So, Cindy McCain, the secretive recluse wife of wood-be prez John McCain, has backed out of a deal to write her memoir (no doubt rivaling Miley Cyrus in depth of experience), probably out of concern that it would cause more damage than help. I knew a young woman whose name, swear to God, was Candy McCain. Waitress at the Bethel Road Cooker in Columbus (Ohio, which seems odd to think it necessary to include the state of a city with roughly a million people). As far as I know, no relation. To John McCain, that is. Or Cindy.

For the record, we have assigned John McCain’s book, Faith of My Fathers, as an official Exploration here at DelMio. I promise we’ll have it done before November, book fans and McCain fans. We outsmarted ourselves early in the race, thinking Rudy Giuliani would run away from the field. Jeez.

I liked McCain a lot more before he morphed into a Jerry-Fallwell’s-ring-kissing right-wing toadie after he got Bushwhacked in 2000 by dirtball politics. He once referred to Falwell, Pat Robertson and their ilk as “agents of division.” He was right then. But then he flip-flopped! He seems stunningly tone-deaf, veering off to the right just as Bush’s approval ratings swirl ever lower in the political crapper — although he did just come out vowing to fight global warming, which sent Rush Lintball into a tizzy today. I love it when he gets all apoplectic. Such great theater. Alas, so many dittoheads out there actually believe him and his half-baked half-truths, which are harder to detect than outright lies.

The conservatives don’t trust McCain because of his “maverick” reputation, and the libs can’t get past the war in Iraq. Or his health care “plan.” Or his stand on abortion. Or his justice-nomination votes. If it weren’t for Hillary and Barack still exchanging body blows in their Democratic Smackdown, I can’t imagine how McCain would be competitive with either Clinton or Obama. The press (even the left-wing drive-by MSM) loves it, because it breaks the monotony of a slow news day.

But enough of politics. Nice weather today, huh?

Dave Wilson is the Grand Pooh-Bah of Editorial Content at DelMio.com, a site developed by SunLit Communications LLC. He also is at times janitor, chauffeur, chief cook and bottle washer. Once upon a time he was a metro editor and copy editor at the Akron Beacon Journal. Send love letters and trash talk to dave.wilson@delmio.com. Or post a comment.

As this 2008 presidential election contest unfolds, Princeton historian Sean Wilentz takes us back two decades plus in “The Age of Reagan,” which hit bookstores Tuesday. Subtitled “A History, 1974-2008,” the book recounts how profoundly Reagan reshaped American politics, bringing once-obscure conservatism to a become dominant force, at times, in politics and policy. He traces the beginning of this ascendency of conservatism to the downfall of Richard Nixon, with a few ebbs and flows since.
True, Reagan could be a polarizing figure, loved by conservatives and loathed by liberals.
Publisher Harper Collins said at its Web site: “A conservative hero in a conservative age, Reagan has been so admired by a minority of historians and so disliked by the others that it has been difficult to evaluate his administration with detachment. Drawing on numerous primary documents that have been neglected or only recently released to the public, as well as on emerging historical work, Wilentz offers invaluable revelations about conservatism’s ascendancy and the era in which Reagan was the pre-eminent political figure.”

“The Age of Reagan,” ISBN 9780060744809, is on sale now.

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