McCain Advisor OK's Gendered Attacks on Clinton

Less than two weeks ago, Cindy McCain pledged that McCain 2008 would not stoop to negative campaigning:

Mrs. McCain said that the upcoming campaign

against either Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. Hillary Clinton would not

engage in negative tactics.

“We'd rather not win than to have to do that,” Mrs. McCain said. “That's not worth winning for. This is about being a leader and a person that can be a good example for our children, and a good role model. There's many, many, many more things to this job than just being the president. You are an example. You have to — you have to be better than that. You have to be.” [MSNBC]

Here's what McCain adviser Alex Castellanos said when CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin broached the issue of anti-Clinton misogyny, using a joke reprinted in the New York Times to illustrate the point. (The punchline of the joke labeled Hillary Clinton a "white bitch."):

"And some women, by the way, are named that and it's accurate," adding of Clinton, "[S]he is a tough -- that tough lady, tough in politics, that's been her great strength. But let's face it, she can be a very abrasive, aggressive, irritating person, and a lot of voters, I think, see her that way." [MediaMatters]