The good ole boys at GOP central are trying to figure out how they can exploit the race or gender of the Democratic nominee.

The Republican National Committee has commissioned polling and focus groups to determine the boundaries of attacking a minority or female candidate, according to people involved. The secretive effort underscores the enormous risk senior GOP operatives see for a party often criticized for its insensitivity to minorities in campaigns dating back to the 1960s.

In its findings, they learned that their task of race or gender-based character discreditation will be a difficult one. As a result of this poll (which cost a lot of lettuce to generate), Republicans will be cautioned to “be sensitive to tone and stick to the substance of the discussion” and that “the key is that you have to be sensitive to the fact that you are running against historic firsts.”  Now, you don't have to look much further than Bill Clinton's recent series of Black History Month gaffs or Joe Biden's famous assertions about Barack Obama's hygiene and elocution habits to know that they could have saved their money.

What I found terrifically, um, funny (not quite the right word, but let's go with it for now), is that they didn't seem to have read their own report before John McCain's campaign asked conservative shock jock Bill Cunningham to "rev-up" the crowd with his applause inciting (not), laughter inducing (not-not) monologue where he riffed on Barack Obama's name.

Now, John McCain apologized "immediately" (45 minutes after the audience had cleared out to an empty auditorium. Here's what the good Senator said:

“It’s my understanding that before I came in here a person who was on the program before I spoke made some disparaging remarks about my two colleagues in the Senate, Senator Obama and Senator Clinton. I have repeatedly stated my respect for Senator Obama and Senator Clinton, that I will treat them with respect. I will call them Senator. We will have a respectful debate, as I have said on hundreds of occasions. I regret any comments that may have been made about these two individuals who are honorable Americans. Whatever suggestion that was made that was any way disparaging to the integrity, character, honesty of either Senator Obama or Senator Clinton was wrong, I condemn it, and if I have any responsibility, I will take the responsibility, and I apologize for it.”

Now I'd like to think of John McCain as a man of integrity, like I'm supposed to, but he just doesn't seem to elicit the best from the people he surrounds himself with. Remember last November, when he got all giggly when one of his supporters, a woman, asked him "How do we defeat the bitch?" a reference to Senator Clinton? There, as here, he wasn't all that quick or glib in denouncing the language used to describe his opponent, who took the contest straight into the gender-baiting end of the gutter. He used another to wrestle an opponent into the muck then and he's done it again with Mr. Cunningham, who, by the way, isn't taking things laying down.

McCain, unlike most heroes I know, seems to bring out the worst in people, not the best.

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