The McCain Mutiny?

The Hill is running with a story (that originally popped up in Tom Daschle's bio) that back in 2001, Sen. John McCain not only considered pulling a Jim Jeffords but had actually approached the Dems through a surrogate.

The sources are all Dems and McCain essentially denies it. It isn't all that much of a shocker and is potentially merely a smear. But Dean Barnett (writing at Hugh Hewitt's blog) explains why this could be potentially devastating for McCain:

Even if this story is a complete fabrication, John McCain’s willingness to shiv his party between the shoulder blades is a well established fact. It’s hard to believe that there are Republicans out there who are unaware of this basic, undeniable fact.

Nevertheless, this incident illustrates a perfect storm of McCain’s shortcomings in a way that none of his other bi-partisan adventures do. The vanity, the immature pique of anger, the utter indifference and disloyalty to the people who voted for him and the party that supported him – they’re all on naked display. And it ain’t pretty.