As the campaign has unfolded, I'm sure I'm not the only one who's been following John McCain's efforts with some amusement. You may have heard that he's a mavericking mavericky maverick; one of the central premises of that maveriliciousness is the evil that is the Federal earmark, commonly and affectionately known as pork. Apparently, eliminating said earmarks - roughly $18 billion last year, including some money for the Hudson River Park - will balance the $500 billion hole in the Federal budget. And to republicans, not known for their firm grasp on the world as it is, that makes sense.

So here's the problem with that. McCain doesn't even have an office in this state - there's a bi-state office in Woodbridge, New Jersey - and no detectable independent campaign. That means that whatever informal McCain campaign exists in this state is being run out of local campaigns, Federal and state: randy Kuhl in NY-29, for example, Joe Robach, Serph Maltese, Caesar Trunzo, are McCain's front line.

The problem is this: none of his state-level front groups are not much to write home about on earmarks, because they take and spend millions of dollars worth of them every year. Here are the top ten porkers for last year:

Bruno $4,211,000.00
Skelos $3,740,000.00
Libous $3,497,000.00
Johnson $3,275,500.00
Robach $2,550,000.00
Morahan $2,464,000.00
Volker $2,446,082.00
Maltese $2,440,500.00
Padavan $2,437,500.00
Young $2,321,700.00

Now, to be fair, this isn't even a Senate problem: the Assembly does much the same thing, generally with lower amounts due, perhaps, to the smaller size of their districts. But make no mistake: these funds are earmarks. Pure pork, the same pork John McCain is so angry about.

And the same people who front for McCain's campaign in this state are throwing this pork out the window like so much confetti.