McCain Hypocritical? Joe Thinks So

After reputedly being the victim of rough politics in 2000 at the brass-knuckled hands of the Bush campaign, John McCain has pledged to eschew such tactics. But in the opening segment of today's Morning Joe, host Joe Scarborough called McCain out for honoring that pledge in the breach, accusing him of "dirty campaigning."

JOE SCARBOROUGH: Very interesting. A John McCain mailer went out. John McCain was attacked in 2000, and he was going to be very positive. This is a McCain mailer that went out . . . He attacked Mitt Romney. He said Mitt Romney funded taxpayer-funded abortions. Calls Massachusetts "Taxachussetts," criticizes him for not supporting the Bush tax cuts.

I'll be very careful here. I will only say this. John McCain accused people of attacking him unfairly in South Carolina [in 2000]. I would suggest, if you're flooding mailboxes with mailers that say Mitt Romney didn't support George Bush's tax cuts early enough and yet you voted -- actually, you, the guy sending out the mailer, voted against George Bush's tax cuts, were one of only two [Republican senators] that voted against George Bush's tax cuts, called George Bush's tax cuts "tax cuts for the rich," and you were on Tim Russert two weeks ago [file photo], and you said you were still damn proud that you voted against George Bush's tax cuts. To send out a mailer attacking Mitt Romney for not supporting George Bush's tax cuts early enough certainly smells of dirty politics and dirty campaigning.

WILLIE GEIST: Yeah.

SCARBOROUGH: The very type of dirty politics and dirty campaigning that John McCain complained about in 2000.

Pat Buchanan, veteran of many a political brawl, was a guest in a subsequent segment. While not disagreeing with Joe, he took a more jaded view of the matter.

SCARBOROUGH: Saturday night my Blackberry started buzzing and going crazy because the embed that follows John McCain around was sending out a flier that John McCain is sending into South Carolina. I want to put the flier up and explain it to you. John McCain, of course, said that he wasn't going to go negative. He's been complaining for eight years about how the Bush people twisted his record. Well, McCain has sent out a flier now attacking Mitt Romney on the tax issue, and in this flier, he accuses Mitt Romney of not supporting George Bush's taxcuts early enough . . . And he told Russert two weeks ago that he was proud that he voted against George Bush's tax cuts, but now he's sending flyers out attacking Mitt Romney for not supporting those tax cuts early enough.

PAT BUCHANAN: Tell me, Joe. What does truth have to do with campaigning in South Carolina?

SCARBOROUGH: The thing is I guess some people are saying John McCain isbeing hypocritical here. The guy that said, I will never go negative, and they did me wrong in South Carolina.

BUCHANAN: Look, all of these folks have sinned, quite frankl . . Frankly, it's foolish, Joe, to put out -- if you're going to do negative push polls, you do them the night of the election or the night before something. You don't put something out that can splash back in your face, which this is going to do, as you've pointed out. Frankly, I have to say there's a name for those who don't go negative in South Carolina -- it's called losers.