Others have noted that John McCain faces a challenge staying in the news: he’s fencing with no same-party opponent. This is especially acute for a candidate, like McCain, who does best as a counterpuncher–taking Mitt Romney to task for negative ads in New Hampshire, for example. McCain has nevertheless has tried to respond to every attack. And he’s struggled to keep the heat on his most likely election opponent, Barack Obama.

With help from unlikely sources he has succeeded at this, to some degree. And he’s at it again today. However, the danger of demanding “personal apologies” from Obama for statements made by surrogates is a two-edged sword. It might force McCain to atone for the sins of his off-message associates later in the race. And there is a point at which apology-seeking begins to sound like whining. Petulance has never been an attractive quality in a candidate. If Obama is not “living up” to his ideals, there are plenty of ways for McCain to make the point. (Preferably not Bob Dole’s “Stop lying about my record.”) Pleading for a sorry doesn’t seem especially effective–or presidential.