Bluey Blog - Official Blog of Robert B. Bluey

John McCain’s $#@%$#@ Temper

John McCain has a temper. It’s well known to anyone who has worked on Capitol Hill, either as a staffer or in the press corps. As a former Capitol Hill reporter myself, I know there are stories that have never been reported about McCain’s temper. So far, though, McCain’s outbursts haven’t generated much attention on the campaign trail.

Therefore, it’s not all that surprising to read Mitt Romney’s top 10 list of the McCain’s profanity-laced tirades against fellow Republicans during his tenure in Congress. I knew this would come up, but I never figured it would be in the form of a press release from a Republican campaign.

1. Defending His Amnesty Bill, Sen. McCain Lost His Temper And “Screamed, ‘F*ck You!’ At Texas Sen. John Cornyn” (R-TX). “Presidential hopeful John McCain - who has been dogged for years by questions about his volcanic temper - erupted in an angry, profanity-laced tirade at a fellow Republican senator, sources told The Post yesterday. In a heated dispute over immigration-law overhaul, McCain screamed, ‘F— you!’ at Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who had been raising concerns about the legislation. ‘This is chickens—stuff,’ McCain snapped at Cornyn, according to several people in the room off the Senate floor Thursday. ‘You’ve always been against this bill, and you’re just trying to derail it.’” (Charles Hurt, “Raising McCain,” New York Post, 5/19/07)

This shows not only the desperation of Romney, but also why McCain needs to confront this problem. Oddly enough, Romney is doing McCain a favor by raising the matter now rather than letting the eventual Democrat nominee leak stories to the press corps during the general election, assuming McCain is the nominee. Contrast an angry McCain to a cheery Barack Obama, and this becomes a huge factor.

UPDATE — Jan. 10, 3:56 p.m.: Yesterday I learned that Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum featured this blog post on her show Sunday. Video of the segment is available on YouTube.