McCain's deals and 'wacko-bird' barbs are priceless for Obama

Republican U.S. Senator John McCain accidentally walked in on President Barack Obama this week when he was addressing a Democrats-only meeting of senators. "Come on in, John," Obama shouted. A red-faced McCain turned around and headed out to chuckles and then applause from the Democrats. "My mistake," McCain said. To the far-right in the Republican Party, there is no mistake about it. In a party that generally brooks no compromise with Obama, McCain is the compromiser-in-chief. He's negotiating with the White House. And he's in-their-face about it, having recently described as "wacko birds" two of the right's most uncompromising heroes, Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul. A recent article in the conservative National Review described McCain as "Obama's secret weapon" and a "lethal threat" to a Republican victory in the budget battles this fall. If Obama somehow wins an upcoming fiscal showdown with Republicans, the president may have McCain to thank. The 2008 Republican presidential nominee, the man Obama beat, is now engaged in talks with a half-dozen fellow Senate Republicans and the White House aimed at trying to craft a bargain on critical fiscal issues to avoid a nasty standoff in the fall that could lead to a government shutdown or a government default, or both. Obama already owes McCain for brokering the deal last month that allowed the president to overcome Republican objections and fill seven top administration jobs. And McCain joined four Democrats and three Republicans in drafting the Senate's landmark bill to overhaul U.S. immigration laws, a top Obama priority...more