John Cole delivers the complete smackdown. Suffice to note that when McCain seized upon Hamas’ “support” of Obama, the right-wing chorus immediately swooned.

So how do they react to this?

“Al-Qaeda will have to support McCain in the coming election,” said a commentary posted Monday on the extremist Web site al-Hesbah, which is closely linked to the terrorist group. It said the Arizona Republican would continue the “failing march of his predecessor,” President Bush. …

<snip>

In any event, the comments summarized what has emerged as a consensus view on extremist sites, said Adam Raisman, a senior analyst for the Site Intelligence Group, which monitors Islamist Web pages. Site provided translations of the comments to The Washington Post.

“The idea in the jihadist forums is that McCain would be a faithful ’son of Bush’ — someone they see as a jingoist and a war hawk,” Raisman said. “They think that, to succeed in a war of attrition, they need a leader in Washington like McCain.”

Right-wingers do think you should be voting completely on the basis of Teh Terrorists, right?

Update: Steve Benen notes:

Bush, Cheney, McCain, and other leading Republicans have argued for years that we must take the terrorists’ words seriously and accepted at face value. Today, they’re arguing the polar opposite.

The truth is, it’s foolish to try to vote with terrorists’ motivations in mind. But therein lies the point — Republicans have said we must vote with terrorists’ motivations in mind. And as of this morning, that’s no longer a maxim they find helpful.