During the Republican primaries, Rudolph Giuliani turned himself into an object of ridicule by harping on his only issue — his supposed leadership in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks. Here’s how Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) described Rudy’s incessant references to the terror attacks during a Democratic debate:

And the irony is, Rudy Giuliani — probably the most under-qualified man since George Bush to seek the presidency … there’s only three things he mentions in a sentence: a noun and a verb and 9/11. There’s nothing else.

Similarly, back in February 2007, the Onion ran a fake news story headlined, “Guiliani to Run for President of 9/11.”

For about the past month, John McCain has been pulling a full Rudy by introducing his prisoner of war status seemingly at every turn. As Keith Olbermann put it on MSNBC’s “Countdown” Thursday night, McCain’s campaign has been using “POW as a reflexive non sequitor, a trend now risking self-parody — a noun, a verb and POW.” If he keeps it up, it will also be time to suggest McCain is running for president of the Hanoi Hilton.

Here are three recent and increasingly nonsensical references by the McCain campaign to his status as a former POW:

• On Wednesday, McCain’s campaign spokesman described McCain as “not an argula-eating, pointy headed professor-type … [but] a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years — in prison.”
• Last Saturday: “The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated [at the Saddleback megachurch forum] is outrageous,” [McCain operative Nicole Wallace] said.
• Last week: McCain himself mentioned his POW status when he called Tallahassee reporter Stephen Price to explain why Price, who is black, had been the only reporter who was kicked out of the press area at a rally in Florida. Writing about the call, Price said, “McCain went on to defend his civil-rights legislative record and said he knows what it’s like to have your rights taken away. McCain was a prisoner of war in Vietnam.”

On Aug. 13, my colleague Trish referenced the Price incident in an article titled, “McCain Plays the POW Card Like a Pro,” in which she also noted that Sean Hannity had excused McCain’s adulterous affair with his current wife by saying McCain’s affairs don’t count because they happened after he was a prisoner of war, and in which she documented other ways McCain has used his POW status to influence debates and win elections over the years.

And just today, Trish wrote about a mailer in South Carolina in which McCain used being a POW to show how sincere he is about outlawing abortion: “While enduring five years of mistreatment as a POW in Vietnam, John McCain saw the heartless devaluation of human life. Throughout his career in public service, John McCain has been a consistent champion for the unborn.” As Trish says, “See, you can’t be pro-choice if you were a POW. Now we know.”

Of course, the topper on all this is that McCain often professes to have a solemn reluctance to discuss his POW years — a protestation he made as recently as July 8, after a reporter accompanying him on a trip to Colombia dared asked him about his years in captivity:

“I kind of reacted the way I did because I have a reluctance to talk about my experiences,” he said, noting that he has huge admiration for the “heroes” who served with him in the POW camp and said the experience taught him to love the U.S. because he missed it so much.

“I am always reluctant to talk about these things,” McCain said.

Less than week after the Colombian trip, the McCain campaign released an ad, titled “Love,” that focused on his prisoner of war status.

Other than trivializing what was undoubtedly an unimaginably horrible and profound experience, by harping on his POW status, McCain is taunting a group of hardcore rightwingers associated with the POW/MIA movement who sincerely believe that he did not behave honorably in captivity. If he keeps it up, he risks goading them into introducing their very ugly accusations into the campaign.

H/t: Christopher Williams