Obama "working" with Republicans as agent of change

Captain's Quarters:

...

... McCain wrote an open letter to Barack Obama regarding his participation in McCain's lobbying-reform efforts. Obama had publicly and privately assured McCain of support, but then Obama abruptly withdrew from the discussions. An incensed McCain fired this shot across the freshman's bow:

I would like to apologize to you for assuming that your private assurances to me regarding your desire to cooperate in our efforts to negotiate bipartisan lobbying reform legislation were sincere. When you approached me and insisted that despite your leadership’s preference to use the issue to gain a political advantage in the 2006 elections, you were personally committed to achieving a result that would reflect credit on the entire Senate and offer the country a better example of political leadership, I concluded your professed concern for the institution and the public interest was genuine and admirable. Thank you for disabusing me of such notions with your letter to me dated February 2, 2006, which explained your decision to withdraw from our bipartisan discussions. I’m embarrassed to admit that after all these years in politics I failed to interpret your previous assurances as typical rhetorical gloss routinely used in politics to make self-interested partisan posturing appear more noble. Again, sorry for the confusion, but please be assured I won’t make the same mistake again. ...

But I understand how important the opportunity to lead your party’s effort to exploit this issue must seem to a freshman Senator, and I hold no hard feelings over your earlier disingenuousness. Again, I have been around long enough to appreciate that in politics the public interest isn’t always a priority for every one of us. Good luck to you, Senator.

The entire letter derisively chastises Obama for double-talk about being an agent of change....

...

This letter could be a preview to a McCain vs. Obama contest. Capt. Ed says that this shows that McCain can be just as nasty to Democrats as he is to Republicans who oppose him, but it will not win him many friends. It is too bad he could not make a more subtle case for demonstrating the hollowness of Obama's soaring rhetoric.

It is a preemptive attack on Obama's campaign for the presidency. McCain appears to have grasped the emptiness of the rhetoric before anyone else has.