As John McCain tries to resuscitate his presidential campaign, he and his staff are repeatedly flogging his undeniably heroic experience as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. The problem is that it has nothing to do with being president.

During the most recent Republican debate, McCain got off a seemingly scripted jab at Hillary Clinton:

In case you missed it, a few days ago, Senator Clinton tried to spend $1 million on the Woodstock Concert Museum. Now, my friends, I wasn’t there. I’m sure it was a cultural and pharmaceutical event. I was tied up at the time.

My friends, no one can be president of the United States that supports projects such as these. And I believe that wasteful spending has got to be eliminated. And I will have this debate and win because she is a liberal Democrat and I am a proud, reliable, consistent conservative Republican. That’s why I’ll win.

The reference to McCain’s time as a POW was a hit at the debate. Now his campaign is running an ad featuring the clip in New Hampshire:

McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, sent supporters an even more tacky email today (PDF) that capitalizes on the 40th anniversary of McCain being shot down to raise campaign contributions:

He has given so much – join me in giving him a gift of $50, $100, $250, $500, $1,000 or even $2,300 in remembrance of his past service to all of us and in support of a future McCain Presidency.

…P.S. Help me honor a true American hero on this 40th anniversary of being shot down over Vietnam by making a commitment to the
campaign. Follow this link and make a contribution to a better America.

Classy! McCain’s POW experience may become the equivalent of 9/11 for Giuliani…

Update 10/25 8:44 PM: Ezra Klein reminds me of Jon Chait’s TNR article on McCain exploiting the POW issue.