"Thump, Thump" -- "Mind the Tires, Carly"

I pointed out just last night Carly Fiorina's rather silly gaffe about the qualifications of her own ticket to run a large company. It wasn't too hard to predict that the McCain campaign wouldn't take too kindly to her comments, but the reaction came even faster than I expected:

A top McCain official contacted by CNN said, on condition on anonymity, "No big deal, but not how you get on the surrogate all-star team. Very Biden-like."

“This campaign source said Fiorina would be discouraged from additional media interviews.

Another top campaign adviser was far less diplomatic.

"Carly will now disappear," this source said. "Senator McCain was furious." Asked to define "disappear," this source said, adding that she would be off TV for a while – but remain at the Republican National Committee and keep her role as head of the party’s joint fundraising committee with the McCain campaign.

Fiorina was booked for several TV interviews over the next few days, including one on CNN. Those interviews have been canceled.

As with Palin, the key point that intelligent observers should take from this has nothing to do with Carly Fiorina and everything to do with John McCain: it's all about his judgment and his decision-making process. If John McCain can't even run a tight ship on his election campaign, how can he expect Americans to believe he will run a tight ship in a presidential administration?

My personal opinion: Carly Fiorina's biggest problem is that she's simply too honest to be on John McCain's campaign. I also wouldn't be surprised if she felt a bit resentful at being passed over for the VP pick by McCain, given that -- whatever her faults -- she is likely far more ready to be president than Sarah Palin. (But then again, who isn't?)