Despite what many think about him, I happen to believe Chris Matthews is a moderate-to-liberal Democrat who purposely leans harder on liberals and Democrats than he does on those with which he tends to disagree. Maybe he wants to toughen up the left; maybe he's just a big pussy. But the truth is, when you watch him in action, you can't help but notice Matthews' red herrings, straw men, and otherwise inarguable statements disappear once the (R) guest shows up. What's worse, when the (R) is someone with half a brain, and a military background, "The Screamer" folds up into a fetal position and gives the guest a free ride.

Thus, the hour-long John McCain stump speech Chris Matthews allowed to run on his Hardball (sic) program last night was an interesting watch.

Not being a neocon, and therefore not averse to considering opposing viewpoints, the political programs I find most interesting are often those that make me think. Which, as many of you know, is exactly why most of us find Sean Hannity so laughable, and the reason right wingers like Pat Buchanan, G. Gordon Liddy, and John McLaughlin are infinitely more interesting than Limbaugh, Ingraham, Weiner-Savage, and the rest.*

On Hardball (sic) last night McCain got away with flip-flopping (changed his stated opinion on gay marriage ten minutes after first expressing it), pandering to the military more than once, and weaseling his way out of actually answering a student's question about his recent, unexplained acceptance of the "revised" U.S. policy on torture.

The scary thing is McCain was able to feel out the audience, answer a couple questions in ways you'd not expect most Rapture-ublicans to do. For instance, he stated he lacks confidence in Donald Rumsfeld (interestingly, between his first, and then revamped position on gay marriage). He was therefore able to appeal to more than just the hard right. A dyed-in-the-wool politician, McCain said whatever it took to win over the crowd for which he was performing, in large part thanks to Matthews' absence from the proverbial mound from which he putatively delivers hard balls. John McCain easily came across as someone who could win much of the moderate-to-liberal vote in 2008.

But, fortunately, the GOP won't let him win that nomination. McCain's biggest obstacle will be the party to which he still belongs.

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* Note that the most popular conservative radio talk shows are those with the least intellectually stimulating hosts. And the right wonders why we consider most of them dumb.