More Republicans Throw McCain Under The Bus

Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT):

Republican unity behind presidential nominee John McCain is fracturing and the infighting likely presages a battle for the GOP's soul should he lose the general election next week.

"He has lost his brand as a maverick," Rep. Chris Shays, a Connecticut Republican and co-chairman of the McCain campaign in that state, told the Yale Daily News in the latest criticism. "He did not live up to his pledge to fight a clean campaign."

One might argue that Shays was motivated by being in a tight re-election race himself, but the guy is McCain's campaign co-chair in Connecticut, for pete's sake. If someone like him is breaking message discipline, then things must really look bad, for Shays, McCain and for the GOP.

Shays joins the likes of beleaguered Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) who called an Obama win "a real possibility" and Governor Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) who said Obama "has a pretty good advantage" in his state.

This comes at the heels of an exodus of GOP bigwigs deserting McCain's Low Road Express: from Colin Powell to William Weld to Charles Mathias and a host of other disgusted and disillusioned conservatives.

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