As John McCain struggles to identify with the overwhelming majority of Americans who think the economy's in recession, one of his top economic advisors and surrogates, former Sen. Phil Gramm, has exposed the nasty conservative id on this subject. In an interview with the Washington Times, Gramm opined that America's economy is only suffering from a delusional "mental recession" of unconfidence, created by a "nation of whiners" who don't know how well they've got it.

As Mike Allen reports at the Politico, the McCain campaign was quick to distance itself from Gramm's remark. But it's telling, coming from one of McCain's oldest and closest political friends.

You'd hope that the MSM would pause a moment from their talk about the phony Obama/Jackson controversy to notice this.

Gramm wasn't talking on a "hot mike" during a commercial break; he was telling the Washington Times, on the record, what he thought. And unlike Jackson, Gramm wasn't rebuking his presidential candidate; he was candidly explaining the economic views of many McCain supporters and would-be McCain administration figures.

Watch and learn.