A PRINCPLED STAND?

sitting out of the general election?

All Things Considered had an interview today with Mark McKinnon - John McCain's campaign manager - and he told Michele Norris that if Obama becomes the Dem nominee, McKinnon will not manage McCain in the general election. When Norris pressed him to explain why, he said:

"I would be uncomfortable being in a campaign that, inevitably, would be attacking Obama...it would be uncomfortable for me and I think it would be bad for the McCain campaign."

Naive as it may be, I read this is a principled stand on first glance...that McKinnon doesn't want to play a role in tearing down Obama as, presumably, is bound to happen if he and McCain are the two candidates.

I was talking about this with my wife and she had a different take. Given that McKinnon was part of Bush's team in 2000 - when they took down McCain in South Carolina on some incredibly shady, racial smear tactics - and she thinks McKinnon would excuse himself as a way to avoid drawing undue attention to his possible role in that campaign.

Thoughts?

--O.W.