James T. Harris begs McCain to get in the gutter—Sykes sheds tears of unrepentant joy

Right now, the brilliant minds at the 620-WTMJ promotions department must be operating on all cylinders to suck as much cheap publicity out of James T. Harris’15 seconds in the national spotlight as they possibly can.

They’ve already managed to squeeze another day out of it by implying that Harris is a victim of an orchestrated “hate campaign” from the left. There hasn’t been a bandwagon yet that Charlie Sykes wouldn’t pounce on, so he musters up even more rhetorical excess than usual in asking, “What Was James T. Harris's Crime?”

Well, since you asked, how about insisting that we elect a president based on a campaign of cheap shots, innuendo, distortions, and lies? How about demanding that political campaigns pander even more to the country’s lowest common denominator? How about contributing to an increasingly violent atmosphere at GOP rallies?

It’s safe to assume that Sykes, our resident highwayman of the low political road, probably doesn’t consider any of the above to be a crime.

What’s rather remarkable about all this bluster from Harris, Sykes, and the increasingly unhinged GOP base is that John McCain seems to be rejecting their begging to “hit Obama where it hits.” In their rush to crow about Harris’ performance, they seem to have completely overlooked McCain’s response. In the video clip, McCain makes it quite clear that he’d rather talk about the sorry state of the American economy. The audience, who cheered for Harris, barely peeps when their candidate for president finishes.

Watch it:

This pent-up yearning for more aggressive attacks, fanned by radio squawkers like Harris and Sykes, is starting to result in the McCain campaign losing any semblance of control over their audiences. At a town hall meeting in Minnesota today, McCain was booed after referring to Obama as a “decent person.”

Harris and Sykes must be so proud.

***

As a postscript, how exactly did James T. Harris get his place at the front of the stage? Was he planted there by the McCain campaign?

Freedom Eden reprinted a transcript from today’s Charlie Sykes show:

SYKES: Were you [an audience plant]?

HARRIS: No.

SYKES: I know that. I just want to give you a chance...

HARRIS: You know, I talked to, I think it's Cameron at FOX. And he really grilled me on this because he said he didn't want any blowback. And I can understand where people are coming from. There were only like about 3 or 4 Americans of African descent in the audience. What people don't know is that I have done presentations for the Republican Party in Waukesha. I have a lot of friends in the party there and politicians and I called the office and asked for tickets.

So... And I knew that, you know, that I was, you know, a minority. And I am in the camp but I am a conservative so they would give, I'd be put in a prominent position. I had no idea I'd be that close to the stage.

And since I was there, I decided, 'You know what? I am going to ask this question,' because this really is on my heart and on my mind, and I want to at least put it out there that I'm fighting like he asked and I want him to fight to. And that's how it came about. There was no... I wasn't plucked by the McCain campaign. I've been accused of that. Lord have mercy, I've... people are saying that I got paid by the John..., by the McCain... I wish! I would love...!

Uh, huh. Okay. Anyway, just yesterday, before Harris went all viral, Freedom Eden reported:

James T. Harris, 620 WTMJ talk radio host, was in line a few hundred people behind me.

He wasn't there for long. James was picked out of the line and ushered to another entrance and given a great seat in the hall.

He even got the opportunity to ask a question at the town hall meeting.

Some guys have all the luck.

All the luck, eh? Well, I guess that’s one way to describe it.

Cross posted at Pundit Nation.