John McCain is like the Ike Turner of the Republican Party. He smacks us around then he comes back with a fistful of compliments, a bouquet of promises, a "John loves you baby."

After delivering delivering his election night concession speech - which sounded exactly like all his other speeches given on the campaign trail in terms of hopelessness; after he admonished supporters for GASP campaigning for him; after he dramatically paused his campaign with the promise of serving the people and then promptly delivered a bailout (along with Obama) that required no concessions from Wall Street; after he threw Sarah Palin under the bus for his shortcomings, he got quiet for a bit. Whenever these old farts are suddenly quiet, it should be cause for concern. Sometimes they disappear into their 70s, faux-wood paneled lair to hatch ridiculous pronouncements; sometimes, like John McCain, they decide that the nation needs another PAC.

This little ditty was dropped into hordes of inboxes this morning:

My Friend,

In the time since the 2008 presidential campaign ended I have had a chance to reflect on many things. And as I said on election night, I truly cannot adequately express how indebted I am to you, my entire campaign team and my running mate, Governor Sarah Palin.

The road was a difficult one from the outset. Yet, your faith, your support and friendship never wavered. Just as I have proudly served my country for more than half a century I am as committed as ever to helping see our mission through.

So to continue the movement, I have decided to launch a new grassroots organization called Country First.

Today, I’m asking you as a friend and supporter to renew your commitment to our common goals by becoming a Charter Member of Country First with an online contribution.

Country First will allow us to strengthen our Party, better define our Republican ideals and message, recruit and back strong, dedicated candidates and continue our efforts to bring real reform to government by always putting our country and the noble ideals she stands for first.

Together, we can make government more responsive to today’s problems and more answerable to the people. That’s why I hope you will become a Charter Member of Country First and support our cause by following this link to make a generous contribution of any amount today.

With your help we can work to elect these new leaders to Governorships, Statehouses, the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives in 2010 and beyond. Once in office they will become fierce advocates for limited government, economic opportunity, personal responsibility and strong national security.

On Election Night last year, I called on all Americans not to despair of our present difficulties but to believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.

Today, I am asking you to join Country First to continue fighting for the worthy cause of revitalizing both our democracy and our Party.

Our goals will never be realized if your voice falls silent. You are the best hope for our country’s success. Please stay in this fight with me; our country needs your service now as much as ever.

I know that together we can make a difference - we already have. Again, I thank you for your unwavering friendship and support.

Sincerely,

John McCain

P.S. Country First will serve as a powerful voice for the American people. It will allow us to get our Republican message out to the voters and elect a new generation of Republican leaders who can go to Statehouses and Congress to fight for all we believe in. Please join as a Charter Member of Country First by following this link to make a contribution today. Thank you.

Wow, only a couple months after Fred Thompson's PAC, eh? That McCain, he's always so on top of things. And ugh, my friend.

I have to address this bit right here:

"The road was a difficult one from the outset. Yet, your faith, your support and friendship never wavered. Just as I have proudly served my country for more than half a century I am as committed as ever to helping see our mission through."

Why was it difficult? Barack Obama was the sleeper, so to speak, in this campaign. He was the underdog. He wasn't supposed to have had a chance, not while up against Hillary Clinton and a host of other more well-known "celebiticians." The road was difficult because Mike Duncan and the GOP ran this entire race on a lie: that John McCain was a reformed moderate and would be a champion for the conservative base. The conservative base did not buy this; the response from the GOP was fine, we don't need you anyway. You're dinosaurs, irrelevant, if you want to win this election, you have to compromise your beliefs. Sure, many of us are to blame for farting away our chance to vote for true conservatives in the primary. McCain was the man who decided how difficult his journey would be; that he ignores that is to disregard responsibility. He still doesn't realize that HE, JOHN MCCAIN, is the reason he lost.

McCain couldn't even articulate more than two or three policy issues and we're supposed to trust him to vet the next generation of Republican leaders?

"... all Americans not to despair of our present difficulties but to believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here."

A direct line from the only good speech he gave during the campaign, his rally cry at the RNC.

"Today, I’m asking you as a friend and supporter to renew your commitment to our common goals by becoming a Charter Member of Country First with an online contribution."

Good grief; only four graphs in and he's already asked me for money twice. One more time and he'll beat the Zimbabwean official who emailed me the other day because I am his only hope. If his preshus message is so paramount, the why is he asking for cash before it's even defined? It seems just as Conserva-kat says: a scam.

Seriously, McCain, we have few common goals. In fact, the reason you lost is because you have few common goals with the very people to whom you sent this email. I'm also incredulous as to why on earth McCain would ask people to donate to a group that has absolutely no defined agenda, no goals, just some vague cliches like "our Republican message" and "new generation of leaders." If he's referencing women and minorities, McCain would be wise to heed the words of LaShawn Barber (he won't) who quotes a commenter:

"Republicans are better off standing strong on their ideals and the conservative principles and letting people come to the party than trying to go to different ethnic groups and cater a specific message to all of them.”

Perhaps McCain has been stuck inside his turtle shell for too long following the election. Just the other day RNC officials were on C-Span debating the still-undefined identity of the GOP (it didn't help when Herr Duncan said the GOP needs to use "the Facebook" and "the Twitter." Geez) and the only time they agreed with each other was when they parroted "Reagan" in answering "Who was the best Republican president?" There is no Republican message.

McCain is incredibly short-sighted with regards to his asking for conservatives to support a fledgling PAC that has no record whatsoever - only a minor comfort when compared to McCain's convoluted record. We have RINO groups by the dozens; we certainly don't need the ambitions of a man who not only squandered the 2008 election and voters' goodwill, but also the unveiling of his PAC - and I'm glad he did. I'm grateful for John McCain's record of seeming disingenuous. It's a giant red flag and does true conservatives a favor. Had McCain won the election he would have set conservatism back 30 years and possibly destroyed the Republican party.

So I'm not interested in supporting any of his Johnny-come-lately schemes. I think I'll support Fred PAC instead.