baghdad giving first-hand reports while Ware is laughing and mocking their comments. I've never witnessed such disrespect. This guy is an activist not a reporter."

This man who calls himself a reporter also pulled the same thing with McCain last week during an interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN. After Blitzer had interviewed McCain, Ware ridiculed the senator:

Last week, after Senator McCain told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that he needed to catch up on the news coming out of Iraq, Michael Ware responded, saying: "I don't know what part of Neverland Senator McCain is talking about when he says we can go strolling in Baghdad."

Michael Ware is one of those many reporters who are doing the best to portray Iraq in the worst possible light to the rest of the world.

Michael Ware has also publicly expressed his views on the war last year in an interview with Bill Maher, saying, "I've been given a front-row ticket to watch this slow-motion train wreck ... I try to stay as drunk for as long as possible while I'm here ... In fact, I'm drinking now."

He gets off on this type of behavior. Let's see if CNN holds him to account.

John McCain had a conference call with bloggers yesterday and it was AAI: All About Iraq. Gateway Pundit was on the call and gives us the main points:

John McCain Challenged Democrats In Congress To Pass Legislation To Fund Our Troops. Democrats have failed to provide our troops with the resources necessary to succeed in their mission. John McCain demanded Democrats in Congress put our troops before politics and immediately pass a new funding bill.

John McCain Has Said He Would Rather Lose An Election Than A War. John McCain is willing to confront this unpopular issue at the risk of losing this election. He believes that presidents don't lose wars, political parties don't lose wars – nations lose wars and nations suffer the consequences.

John McCain Explained To The American Public That We Are At A Critical Crossroad Faced With A Choice Of Historic Proportions. Will our nation's elected leaders make the choice to go down the more difficult but wise road for long-term security or decide to take the easy way out without regard for the catastrophic consequences? Democrats in Congress have spoken – John McCain vehemently disagrees. He believes our cause is just, necessary, and winnable.

John McCain Challenged The Media To Report Early Signs Of Progress. He acknowledged that car bombs are newsworthy but challenged the media to report on early progress:

Give him credit, politically this is a gutsy move. There's nothing else to conclude but that McCain means what he says with these points, especially the part about nations losing wars and nations suffering the consequences.

Redstate lets on that they are not too happy with McCain's attendance at conservative events this year:

It's official, Sen. John McCain won't be at the Conservative Political Action Conference next week. McCain's people have informed CPAC planners that he can't make the three-day conference, which will take place about three miles from McCain's Capitol Hill office.

By skipping CPAC, McCain will have blown off three conservative events already this year. In addition to CPAC, he missed the National Review Institute Conservative Summit and the Heritage Foundation's Conservative Members Retreat. He's also turned down an invitation to the Club for Growth's conference in March. McCain did make a trip to Florida on Monday for the National Religious Broadcasters Convention.

Importantly, every other candidate will be there except for Rudy Giuliani. But as Rudy doesn't claim to be conservative and McCain does, redstate is giving him a pass.

Beltway Blogroll brings up an interesting problem for John McCain. For the past several years he has ticked off bloggers in several key ways.

McCain has sponsored legislation that puts huge burdens on Internet Service Providers and Websites.

ThinkProgress dredges up an unflattering quote that tells us what McCain thinks about the blogosphere

When I was a young man, I was quite infatuated with self-expression, and rightly so because, if memory conveniently serves, I was so much more eloquent, well-informed, and wiser than anyone else I knew. It seemed I understood the world and the purpose of life so much more profoundly than most people. I believed that to be especially true with many of my elders, people whose only accomplishment, as far as I could tell, was that they had been born before me, and, consequently, had suffered some number of years deprived of my insights...It's a pity that there wasn't a blogosphere then. I would have felt very much at home in the medium.

One of the few decisions that John Kerry made in 2004 that was right, was when he wanted John McCain to be his running mate. Just a reversal of 100,000 in Ohio, and Kerry would no longer be the whipping boy. Losers make mistakes. The mistakes made by winners are soon forgotten.

Reading the recent blog of a fellow blogger, I read that John McCain did not believe that Republicans lost in November because of the Iraq War. I believe he is correct. It seems to me that corruption and the budget deficit caused by the war were contributing factors. However, since November, the American voter is beginning to realize how inept the administration had been in the way the war has been conducted. Americans don't like losers and the support for the war is sinking. The "cut and run" defense is no longer working.

McCain is stuck on Iraq. It is too late for him to bail out. His support for more troops is not an act of courage. Instead, it is the hope that maybe an increase in troops might turn things around. If it does, he will look like a genius and certainly will win the nomination. If losses mount and there is no end in sight by the end of 2007, McCain is in trouble.

However, it looks like John McCain is remembering what John Kerry had hoped to do. Maybe, if McCain could link Arizona and Connecticut, he could win the election no matter what happens. The east and the west would be combined. John Kennedy did that with Lyndon Johnson. McCain could pull this off. Lieberman is an "independent" who votes Republican. McCain's interpretation that Connecticut supported the war by voting for Lieberman might not be completely accurate but a McCain/Lieberman ticket is much more compatible than a Kerry (liberal)/McCain (conservative) ticket could ever be.

Remember the old expression, "Always a Bridesmaid never a bride"? It seems like Senator John McCain may not even come in second when all the votes are counted in the Republican primaries. When I talk to people about John McCain, I find that many are wondering whatever happened to the John McCain of the 2000 election. Conversations like these started about one month ago. McCain looked like he was locking in all the right people. Problem is, he forgot the independent voter while he made friends with his enemies from the past.

John McCain missed the Conservative Conservative Action Conference (CPAC) because he was on an extensive fund-raising tour. Robert Novak reports that when McCain's staff told CPAC that he would not be able to attend the conference, they never mentioned the tour. In other words, they think he avoided the conference. The result, he finished fifth in the CPAC straw poll. Rudy Giuliani (liberal) came in second but when combining first and second place votes, Rudy came in first. The man who just won't go away is Mitt Romney. He is a reformed liberal who wins the CPAC straw vote. Of the three, McCain is the true conservative. He has lost his original base.

Now, lets turn to the rest of the voters. Where are they going. In a recent Newsweek Magazine Survey, Giuliani held a 25% point lead over McCain. The lead keeps growing. McCain admirers from 2000 have grown disgusted with his attempts to sell his soul for the White House. Giuliani has not played that game and it seems that his approach is working. This is who I am. Love me or leave me. McCain should have done the same.

John McCain won't meet his fund-raising goals and it doesn't take a genius to speculate why. First the bad news from Hotline:

Sen. John McCain said his presidential campaign would not meet its fundraising goals this quarter, and his campaign advisers acknowledged that ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney may wind up raising more.

"We're going to pay a price for it because we got a late start," McCain told reporters in New Hampshire. "We're not going to meet the goals we had." He later said he did not know whether Romney would outpace him, but his advisers did not downplay that possibility. They also did not rule out finishing first.

No word on Giuliani, curiously. Maybe no one thought to ask? The speculation comes from Don Surber:

Once again, the media's favorite Republican is being less than candid. Romney's campaign began in January, a month after McCain began trying to raise presidential money.

What is doing him in financially is karma. McCain-Feingold was supposed to limit money in political campaigns. That is why McCain is having trouble raising money. McCain-Feingold made him a political pariah. Republicans love him and respect his wartime heroism, but they would rather see Hillary get elected.

I think that's right. Big money contributors who love the influence their dollars can bring them can't be too happy with John McCain.

Notch this one up as bad news from John McCain. While I personally thought that Mitt Romney's religion was going to be a problem for his presidential aspirations, it appears the 72-years-old-in-2008 Arizona senator faces a much higher hurdle in this race: His age.

Hotline On Call reports a new poll showing voters only slightly more inclined to elect a man of McCain's age to the presidency than they are to elect a gay man.

In fact, 42% of Americans say flat-out that they will not support a man of McCain's age in this race.

These numbers, of course, are fluid. When some people find out that it is Senator McCain, they'll make an exception. Similarly, many of the Americans who have no problem with John McCain's age will still have a problem with his voting record that shows a clear hostility to American workers.

Indeed, John McCain faces a host of problems with this race, even as he is still the likely frontrunner.