The Lonely Vigil Against President McCain

Steve Benen keeps trying to fight Captain Tire Swing, but it's no use. The Sunday shows insist that America wants to know what President McCain thinks about things nearly every week.

For crying out loud. As of this weekend, there will have been 40 Sundays since President Obama's inauguration in January. With his 15th Sunday show appearance, McCain will have been a guest on one of the programs every 2.6 weeks. No other official in the country comes close.

Since the president took office, McCain has been on "Meet the Press" twice (July 12 and March 29), "This Week" three times (September 27, August 23, and May 10), "Fox News Sunday" three times (July 2, March 8, and January 25), and CNN's "State of the Union" three times (October 11, August 2, and February 15). His appearance on "Face the Nation" this weekend will be his fourth appearance since February (October 25, August 30, April 26, and February 8).

And who, exactly, is John McCain? He's the one who lost last year's presidential race badly, and is now just another conservative senator in the minority. He's not in the party leadership; he has no role in any important negotiations on any issue; and he's offered no significant pieces of legislation. By all appearances, McCain isn't even especially influential among his own GOP colleagues.

But his colleagues are the Sunday show bobbleheads, and he owns them. They worship him, and so every second or third Sunday we get to see what President McCain would have done differently if he were in charge.

And as far as the media knows, he is.