The hard-driving Tim Russert blew it. He allowed McCain to slip away with his dishonest characterization of Romney's statement, i.e., Romney never said he favored a specific time for withdrawal. McCain read the first part of the quote but not the second part, where Romney would veto a congressional time table. By now, everyone who is carefully following this knows that McCain's allegation is flatly false. The quotes and video the McCain campaign have provided to reporters, and which have been posted on the Corner and elsewhere, do not support McCain's allegation. The liberal AP, New York Times, and writer for Time have all correctly (for once) said that McCain's charge is not supported by the supposed evidence. And yet, McCain and his campaign persist in trying to link Romney to Hillary Clinton with a demonstrably false charge.

McCain also needs to stop denying, in the face of the record, that he opposed the Bush tax cuts out of concern for a lack of spending cuts. Perhaps he said that once or twice, but clearly he most frequently argued against the cuts because he said they favored the rich. Jack Kemp insists that McCain has learned his lesson and his changed. But McCain hasn't said that. When he is confronted with his statements, he brushes them aside and insists he wanted spending cuts as a condition to support tax cuts. This is not a question of interpreting McCain's record. Yet, he makes much of Romney's flip-flops and, by comparison, his own "Straight Talk Express."

On another note, a rumor is making the rounds that Fred Thompson will endorse John McCain tomorrow.