Candor from John McCain

A month ago, a Hamas spokesman told an interviewer the terrorist group approved of Barack Obama's candidacy for president.  John McCain has argued since that Hamas "endorsed" Obama. 

This isn't exactly a straight line and Obama said yesterday he considers it a smear:

"This is offensive, and I think it's disappointing, because John McCain always says, 'Well, I'm not going to run that kind of politics,'" Obama said. "And then to engage in that kind of smear, I think, is unfortunate, particularly since my policy toward Hamas has been no different than his."

Obviously, no candidate can control foreign leaders from making public statements about their preferences.  Time Magazine recently published an article on Iran that included speculation that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may be hoping for a John McCain presidency in order to bolster his hold on his presidency.  I heard no one suggest that Ahmadinejad had "endorsed" McCain.

If Senator McCain has evidence Barack Obama is supportive of Hamas, he should make that information available.  In the absence of that proof, McCain's inference that Obama is, in some way, sympathetic to Hamas is the sign of a very desperate campaign.  In fact, Senator McCain admitted today it's just good old nasty politics:

“It's very obvious to everyone that Senator Obama shares nothing of the values or goals of Hamas, which is a terrorist organization,” McCain said. “But it's also fact that a spokesperson from Hamas said that he approves of Obama's candidacy. I think that's of interest to the American people.”

Despite Senator McCain's and Mrs. McCain's assurances, a "respectful" campaign seems the last thing we can expect from the McCain campaign.