One of my trusted sources writes in, responding to Novak’s report that Rove is touting a McCain-Romney unity ticket:

First, Thompson makes for a better harmony ticket for conservatives. He just does.
Second, McCain’s people don’t seem to understand the necessity of firing up the base. We had this from Gloria Steinem over the weekend:
“Suppose John McCain had been Joan McCain and Joan McCain had got captured, shot down and been a POW for eight years. [The media would ask], ‘What did you do wrong to get captured? What terrible things did you do while you were there as a captive for eight years?’” Steinem said, to laughter from the audience.
McCain was, in fact, a prisoner of war for around five-and-a-half years, during which time he was tortured repeatedly. Referring to his time in captivity, Steinem said with bewilderment, “I mean, hello? This is supposed to be a qualification to be president? I don’t think so.”
Steinem’s broader argument was that the media and the political world are too admiring of militarism in all its guises.
“I am so grateful that she [Clinton] hasn’t been trained to kill anybody. And she probably didn’t even play war games as a kid. It’s a great relief from Bush in his jump suit and from Kerry saluting.”
Talk about a target rich environment. Wish the McCain people could recognize it and deploy their big gun to destroy it in a manner that would have the base cheering him on.

I wonder if Team McCain would rather face Hillary, and thus will spend a limited amount of time hitting her (and her supporters) between now and the end of the Democratic primary. It is a target rich environment, and it could lead to a fun news cycle of “do you denounce those comments, Senator Clinton, and do you renounce her support?”

But is anybody really all that surprised that Gloria Steinem said something inane?

The other thing is, I’m pretty sure this isn’t the last time someone will poo-poo McCain’s service and time spent as a POW. Some liberal yearning for attention will make more snide remarks later this year; it’s just the nature of the beast.

UPDATE: More or less confirmation that Team McCain would rather face Hillary; Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida, who endorsed McCain, is out saying that Hillary’s delegates from Florida should count.