Ken Mehlman, the closeted heterosexual former Bush campaign aide who recently headed the Republican National Committee, and Karl Rove, Bush’s unscrupulous former advisor, are helping out with strategy for John McCain, guaranteeing — as if a guarantee were needed — that the 2008 campaign will be the nastiest ever fought:

Ken Mehlman, who ran Bush’s 2004 campaign, is now serving as an unpaid, outside adviser to the Arizona Republican. Karl Rove, the president’s top political hand since his Texas days, recently gave money to McCain and soon after had a private conversation with the senator. A top McCain adviser said both Mehlman and Rove are now informally advising the campaign. Rove refused to detail his conversation with McCain…

Rove explained that he and McCain “got to know each other during the 2004 campaign.” In a separate interview, Mehlman noted that “McCain was completely loyal to the president in 2004 and worked incredibly hard to help him get elected.”