John "Just Say Anything" McCain Watch....

The tailspin continues:

Senator John McCain has issued an apology of sorts for his remarks after visiting a Baghdad market last weekend, saying he misspoke when he declared that his ability to walk freely around the marketplace was a sign of a significant improvement in security in Iraq.

Baghdad residents expressed astonishment at Mr. McCain’s rosy remarks, saying that he visited the marketplace, the scene of numerous deadly bombings, under unrealistic conditions. Democrats and antiwar bloggers ridiculed him for blindly supporting the administration’s so-called surge policy.

Mr. McCain, in an interview to be broadcast on CBS News’ "60 Minutes" on Sunday, acknowledged that his critics were right. "Of course I am going to misspeak and I’ve done it on numerous occasions and I probably will do it in the future. I regret that when I divert attention to something I said from my message, but you know, that’s just life."

On Feb. 28 on the "Late Show With David Letterman," Mr. McCain criticized President Bush’s management of the war, saying, "We’ve wasted a lot of our most precious treasure, which is American lives, over there." He apologized the next day for the word "wasted," saying he should have said "sacrificed."

The playbook: Stagger around the campaign trail, saying anything to shake off the Iraq millstone. Apologize frequently for "misstatements" when ridiculed by the Left, Right, or anyone else. And at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later, drop out of the race.