Well, that didn't take long.

The campaign of Sen. John McCain is now using media reaction to what we'll call the "B-word incident" as a reason for people to ... send money to John McCain.

In an e-mail solicitation that went out this afternoon, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis says the incident is getting so much attention because "the liberal media has figured out that John McCain is the only thing that stands between a Hillary Clinton presidency, and they are therefore trying to stop the McCain comeback."

Davis' account of the "B-word incident" differs a bit from, say, what actually happened. Davis says "a voter used a word that I would not have used to describe Sen. Hillary Clinton and asked the senator how he was going to beat her." In fact, the voter said, "How do we beat the bitch?"

Davis says McCain "first responded" to the question "by saying that he respected Sen. Clinton, as he has said repeatedly throughout the campaign. Then, focusing on the question, he pointed to the new Rasmussen national poll showing that he is the only Republican candidate who can beat her in a general election."

In fact, McCain first responded by saying he'd like to offer a "translation" of the query, then by calling it an "excellent question," then by citing the Rasmussen poll and then by saying that he respects Clinton and anyone else who might get the "Democrat Party" nomination.