Longtime GOP operative — and veteran of Sen. John McCain’s failed 2000 primary bid — Mike Murphy blisters the “under-experienced six-month wonders” at the helm of McCain’s current campaign, in the wake of the Republican presidential nominee’s interview with The Des Moines Register editorial board:

What the Hell was McCain even doing there in the first place?

1.) Obama is going to win Iowa.

2.) Editorial board meetings are usually pure trouble to begin with and result only in newspaper endorsements that persuade very few voters beyond the immediate family members of the editorial board.

3.) Within the rarified category of newspaper editorial boards, the Des Moines Register is one of the most liberal in the country. I’m rather surprised that halfway through the McCain interview they failed to switch over to Esperanto, the peace-loving language of all nations.

So, 35 days left and McCain is in Iowa? Why put McCain in the wrong state, at the wrong place? No surprise the result is the wrong message and the wrong tone.

According to RealClearPolitics, Obama leads McCain in Iowa by an average of 9.2 points in major polls — and the Website lists Iowa as “solid” for Obama. [...]

But the fact that an experienced hand like Murphy is saying this so publicly is surely raising some eyebrows in the Republican Party.