Maybe he was impressed with the fact that Maverick knows more about immigration than anyone else in the room.

Or maybe he was impressed by his obvious respect for Cornyn’s principled position.

Things got really heated when Cornyn accused McCain of being too busy campaigning for president to take part in the [immigration bill] negotiations, which have gone on for months behind closed doors. “Wait a second here,” Cornyn said to McCain. “I’ve been sitting in here for all of these negotiations and you just parachute in here on the last day. You’re out of line.”

McCain, a former Navy pilot, then used language more accustomed to sailors (not to mention the current vice president, who made news a few years back after a verbal encounter with Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont).

“[Expletive] you! I know more about this than anyone else in the room,” shouted McCain at Cornyn.

Here’s the press release. The Texas primary isn’t for another month, by which time this race should long since have been over, so this is really more about bringing a guy on board who’s seen the famous McCain temper and is willing to act as a character witness even so.

Incidentally, some think it’s a potentially big deal that Huckabee and McCain are going to cross paths at the Wichita airport tomorrow. A hastily arranged eleventh-hour surprise dropout and endorsement? Unlikely: They’ll actually be at two different airports. And Huckabee’s wife is already booked for an event in Washington.