No one has ever accused John McCain of being a conservative firebrand. In fact, I wouldn’t even ascribe good political instincts to him. But in a populist year when he’s looking at what could be a tough reelection year due to the Trumpian stench adhering to Republican candidates, John McCain has come out swinging.

McCain appeared on the Dom Giordino show in Philadelphia, campaigning for Pat Toomey, who, to the surprise of many of us, is looking like he could win his election.

McCain made a couple of good points. On Trump’s “locker room” talk:

Asked about the decision to un-endorse his party’s nominee the day after a 2005 audiotape leaked to the Washington Post wherein Trump could be heard describing how he forces himself on women, McCain said, “It’s not what he said, my friend, it’s what he said he did.”

“What he said he did,” he continued. “I mean, bragging is one thing. I’ve been in a lot of locker rooms, my friend, and frankly I have not heard comments like that.”

I concur. What Trump did was describe himself as a sexual predator who used the shield of his wealth and celebrity to allow him to paw and maul any woman who drew his interest. The other point was on the Supreme Court:

Asked on the Dom Giordano program on 1210 WPHT Philadelphia radio whether Trump was the superior candidate on issues like the Supreme Court, the Arizona senator replied, “Uh, first of all, I don’t know, because I hear him saying a lot of different things.”

I think that is exactly right. The belief that Trump will appoint conservative justices and judges when he is not a conservative and his closest staff are not conservatives is wish casting of the worst type. He has bragged, time and again, that all is necessary to make Washington work is to “make deals.” Why anyone thinks he will cut deals on everything except judges is beyond me. You can also he’ll make “bipartisanship” his fetish because nothing says bipartisanship like making deals. Trump can tell multiple audiences different things on the same day and, in the final analysis, there is no way to hold him to his promise.

Then Maverick John McCain made an appearance:

Later in the interview, McCain used the opportunity to make the case for fellow Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, who is locked in a close battle to retain his Senate seat in Pennsylvania. McCain promised that Republicans would be “united against any Supreme Court nominee” put forth by Clinton.

“I promise you that we will be united against any Supreme Court nominee that Hillary Clinton, if she were president, would put up,” McCain said. “I promise you. This is where we need the majority and Pat Toomey is probably as articulate and effective on the floor of the Senate as anyone I have encountered.”

John, John, John. Why couldn’t you leave well enough alone? No one who has followed your career believes for a moment that you will block the Supreme Court nominations of the “first sorta woman president.” It has taken all of the little spine the GOP majority in the Senate has to not confirm the nomination of a lame duck president. There is no way McCain and Alexander and Cornyn and McConnell and the rest of the merry go-along-to-get-alongers in the Senate are going to resist Clinton for a period of years.