Political bloggers are complaining that even if John McCain passes on Mitt Romney as his running mate, he already has adopted one of Mitt's sleazy online strategies.

McCain's website is not only offering bribes for supporters to plant comments on blog sites, but provides canned comments to paste in as their own:

On McCain's Web site, visitors are invited to "Spread the Word" about the presumptive Republican nominee by sending campaign-supplied comments to blogs and Web sites under the visitor's screen name. The site offers sample comments ("John McCain has a comprehensive economic plan . . .") and a list of dozens of suggested destinations, conveniently broken down into "conservative," "liberal," "moderate" and "other" categories. Just cut and paste.

McCain offers reward points toward prizes for each post. Prizes include autographed copies of McCain's books and a ride on the Straight Talk Express bus. Sweet!

Mitt may have been an early pioneer of the tactic during his run for the GOP presidential nomination, but it has a creepier antecedent. The Chinese government has paid citizens for each favorable comment about the government posted on blogs.