Endorsement

Can someone explain to me how this helps McCain?

He's got the GOP nomination locked up. So how does the endorsement of the Worst President in American History help him? Who is this endorsement supposed to sway in McCain’s favor? Who still thinks George Bush is capable of sound political judgment when every single thing he has touched has turned to shit?

Oh, I’m exaggerating? Name one thing Bush has done in eight years as president that can reasonably be called a success. OK then.

Given Bush’s ongoing popularity problem, I think this hurts McCain more than it helps him. I can only assume McCain wants access to the BushCo fundraising machine.

For his part, by waiting until after the nomination was locked up to endorse, Bush is clearly sending the message that he would have endorsed whomever won the GOP nomination. And Bush endorsing a Republican whose only opponents are Democrats isn’t exactly shocking, or even noteworthy.

If Bush really wanted to help McCain (and this assumes he believes that his endorsement helps McCain), he would have endorsed him a month ago, when McCain was getting the shit kicked out of him by Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney. But then Bush might have risked backing a losing horse, and no way were Bush’s handlers about to expose Junior to the possibility of having his infallibility bubble pricked.

So Bush supports a Republican for president? No shit. He held a rose garden press conference to announce the “news”? Big fucking deal.

UPDATE: Looks like the McCain campaign is wondering about the value of Bush’s endorsement too.

As of this writing, there's no mention of it on the home page of McCain's Web site. There's no mention of it all on the Republican National Committee's home page. In fact, I can't find any mention whatsoever of the event on either Web site at all.

Kinda makes you wonder why McCain even bothered showing up.