At a campaign event in South Carolina Monday, a female supporter asked John McCain: "How do we beat the bitch?"

If the Arizona senator objected to that particular characterization of Sen. Hillary Clinton, he didn't exactly say so.

Instead, as the room erupted in laughter, McCain said he'd try to offer a "translation." Somebody in the audience shouted out, "I thought she was talking about my ex-wife." There was more laughter all around, and then McCain said: "That's an excellent question."

McCain cited a recent Rasmussen poll showing him with a statistically insignificant two-point lead over Clinton, then finally got around to saying, "I respect Sen. Clinton, and I respect anyone who gets the nomination of the Democrat Party."

And yes, as Talking Points Memo notes, that would be the same John McCain who immediately distanced himself from the comments of his own mother when she took a dig at Mitt Romney's Mormon faith.