One Loves Cap-and-Trade and Campaign Finance Laws, the Other Is Nuts

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is attacking his challenger, radio host J.D. Hayworth, in a new television ad linking him to conspiracy theorists Orly Taitz and Philip Berg. I'm surprised, considering the McCain camp is using the conspiracy angle, that they didn't mention Hayworth's recent sit down with the John Birch Society (in fairness, as Jim Gerahgty comments, it is only an interview, not an endorsement). But the line of attack is this: "These are serious economic times, yet some are consumed by conspiracies." Perhaps consumed is an overstatement, and perhaps Hayworth is obsessed with Obama's birth records and McCain's economic record, but it's a pretty effective ad.

Matt Welch's classic April 2007 piece on McCain, which was expanded into his book Myth of a Maverick, is worth rereading.