McCain: Homina, Homina Homina... Get Off My Lawn!

Mitt Romney's taxes. That's what we're talking about. Why won't he release his more than the tax returns he's made available when he knew he was running for president? What's he hiding? Well, maybe nothing, but the perception is that he does have something to hide, otherwise, why not release the forms?

When John McCain was asked why he chose Sarah Palin as his running mate over Romney after reviewing 23 years of Romney tax returns made available to the McCain campaign, John McCain said this:

...because we thought that Sarah Palin was the better candidate," he said. "Why did we not take [Tim] Pawlenty, why did we not take any of the other 10 other people. Why didn’t I? Because we had a better candidate, the same way with all the others. ... Come on, why? That’s a stupid question."

Yes. You read that correctly. The McCain campaign thought Sarah Freakin' Palin was a better vice presidential candidate than, Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, and countless others when searching for someone who would be the Commander-in-Chief should something happen to John McCain.

Perhaps the McCain camp saw something in Romney's tax returns that made them cringe. Perhaps they saw something that they figured the American public would find just as problematic. We may never know.

But soon after Grampa Simpson realized he stuck his slippered foot in his mouth, he attempted to walk back his statement.

John McCain sought to clarify his remarks on Tuesday that he picked Sarah Palin as his running mate over Mitt Romney because she was the “better candidate” and not due to Romney’s tax returns. A statement released by his Senate office reads:

“Some in the media have chosen to take my answer today, in response to the question of why I did not select Governor Romney as my vice presidential nominee, out of context. I selected Sarah Palin because she was the best fit for my campaign, and my decision had nothing to do with the bogus tax return attacks currently being waged by the Obama campaign. I have the highest respect for Governor Romney and his record of public service, and he will make an outstanding president.”

But not such a high respect that he would have been an outstanding Vice President? Thanks, Senator McCain. You've made things very, very clear.