McCain's big moment... planned?

It's pretty sad that McCain's big moment so far in his campaign comes from....

this?

Given the following...

Last week, Hillary Clinton's campaign was forced to admit that her aide had planted a question about global warming with a college student at a "town hall" in Newton, Iowa. When she was later asked about this apostasy, Clinton gave a verbal shrug. "In campaigns, things happen and you just go on," she told the Associated Press.

What she didn't say is that every candidate and every reporter expects a regular share of the questions asked in these events to come from people planted in the audience -- puppets, stooges or well-meaning volunteers, some who act overtly and some who sneak through covertly. This ever-growing practice has come squarely into focus because of Clinton's blunder in Newton, adding to her campaign's reputation for producing the most meticulously staged events in the field. But her misstep points to a larger issue: the widespread manipulation of the classic "town hall."

...and given the alacrity with which his campaign used the b-word thrown in with some good old-fashioned liberal media mythologizing (meanwhile, if you can believe it, Howie Kurtz said that the McCain campaign made a good point!!!) to raise campaign cash...

...and given the desperate situation in which the McCain campaign finds itself...

And finally, given McCain's refusal to disavow the remark while staying "above the fray" by saying he respects Senator Clinton...

... is it a stretch to believe that this entire thing was somehow, I don't know, PLANNED? Or am I just too suspicious?

By the way, here's Howie Kurtz's take on CNN's reporting. Go to about 2:49 in the video. "But his campaign has a point. That little incident was pretty badly hyped by Rick Sanchez." (my emphasis)