So the Republican National Committee just did a conference call with local reporters to counter Obama’s St. Louis visit. Often you’ll get a prominent Missouri politician to give the talking points of the day. So who was the lucky attack dog?

Governor Matt Blunt? Nope. He’s unpopular, and caught in his most recent scandal over destroying e-mails.

Lt. Governor Peter Kinder? I don’t think so. His chief of staff was just caught in a sting making explicit online exchanges with a 13 year old.

Leading Republican candidate for Governor Rep. Kenny Hulshof? I don’t think so. Kinder’s chief of staff used to be his district director.

How about Senator Kit Bond? He has decent approval ratings, at least, right? Sorry, but he doesn’t really like McCain, most recently criticizing McCain’s gas tax holiday. So he’s out.

Maybe somebody out of state but in the region, like Iowa’s Senator Chuck Grassley? Well, McCain apparently doesn’t like him, once calling him a f—-ing jerk.

So that leaves… Frank Donatelli? Donatelli is the liaison between the McCain campaign and the RNC, and he’s also a party hack and megalobbyist. He’s lobbied on behalf of Ethiopia’s government, continuing the tradition of McCain associates who lobby for bad regimes. He’s also lobbied for PhRMA, Exxon Mobil, AT&T, Verizon, and Blue Cross Blue Shield.

This is just getting ridiculous. Has McCain dropped all pretense at being a reformer?