If you watch CNN Paul Begala has generally handled himself admirably through the primaries and general election (although Donna Brazille did once dress him down, and appropriately so). You know where Begala stands (he was for Hillary Clinton in the primaries), but unlike James Carville, Begala offers professional perspective which is usually insightful and a bit entertaining.

We've been turned off by Carville for sometime. He's just become too much a part of the permanent RepubliCrat Washington punditry establishment. Ever since he and his wife signed a letter to ask for a lenience sentence for Scooter Libby, he's been on our "lost his soul" list. Then we read that Carville, according to a Bob Woodward book, tipped off the Bush White House in 2004, through his wife, that Kerry was going to challenge the provisional ballots in Ohio. That was a crucial piece of information that the White House acted upon to end the election. We were so astonished to read this online that we went to the bookstore and found the account in Woodward's book just to verify it. It's right there. Unbelievable!

So we were glad to see that Begala wrote this book without the participation of his one-time tag team, Carville.

Begala is on message with the Obama campaign with this just released political attack piece: McCain is just Bush with a war record.

"With deadly accuracy, wit and fearlessness, Paul Begala demolishes the Myth of McCain. Once a political reformer, McCain has hung a For Sale sign on his most cherished principles and morphed into the second coming of George W. Bush. If you are an admirer of all that George Bush has done to America, you are going to love John McCain. If not, you need to read this book. Give it to anyone you know who is even thinking of voting for John McCain."

-- Arianna Huffington

Paul Begala writes in his introduction: "This book examines how George W. Bush and John McCain came to initially loathe each other -- perhaps because they were more alike than either could bear to admit -- and then how, in one painfully awkward hug, they lashed their fates together. It examines the issues of war and peace, of the economy and health care, of the environment and special interests -- and returns damning proof that, despite what McCain and his apologists would have you believe, a vote for John McCain is a vote for a third term for George W. Bush."

Also from the beginning of the book:


The Hug

He has earned our admiration, and our love.
-- John McCain on George W. Bush

I love you, man!
-- George W. Bush on John McCain

It is the defining moment of John McCain's political career: The Hug. George W. Bush's 2004 reelection campaign needed help. After four years of a surprisingly radical brand of conservatism, Mr. Bush needed some moderate bona fides. After a campaign of fiction and falsehoods that led us to war, Bush needed a credibility transfusion. After the Democrats nominated a certified war hero, John Kerry, Mr. Bush (who famously avoided serving not only in Vietnam but even in the Alabama National Guard) needed a warrior's support.

And so John McCain gave him The Hug.

In embracing George W. Bush that August afternoon in Pensacola, Florida, John McCain embraced Mr. Bush's agenda, his policies, his principles, and his manipulative, mendacious brand of politics. And McCain embraced him with gusto.

This wasn't an irrationally exuberant Sammy Davis, Jr., spontaneously wrapping his arms around Richard Nixon. This was a calculated, choreographed commitment. The John McCain most people thought they knew would never have hugged George W. Bush. More likely, he'd have punched him in the nose. And for good reason.