Is McCain going over the top nasty, as cufflink conservatives like David Gergen and David Brooks claim?:

On CNN this evening both David Gergen and Ed Rollins echoed the current mantra that the “old” noble McCain is gone, and a “new” nastier one has emerged, largely because of his attacks on Ayers, perhaps his planned future ads on Wright, and a few unhinged people shouting at his campaign stops. Recently Christopher Buckley endorsed Obama, likewise lamenting the loss of the old noble McCain. NY Times columnist David Brooks dubbed Palin a “cancer,” and he suggested that Obama’s instant recall of Niehbuhr sent a tingle up his leg as Obama once did to Chris Matthews as well.

Or is he blowing it by being too nice?:

Frustrated that they kept their criticism of his campaign to a minimum for the sake of the party. Livid at what they consider McCain’s sluggish efforts.

The feeling was perhaps best summed up by a man who appeared at a McCain-Palin event in Wisconsin: “It’s time that you two are representing us, and we are mad.”