Bush campaign thinks their guy is another Reagan...

As we pointed out the other day, the Bush campaign looks for political gain even in death.

In a particularly tasteless example, Bush's campaign chairman, Ken Mehlman, wrote his own homage to Reagan in which he declared:

We stand on Ronald Reagan's shoulders. Just like President Reagan, President George W. Bush speaks with moral clarity about America and freedom's enemies. Both recognize that peace comes from strength. Both know that if a nation ever chooses peace over honor, it will end up with neither.

To quote Beavis and Butthead, "uhhhhhh, yea."

Interestingly enough, Mehlman's piece was scrubbed of its references to Bush today and reposted on the George W. Bush campaign blog.

The AP has the goods:

Bush advisers, meanwhile, insisted that they weren't trying to compare Bush to Reagan for political gain, even as they did so.

"This week we're focused on paying tribute to him. We will leave it to other people to try to draw contrasts or parallels or similarities," White House communications director Dan Bartlett told CNN.

A day earlier, Bush campaign chairman Ken Mehlman posted a tribute to Reagan on the campaign's blog that made several comparisons, including: "Just like President Reagan, President George W. Bush speaks with moral clarity about the enemies of freedom."

Campaign officials said Mehlman's letter was intended for distribution to his staff. A version posted on the campaign's official Web Site did not include the comparison, only praise of the former president.

It's so rare, that it's nice when the media catch the Repubs red-handed.

Here are both versions in their entirety:
Yesterday
Today