Politico Death Spiral Watch (Mike Allen Edition)

Why oh why can't we have a better press corps? Mike Allen explains to us that John McCain is really a very good person. It's just that Barack Obama has forced him to do bad things:

Advisers worry about ‘grumpy McCain’: It was a surprising rebuke from a politician who once was famous for palling around with reporters, and who was so media-friendly that he was sometimes known as “the senator from ‘Meet the Press.’” ... A close McCain friend said the reason is clear: McCain is miserable about having to run a campaign that’s antithetical to his persona. “He is basically having to be somebody that he isn’t,” said the friend, who remains strongly supportive. “He is just not a guy that goes on the attack in public. For him to be on the attack constantly, attacking Obama’s character... McCain is uncomfortable with that, and it’s made him grumpy”...

Could Mike Allen get any further into the tank? I don't know. But Ido know that he will try.