“How do we beat the bitch?” “Excellent question!”

John McCain’s “respect” for Hillary Clinton, his “friend,” goes only so far.

In the quest to bring Clinton voters home, this is probably not the moment to focus on the manifold virtues of Barack Obama. The Clinton voters who are on the fence about whom to vote for in November mostly aren’t in any mood to perceive those virtues.

On the other hand, the vices of John McCain are just sitting there. What would be especially helpful would be a compendium of McCain’s anti-Clinton remarks over the years.

Nothing, of course, could compare to the two-liner he delivered at a Republican fund-raiser in 1998:

Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly?

Because Janet Reno is her father.

(Yes, McCain apologized: after he got caught, and after his press secretary tried and failed to lie his way out of the problem. And he apologized to Bill Clinton: not to Janet Reno or Hillary Clinton or Chelsea Clinton. Man to man, you know.)

But, alas, there’s no tape of McCain saying that.

So the strongest item that comes to mind is this classic from this year’s South Carolina primary.

Q. How do we beat the bitch?

A. [Laughs] Can I get the translation?

Q2 I thought she was talking about my ex-wife.

A. [Laughs] Could I &#8212 But that’s an excellent question. I might point out that a recent poll …

McCain then goes on to say “I respect Sen. Clinton,” just in case anyone had a question about who “the bitch” might be. Ann Althouse was not amused.

Anyhow, that’s a start. But I’m blegging for pointers to other items that belong on the list.

Update Oh, and I’d forgotten (since many Hillary fans were Bill fans first): McCain voted to convict on both articles of impeachment.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com