A PLANTED QUESTION?

Well, why not? Can you say with absolute certainty that that woman's question to John McCain -- "How do we beat the bitch?" -- wasn't planted?

No, I have no evidence that it was. I'm just saying I wouldn't bet the rent money that it was spontaneous.

(I will say that the question was asked in a somewhat stilted way, and McCain seemed not exactly surprised to hear it. See the video at the link above.)

For McCain, running to be the standard-bearer of the Rage Party (and still struggling), the question has no downside and plenty of upside: He gets free (viral) publicity; he's the (indirect) cause of shock and outrage among lefties; and he's linked, as he hasn't been up till now, to the #1 issue among Republicans, no matter what the polls say: How do we keep absolute power out of the hands of the hippie lesbian bitch Satan?

Other lefty bloggers will tell you McCain's response was outrageous. Well, sure, by normal human standards. But by GOP campaign standards, he played it perfectly: By first saying, "That's an excellent question," he sent a signal to the rage junkies: I feel your rage. Then he said, "I respect Senator Clinton; I respect anyone who gets the nomination of the Democrat Party," thus reassuring all his pals in the media who regard him as high-minded, without ever having gotten around to saying that he thinks calling an opponent a "bitch" is a bad thing. (And, yeah, he slipped "Democrat Party" in there, too.)

It was probably spontaneous. But I have my suspicions.