The sleepy old Senate

There are reasons to dislike McCain, but his crusade against the wasteful and corrupting practice of pork barrel spending -- or earmarking as Washingtonians call it -- is not one of them. But don't tell this to the Old Guard who runs the Senate GOP. Unlike their House counterparts led by John Boehner, Senate GOP leadership is drawing a line in the sand against their Party's nominee. Come hell or high water, they are going to maintain their right to use taxpayer dollars to buy reelection.

The Wall Street Journal's Kim Strassel explains:

Newly minted presidential nominee John McCain stepped into the Rose Garden this week to receive President Bush's blessing. What the cameras didn't catch were pork-addicted congressional Republicans blowing raspberries from their offices.

With all the talk about how Mr. McCain needs to unify his party, lost has been the question of whether some people will let him. Washington Republicans know he's their best shot at retaining the White House. Yet many remain ambivalent about him -- not because they question his conservatism, but out of resentment that he may get in the way of their earmarks.

This has resulted in a behind-the-scenes brawl, as spend-happy Republicans resist efforts by wiser heads to fall in behind Mr. McCain's anti-earmark message. At best, the spenders risk an embarrassing pummeling by their own nominee that could hurt them in their own re-election campaigns. At worst, they could undercut one of Mr. McCain's more persuasive messages.

Read it all.