When former Texas senator and then-current John McCain economic adviser Phil Gramm said last week that America was a "nation of whiners" mired in a mere "mental recession" (prompting a predictable firestorm of controversy) the Republican nominee joked that his colleague "would be in serious consideration for Ambassador to Belarus" in a future administration-- adding "although I'm not sure the citizens of Minsk would welcome that." Now, it seems, Gramm will have plenty of time brush up on his Belarusian.

In a statement issued after last night's network news broadcasts--no better time for bad news than after dinner on Friday--Gramm announced that he was stepping down from his post as national co-chair for McCain. The reason: he didn't want to be a distraction. "It is clear to me that Democrats want to attack me rather than debate Senator McCain on important economic issues facing the country," he said. "That kind of distraction hurts not only Senator McCain's ability to present concrete programs to deal with the country's problems, it hurts the country."

The move came after several days of confusion about exactly what role the off-message Gramm would play on McCain's campaign. Last weekend, two of McCain's other economic advisers, Doug Holtz-Eakin and Carly Fiorina, indicated that Gramm would no longer talk to the media or act as a surrogate on the candidate's behalf, with Holtz-Eakin going so far as to say that Gramm would stop advising McCain by cell phone as well. But spokesman Tucker Bounds insisted at the time that the campaign had not made "any substantive status change to his volunteer post on the campaign." That changed yesterday when McCain's team apparently decided that even retaining Gramm in a behind-the-scenes position wasn't worth the political costs--namely, continued attacks on McCain's economic empathy from Democratic rival Barack Obama. 

Gramm is the latest surrogate to succumb to what's become 2008's most potent political weapon: guilt by association. Previously, former Rep. Tom Loeffler, also from Texas, quit his McCain co-chair post after reports about his lobbying by NEWSWEEK's Michael Isikoff distracted from the campaign message; on the other side of the aisle, Obama foreign policy adviser Samantha Power was forced to tender her resignation after calling Hillary Clinton "a monster" in an off-the-record conversation with a reporter. 

Perhaps they can practice their Belarusian together.