The one shining moment that keeps political rats going through this summer is waiting, salivating for a chance to find out who Barack Obama and John McCain are picking for their running mates.

They have been playing this game, mostly McCain's side, of waiting until the last possible moment to name a running mate [1]. In fact, McCain's camp has gone so far as to say that no matter what, they will wait until Obama picks to make their own pick. Even a 5th grader would think that was childish.

Thanks to Robert Novak, we have a "leak" that McCain's camp would make the announcement this week [2].

Soon after the news of this alleged announcement, there was a lot of concern that we were played, as the kids might say, taken for a ride, used. That the only reason why there was a leak was to draw attention to McCain's campaign during a time when Obama was in the spotlight.

So if we don't get an announcement for a vice president this week, the McCain campaign will have reached a new low. Not a George W. Bush or Dick Cheney low, but still pretty low.

From The Washington Post [3]:

"I have since been told that this was something to get a bit of publicity, to rain on Obama's campaign," Novak said, according to a transcript from ShadowTV. "That is reprehensible, if true. We will find out if what I was suggesting was true or a scam."

To illustrate how low the McCain campaign has gone, if Robert Novak thinks you've sunk into low and unethical behavior, he has a lot of credibility in this realm.

Even in a blowout year, presidential campaigns have to conduct themselves in a reasonably professional fashion. The Mondale campaign in 1984 never did anything even remotely this low. Even the Bob Dole campaign of 1996 had more decorum.

The McCain campaign may have a 71-year-old as its leader, but the behavior of the campaign would embarrass a 14-year-old.

So to the McCain campaign: Your candidate isn't likely to win in November. He might get rather humiliated in the election. But you are running a campaign for president of the United States. Find some honor, ethics, and whatever platitudes that will keep you from behaving like children.

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