The truth too late

Ed Morrissey is ecstatic that John McCain has decided to "take off the gloves" and blame Democrats for the mortgage meltdown. Michelle Malkin thinks maybe the Republican actually wants to win. But the election is already over -- it ended when Team Maverick pulled out of Michigan -- and nothing Crazy Cousin John says now can compensate for his earlier blunders:

• On Sept. 16, John McCain said the cause of the financial crisis was "reckless conduct, corruption, and unbridled greed . . . on Wall Street."
• On Sept. 18, John McCain said the cause of the financial crisis was SEC Chairman Chris Cox.
• On Sept. 21, John McCain said he would replace Cox with Andrew Cuomo.
• On Sept. 24, John McCain suspended his campaign, called for postponing the first presidential debate, and said he would go to Washington to push for the the bailout bill.

So now, more than two weeks after blaming the crisis on "unbridled greed" and Chris Cox, Maverick belatedly decides that maybe Democrats had something to do with it. Would have been nice if he'd thought of this on Sept. 16, when the Gallup tracking poll showed him leading by 2 points.

It is too late to make up for those weeks wasted sending the wrong message, because his advisers were afraid to blame Democrats. The ironic thing is that the right message was there all along:

• On July 14, the Heritage Foundation's Conn Carroll detailed the "crony capitalism" at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including the roles of Democrats Franklin Raines and Jamie Gorelick in the corruption at these government-sponsored firms.
• On July 23, Wall Street Journal columnist Paul Gigot examined "The Fannie Mae Gang."
• On Sept. 11, the Center for Responsive Politics reported that the top three recipients of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac campaign contributions were Democrat Sens. Chris Dodd, Barack Obama and John Kerry.
• On Sept. 15, Investors Business Daily detailed the role of Raines and the Clinton administration in the mortgage meltdown.
• On Sept. 23, an op-ed column in the Wall Street Journal explained how Barney Frank's push for "affordable housing" and Senate Democrats blocking a 2005 reform measure contributed to the meltdown.

As long as a Republican was blaming capitalism and Republicans for the problem, Team Obama was only too happy to let him. And now he tells the truth too late for it to make any difference. Since Obama's already won the election, perhaps Loco Juan won't mind explaining the role of illegal immigration in the mortgage mess.

UPDATE: Just got an e-mail:

F--- you
So the election is lost. There still a lot of good men and women still running and still in a fight. How much help are you with this s---.

I am not a Republican strategist, consultant, or operative. I have no role in how the GOP runs its campaigns. I am not paid to promote Republican candidates. Nobody at GOP HQ has ever solicited my advice, and on those few occasions I have volunteered advice, I've been quite rudely ignored.

If you have complaints about the Republican Party and its candidates, if you are angry at how easily they have let Barack Obama win this election, lashing out at me is not the solution. Perhaps you should complain to the Republican National Committee (202-863-8500). Good luck with that. They only listen to professional consultants and Beltway pundits -- you know, the guys who've been giving them bad advice for years.