http://www.spectator.org/blogger.asp?BlogID=11071
A little while ago, NRO's Byron York asked Sen. McCain about John Fund's report that McCain would not appoint judges like Alito because they are too conservative. In the course of the conversation, McCain said these two things: "The ones who were left aside, I continued to fight for. We just ran out of
time and lost an election."
and
Finally, I asked McCain if he had anything else to say. "It's distressing,"
he told me, "on the day before a primary that something like this should
come up, because one, it's distracting, and two, I have done nothing but
support these people."
This is just a flat-out falsehood. One of the "ones who [was] left aside" was Pentagon chief counsel W. James Haynes, and not only did McCain NOT "support" Haynes, but he actively worked along with Lindsay Graham to block Haynes. In doing so, he not only went along with the block, but effectively joined a smear of a good man by putting forth the notion, first, that Haynes supported torture, and second, that Haynes lied about it. Both accusations are false. As I have done before, I link now to the two columns I wrote on the subject. They focus more on Graham's actions than McCain's, but the well-reported fact is that McCain was backing Graham to the hilt. At the time, I was giving McCain a pass (in effect, by leaving him out of my columns on the subject) because McCain himself had been tortured and so I could understand his sensitivity on the subject. But I have it on good authority that McCain finally was apprised, and as much as admitted privately, that Haynes was NOT responsible for promoting torture, yet McCain STILL did not do anything to call off his "beloved" Sen. Graham or to help Haynes get his nomination on track, or even to get his good name back after the smears Graham leveled against him. And he certainly never apologized for helping to kill Haynes' nomination.
The blocking of Haynes remains the single worst example of Republican perfidy concerning judges. McCain and Graham's actions were absolutely shameful. For Republican senators to block a Republican judicial nominee on spurious grounds, smearing him in the process, puts them in the same category as the Schumers, Leahys and Kennedys of the world. Frankly, it alone is disqualifying for the presidency. It is especially disqualifying when it is combined with all of the other asininities from Sen. McCain, right up to and including his widely reported lies this weekend about Mitt Romney's stance on war plans in Iraq.
Nobody, and I mean nobody, has covered the Haynes nomination to a greater degree than I have. The behavior of McCain and Graham sickened me -- almost literally. (At one point, contemplating the whole scenario, I literally got queasy, but not actually sick.) And the shame of it was, Haynes actually was not only confirmable, but actually afforded the GOP a beautiful chance to use the "judge issue" to HUGE political advantage. McCain and Graham threw it away, and hurt a good man in the process.
Posted By: Quin Hillyer
So he's not helping his constituents by bringing money to his state but he's helping ....
Oh, nevermind. I'm sure it makes sense the the Republicans.
Boy am I looking forward to this general election! McCain is gonna get creamed. 
