The Karl Rove playbook

If we hadn't already seen similar tactics in the past several elections, I'd say that what John McCain is trying to do is as shocking as it is disgusting. I know all campaigns go negative and that negative tends to work. But by going there so early and by placing it in such personal terms -- Obama'd rather win an election than a war, he doesn't care about the troops, etc. -- McCain is not giving voters any reason to vote for McCain. What he's trying to is suppress voter enthusiasm and turnout. It's shameless and cynical, and it will either end in the complete diminishing of McCain's reputation or, if it succeeds, an administration even more polarizing than the current one, if that's possible.

This stuff you expect of slime boaters and other 527s, not the major party candidate himself. Not before neither he, nor his opponent, has been actually nominated. And by going there so early, McCain's campaign is putting us on notice that you can expect this bludgeoning bullshit to continue unabated for the next four months.