Brilliant campaign strategy there John!

John McCain chose to stand in front of a shuttered factory in Ohio to tell voters to "reject protectionism" and then went on to draw parallels with the regions economic woes and his own electoral fortunes.

"A person learns along the way that if you hold on — if you don't quit no matter what the odds — sometimes life will surprise you," McCain said in a speech at Youngstown State University after meeting the five remaining workers at Fabart, a steel-fabricating factory that had more than 100 employees a few years ago.

Continuing a weeklong tour of what he calls the "forgotten America," McCain called for the increased use of community colleges to retrain workers and investment in alternative energy technologies to replace the manufacturing jobs that have gone overseas as free trade agreements made it easier for companies to move to where production is cheaper.

"The American Midwest is more than a rust belt, and its economy is more than the sum of past hardships," McCain said, while acknowledging that a comeback "won't be easy."

Apparently, he said this with a straight face. In Youngstown, Ohio. In front of a shuttered factory that used to support families and afforded college educations for the regions children and good-paying union jobs for the residents.

How churlish to make the false-equivalency he made - as if his personal experience with winning the republican nomination in a year when the republican brand is toxic is comparable to the economic malaise that free-trade has brought to the rust-belt.

But the M$M has their mancrush mojo working - they will spin it not as stupid, but as straight talk. Proof that the ultimate insider is a "maverick" and courageous enough to say the stupidest shit imaginable and mean it speak hard truths.

Now, just for fun, lets play a round of "If a Democrat said that..."

If a Democrat said that, the talking heads of Faux Noise would set up a howl like none ever heard before. It would be proof positive that the Democrat was out of touch with the concerns of ordinary Americans, and really, it is just more proof - as if that was needed - that Democrats are unfit to serve in any capacity, they just don't get it. They would maintain that we are all latte-swilling elites who draw salaries and don't understand what hourly wage workers deal with...you know that's how it would play out. You just fuckin' know it...

Leave your own thoughts on "if a Democrat said that..." in comments...