Limbaugh Defends His McCain-Bashing

Ex-senator defends Mac's record as Republican stalwart

(NEWSER) - Bob Dole has taken up John McCain's defense in a letter written to Rush Limbaugh, the Chicago Tribune's Swamp blog reports. Answering Limbaugh's charge that McCain could "destroy" the GOP, Dole lists McCain's conservative stands when both were senators. "I cannot recall a single instance when he did not support the Party on critical votes," Dole writes. More»

Campaign aims to do the opposite of McCain

(NEWSER) - Team Romney’s rule of thumb: Do the opposite of everything John McCain did in 2008, or so reports Politico in a look at the campaign's strategy. The approach applies broadly, say advisers—focus hugely on the economy, fully engage in fundraising, integrate early with the Republican National Committee—but comes most into play in the search for a VP. The campaign doesn’t want to end up with its own version of Sarah Palin, so it is going to great lengths to avoid anyone who could be seen as unprepared. The goal, according to one official: Go with an "incredibly boring white guy." More»

And Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin is still pretty scary: reactions

(NEWSER) - If you thought Julianne Moore's Sarah Palin was terrifying in the first Game Change teaser , wait until you see her in the full trailer, where she utters lines such as, "We have to win this thing. I so don’t want to go back to Alaska." Watch below, then read on for some reactions:

• This will clearly be "a Frankenstein-esque story about McCain’s staffers coming to regret the choice they made in bringing a little-known governor into the limelight," writes Jon Bershad at Mediaite . "The full trailer ... gives us even more famous actors getting their turn to stare in horror at the 'monster' they’ve created."

HBO debuts first teaser

(NEWSER) - For all of you who have spent the past nine months wondering how Julianne Moore’s Sarah Palin impersonation will stack up against Tina Fey’s , you finally have your answer. HBO debuted its first teaser trailer for Game Change, the film due in March that's based on the Mark Halperin-John Heilemann book about the 2008 presidential election. Neither Ed Harris as John McCain nor Woody Harrelson as top adviser Steve Schmidt sound much like their real-life counterparts, notes David Jackson in USA Today , but Moore’s Palin is spot-on: Numerous publications including People , New York , the Huffington Post , and Jezebel are fairly impressed. More»

Former rival lends his name to big fundraiser

(NEWSER) - Mitt Romney let bygones be bygones when he campaigned for John McCain last year, forgetting an acrimonious relationship with his erstwhile rival for the GOP presidential nomination. Now, McCain appears to be repaying the favor and ginning up support for the former Massachusetts governor’s 2012 bid, reports the Boston Globe. “Every time our campaign asked him to go someplace or do something, he was always ready and willing,” McCain says. More»