Friday I questioned John McCain about Hamas’ endorsement of Barack Obama. His response (he’ll be Hamas’ “worst nightmare”) got the attention of the Obama camp. An Obama spokesman responded by chiding McCain for playing the “politics of association” and added this:

Senator Obama has repeatedly rejected and denounced the actions of Hamas, a terrorist organization responsible for the deaths of many innocents, that is dedicated to Israel’s destruction. As president, Obama will work with Israel to isolate terrorist groups like Hamas, target their resources, and support Israel’s right and capability to defend itself from any attack.

The McCain team would have none of it and shot back with this:

This is a legitimate issue for the American people to think about. The reason for Hamas’ praise of Senator Obama’s foreign policy is his commitment to meet unconditionally with Iran — a nation whose president denies the Holocaust, threatens to wipe Israel off the map, funds terrorists and sends weapons to Iraq to kill American soldiers. Senator Obama’s positions present a radical departure from the longstanding bipartisan consensus for isolating rogue regimes like Iran and North Korea. It is not only responsible to raise these critical issues in this election, but it would be the height of irresponsibility not to have this discussion with the American people.

Well, I suspect the McCain camp wouldn’t mind extending this debate for a while. So long as the issue is Obama’s popularity with terrorist groups and his willingness to personally court America’s enemies, McCain comes out ahead. And Hillary Clinton, who has been doing some favors for McCain lately (e.g. praising McCain’s commander-in-chief credentials) is probably delighted with this dialogue as well.