Whether or not you agree with John McCain’s distancing of himself from Bill Cunningham, a couple of points are in order.

When it happened, we didn’t see any dodging responsibility. McCain obviously didn’t book Cunningham, but we didn’t hear anything resembling, “not my fault, don’t blame me.”

McCain knew there would be a political risk to “throwing him under the bus” – Cunningham is now endorsing Hillary – but he did it anyway.

(Keith Olbermann is insisting McCain “failed in the moment,” although how, I don’t understand. McCain wasn’t there when Cunningham was speaking. It’s not like he could have rushed the stage and thrown him to the ground. This is why people don’t take Olbermann seriously, even compared to other lefty commentators. When a Republican does the right thing in the eyes of the left, most liberals are wise enough to reward behavior that they wish to see more of; Olbermann still denounces them.)

Barack Obama talks a lot about unity, and changing the tone, and getting past partisanship. But has Obama ever denounced a supporter for being out of line in their criticism aimed across the aisle? When he felt a “pang of shame” over the way his campaign characterized pro-lifers, it was a good while after the fact.

UPDATE: Asked about Farrakhan’s support of him, Obama emphasizes he has denounced some of Farrakhan’s statements in the past and that he didn’t seek out his support – something of a half measure compared to something like, “I want to unite the country and Farrakhan is a divider; I do not accept his support.” Meanwhile, McCain goes ballistic on Bill Cunningham.

A pretty strong contrast.