All aboard the Straight Talk Express! John McCain has re-launched his (struggling) candidacy and he’s going to tell it like it is! Oh wait…

Mr. McCain at first only hinted that on Thursday he might call for the resignation of Mr. Gonzales. Asked by reporters if he still supported Mr. Gonzales, he responded, “I’ll tell you tomorrow,” explaining that he did not want to “step on my message.”

I’m hereby renaming the bus “The Straight Talk (When It Doesn’t Step on My Message) Express.” Between the pandering to the right and the obviously parsed language, the McCain mystique is going to quickly die out. He’s just another politician, folks. Sorry to shatter everyone’s illusions.

PS The pitiful interviewing of Larry King eventually lured McCain into revealing his view on Gonzales:

In fact, Mr. McCain stepped on his message hours later when he sat down to tape an interview with Mr. King for CNN. When Mr. King asked if he thought Mr. Gonzalez should step down, Mr. McCain responded, “I think that out of loyalty to the president that that would probably be the best thing that he could do.”