McCain mulled party switch as recently as '01
Josh Marshall noted this morning,” I was wondering when this would come up. As a lot of us remember, John McCain was very close to leaving the Republican party in 2001 and becoming either a Democrat or, much more likely, an independent a la Jim Jeffords who would caucus with the Democrats. The Hill gives the story another shake and talks to folks like Daschle and others who were in on the negotiations.”
The funny thing is, The Hill hasn’t really given the story another shake; it’s just that the story from last March has suddenly been re-discovered by political observers. Mitt Romney began emphasizing this over the last week, and slowly but surely, it’s apparently gaining traction.
To be sure, it seems like the kind of story that could undermine McCain’s bid quite a bit.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was close to leaving the Republican Party in 2001, weeks before then-Sen. Jim Jeffords (Vt.) famously announced his decision to become an Independent, according to former Democratic lawmakers who say they were involved in the discussions.
In interviews with The Hill this month, former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and ex-Rep. Tom Downey (D-N.Y.) said there were nearly two months of talks with the maverick lawmaker following an approach by John Weaver, McCain’s chief political strategist.
Democrats had contacted Jeffords and then-Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) in the early months of 2001 about switching parties, but in McCain’s case, they said, it was McCain’s top strategist who came to them. (emphasis added)
According to the story in The Hill, Weaver asked Daschle and Downey in March 2001 why Democrats hadn’t reached out to McCain to switch parties. “Well, if the right people asked him,” Weaver said, according to Downey, adding that he responded, “The calls will be made. Who do you want?”
After the lunch, Downey immediately contacted Daschle, who initiated a series of conversations with McCain about how to execute a party switch, including issues such as committee assignments and seniority. Other Dem senators involved with the discussions confirmed these events.
So, what happened? Vermont’s Jim Jeffords, one of three Republican senators Dems urged to switch, left the GOP and gave control of the chamber to Dems. At that point, Chafee and McCain then broke off their discussions.
Is the story true? McCain denies ever having considered caucusing with Dems, but the story is hard to dismiss out of hand. Indeed, Downey and Daschle had little reason to make up the story 10 months ago, when it initially ran.
Indeed, Downey denied any political motivation, saying he is still friends with Weaver and “deeply respects” McCain. “I would have been happy to come forward last year or the year before if someone had asked … There were meetings in offices. You can’t deny [these meetings took place]. They occurred.”
Downey added, “It’s my hope that John McCain is the Republican nominee because from my perspective, although I think Democrats are going to win, if they don’t, McCain is the sort of man I would feel comfortable [with] as the president of the United States. I’m not trying to hurt him.”
What’s more, if the point of this story was to undermine McCain’s campaign, it wouldn’t leak in March 2007; it would leak much later, during the heat of the campaign. Such as, you know, now.
Nevertheless, conservatives, many of whom forgot about this story months ago, are starting to pick up on it again.
Will McCain finally face questions about what transpired? Will Republican voters care? Will the media? I guess we’ll find out soon.
Franken!
This is going to piss the so-called conservatives off. I want McCain to defeat Romney. That pretty boy repulses me. The fact that he is buying the presidency is galling. Let McCain win and watch the Repubs melt down. When you have Ann Coulter claiming she will vote for Hillary if McCain gets in makes me either want to smile or throw up!
P.D. @ 2:
You can't miss either way you react. I once thought it would be a Giuliani-Clinton race, but it's beginning to look like Hillary and McClain. Given the latter's reputation for temper tantrums, I hope for his sake his handlers give him some tranks prior to the debates in the fall. As for Ornery Ann causing you to throw up, if you haven't done that by now whenever you see that skinny skag, you're not a true liberal.
Thanks for trying to convince us that McCain is a moderate. I guess his carefully crafted PR image is more important than his real voting record or that he only "cooperates" with Democrats on issues such as campaign finance reform only to make such legislation useless and filled with loopholes big enough to drive a truck through. It's a great time to start building McCain up as a "moderate maverick" so that Independents and blue dog Democrats will feel comfortable voting for him. Never mind that as President he''ll be sure to appoint a wingnut to the Supreme court who will overturn Roe vs. Wade and rule in favor of corporate interests every time while whittling away at the separation of church and state and our civil liberties and civil rights. Why don't we just all run out into the streets naked and start burning flags while desecrating the Bible? It would be just as much a winning strategy.
insane mccain who was dead in the water not so long ago and all of a sudden he made some weird come back...who the fuck are They kidding?
any one who doesnt see how rigged this "election" is and still squabbles about democracy is a fucking fool ...you deserve your dictator..
Our brown nosed maverick!
P.D. @ 2:
Ann Coulter probably desperately wants Hillary to win. Having another Clinton in the White House will extend her career a few more years.
Shhhhhhhhhh! Take it easy on Walnuts. Let's not contribute to running the candidate the Republic Party hates out of the race. Not that it really matters that much if its Mittens or Walnuts.
My dream ticket would be a Walnuts/Mittens match up against Obama/Clinton.
But you have to wonder - why did this "old story" come out now again, just 4 days before Super Tuesday? And who benefits from having this story come out now? Romney, of course. Not that his team orchestrated the release of this story, but this can certainly harm McCain's chances on Tuesday. Some Repuglicans really don't want him to win, and most of us, Dems, would take him in a heartbeat over Romney. So how about we just ignore this story and hope it goes away...
More proof that the straight jacket express is bipolar. What a fucking nut.
I'm writing in Hillarommccinichobamabeepaulguilidward for president.
I don't play favorites.
Question. Do the Republicans feel about the McCain the same way Dems feel about Lieberman? I know I would never vote for Lieberman. Putting it in this frame, I can understand the rumblings about a third party candidate. I'd sure want one if Lieberman ran on the Democratic ticket.
Snowball @ 4:
Well said.
If the Democrats fuck this up again I'm going to go postal.
On myself.
On the other hand, Mitt Romney represents the Republican party perfectly. He's wealthy, white and dumb as George Bush. Just the kind of guy to win over half the people who bother to show up and vote in a general election. Maybe the public would rather have a beer with him than drink champaign with Hillary.
Dear James M Martin, you are right. Ann Coulter is just as repulsive as Romney. But we know Mitt is a man. The jury is still out on whether Ann is a woman or not. For, we know she has no soul, she my have a pair of balls.
Sorry, I get sarcastic when I'm drinking a six pack. :)
simon @ 5:
I agree, and his comeback was brought to you by our friendly fascist media. I've been tracking the outrageous manipulation since Iowa and I am thoroughly sickened by it.
The Republicans can keep McCain.
Democrats don't need him
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Number of Operations Iraq Freedom and Enduring Freedom casualties
as confirmed by U.S. Central Command: 4404
Don't you see? McCain is not really a whacked out neocon, so it's OK if I don't vote for a black guy or a woman. After all, the rest of America isn't ready for that, anyway. Sadly, I think this way of "thinking" will become a meme, unspoken of course, and that, along with rigged voting, will put the America hating, traitorous Republicans in the White house again. It shouldn't even be a close race, but I'll be biting my nails until it's all said and done.
I can't wait.
Heh. I didn't realize he was part of the Keating 5, until they reminded me on Balloon Juice.
Reminded me of a joke:
The Democrats were using House Bank to bounce checks and get ready cash. When asked by reporters why the Republicans didn't, they said, "That's what S&Ls are for."
And why would an endorsement by someone like Coulter be of any interest? Are we also going to consider the opinions of other clowns like Wally George, Bill O'Reilly, Mary Carey, Pat Sajak, Michelle Malkin, etc.? Really, why does anyone give a fuck what marginal, albeit famous, dimwits like them have to say? I think it was Ray Bradbury who said that he didn't try to predict the future, he tried to prevent it. Think of that when you watch the movie, "Idiocracy". I think we're almost there, now.
Snowball @ 17:
You should drink more often. You're right, whether intentional or not, the reich's attacks on McLame could fool many low-info/moderate/independents that will probably swing the general election, whichever way it goes. To my dismay, my family's loaded with them.
thank god mccain never came over...if he had, we never would have been able to experience what is occuring now
it is amazing to watch and listen to the echo machine destroy one of their own
shit, they are so busy trying to destroy mccain, they have forgotten all about clinton and obama
and the funniest thing is....they have turned to romney as a conservative
if mittons gets the nom, all the dem candidate has to do is pull out the vids of mitt ripping reagan and bush, and trying to outliberal ted
game over man...game over
There's no way the Evangelical cultists will vote for a Mormon cultist. Pray for Romney!
Awesome. The sooner we get rid of Madman McCain, the better. Multiple-choice Mitt is the Dem's perfect candidate. Cripes, Hillary could whip his ass!
I'll write the ad:
(camera fades in on a Rubik's Cube, hands working it in all directions)
Announcer: When it comes to the issues, which side is Mitt Romney on?
(Cube continues to be manipulated in every conceivable direction)
Announcer: Answer? All of them.
Imagine, McCain running as a Democratic nominee for President this year, with the campaign slogan,
'Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran'.
The 'debates' would sure be more lively.
McLame dies, Liebrrrrman takes over, nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Do you feel it people? Its the end of the republican party. They have finally self destruced. With crackpots like Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter going bonkers at the idea of John MCain being the nommine makes you feel good that their finally getting a dose of their own medicine.
Odd timing for this to be revealed. With 'too liberal to be the nominee' Rudy Giuliani's endorsement and Coulter's claim that Hillary is more of a conservative than McCave-in (which may actually be true - did I just agree with something Ann Coulter said? Shame on me) - The Repugs seem to be trying to restore Mr. Straight Talk's 'maverick' credentials.
The Republican party may have self-destructed as Andrew@30 said, but the Corporatist party that controls all of the R's and most of the D's lives on. After the naked grab for power and cash we've seen over the last seven years does anybody expect them to give it up without a fight?
SadButTrue@31
Yes, the elite is up to protecting their economic interests and control over the electoral process by saddling the public with a narrow range of choices that will serve their purposes. The only thing that matters now is that we get a Democrat elected who at least will appoint a Supreme that won't turn the legal system into a Kafkaesque nightmare for the rest of our lifetimes.
McFlipFlop! FlipFlop!FlipFlop!FlipFlop! Maybe McWetFish wiould be a better name.
Hey, John, Is waterboarding torture? You, of all people ought to know! Well... is it?
Good luck running against Obama. Hahaha.
What is all this crazy repackaging of a homicidal maniac war criminal as a "moderate". For Crooks and Liars to sign on to this obvious Repug ploy is disgusting. John McCain is the guy singing "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran". McCain is the guy calling for a one hundred year war in Iraq. To put it country simple, the guy is a complete asshole and anyone who says otherwise is a complete asshole too.
purvis ames @ 34:
How is C&L signing on to this 'obvious Repug ploy?' It looks to me as though it's being reported and questioned. Did I miss the part where C&L said "Oh yeah, I'm signing on to that. He's a moderate," or what? Is that part not making it to my browser? Or is the mere posting of the story a signal to you that C&L has signed on to it? I mean, there are Bill O'Reilly posts here all the time. Are they signing on to his bullshit in your humble o?
I'm just trying to figure out where you see that in this post.
I actually liked and respected McCain.........................before the 2000 election...now,nope.
This is why I became an indepedendent.
Ever since the election of Bush 43, the republican party has no idea of what it stands for anymore. Then came 9/11, and the party became nothing but a rally point for the dumb, racist, uneducated warmongers of America.
Now they're down to the final 4, they've realised that the republican party is so broken, and so confused in what it's meant to stand for that that they have no candidate that can win a general because not one of them can rally the entire party.
The religious right hates all of them especially McCain. Most Americans hate him because he's a creep, and supports full blown amnesty. Fiscal republicans hate McCain, and Huckabee because they dont understand economics. Anyone with a personality hates Mitt Romney and his flavour of the month positions. The warmongerers and retards who make up about 50% of the GOP base won't vote for Ron Paul because he's actually a republican who understands stuff.
To be sure, it seems like the kind of story that could undermine McCain’s bid quite a bit.
Actually, I think it's the kind of story that could help McCain's bid by attracting "moderates" who are uncomfortable with Clinton & Obama.
I think this is a "stealth-story" to try and make McCain more appealing to Democrats ("Oh, he considered becoming a Democrat? Maybe he ain't so bad after all!")
This is complete BS. Gram'pa McCain was about as likely to switch parties as Lieberman is a Democrat... you do remember Lieberman? McCain's politically philosophical doppleganger?
BDM @ 38:
Agreed. But it hurts him vs. Romney. And he'll have to strongly refute the allegation until the nomination is settled, which could be months away.
Snowball @ 15:
Doubt if Mitt's drinkin' beer. It might move him a bit away from ANDROID should he he partake. What a simpleton he portrays.
On the contrary --- the Republican Party is so decimated right now, the candidate who seems the be the least Republican will probably take it. That's Stage One. In Stage Two, after the primaries, the move will be afoot to convince the electorate that a vote for McCain isn't really a vote for the Republican Party.
Final Stage: Once in power, look out middle-class, look out Iran, look out homosexuals, look out everyone this party normally targets, marginalizes, rapes and pillages, whatever.
It's the classic bait-and-switch trap being laid today, sprung tomorrow. Brilliant. Almost Rove-like?
John McCain would have done himself a huge favor by leaving the party. Even if he manages to get the nomination, his gonads will constantly be squeezed by the ideologically pure extremists in his party. They will never give him a moments peace unless he completely tows the right wing lunatic line. He's already compromised himself to appease these hardliners. They'll never let up.
I am a big-city girl who just got back from Columbia, Missouri, and small to medium sized Missouri town. Let me tell you, from the ads that McCain is running in Central Missouri you'd never guess he is/was anything but the most doctrinnaire of conservative repubs. The ad I saw goes out of the way to mention just how conservative a Reagan Repub he has always been. The ad isn't quite as blatant as the one Huckabee is running where he not only states, but has a banner across the ad identifying himself as a CHRISTIAN.
I can see that these folks have ads that are not necessarily run everywhere. They are targeting their voters with the message they feel will play best in each area. This is no sin, but certainly strikes me as a cynical use of advertising dollars.
Which is just my way of saying that I doubt that either one of these guys would ever seriously be identified with the Democratic Party.
simon @ 5:
Your comment reminded me of Fatal Attraction and Glenn Close coming out of the bathtub.
Your comment reminded me of Fatal Attraction and Glenn Close coming out of the bathtub. Only this time it was McCain.
I'd love to see McCain challenge Romney to a flip-flop contest.
I recall Daschle making a well-published visit to meet with McCain in AZ after Jeffords quit the Gee Oh Pee but before Daschle became the new majority leader. There was speculation that he was about to follow Jeffords' lead but Daschle was coy when asked about it. McCain drew the ire of fellow Bush-holes who started citing a Zell Miller switch as a possible retaliation.
no john, you didn't...your as pure a neocon as your pal ol' gee dumbya!
McCain Confirms It: A Vote for Him Is a Vote for a Third Bush Term
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Mon, 02/04/2008 - 1:24pm. Alerts
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
DNC Press
Washington, DC - During appearances on Fox News Sunday and CBS's Face the Nation, John McCain made it clear: a vote for him is a vote for a third Bush term. Echoing his earlier statement that we could be in Iraq for 100 years, he said again that he would continue Bush's never ending civil war in Iraq. "We have to take care of the world's security," McCain said.
"The choice between the Democrats and Republicans couldn't be more clear. A vote for John McCain is a vote for a third Bush term with a never ending war in Iraq and an economy that favors those at the top. A vote for a Democrat is a vote to bring our troops home from Iraq, for an economy that works for all Americans, and a return to America's priorities," said Democratic National Committee Press Secretary Stacie Paxton.
McCain: A Third Bush Term
"They want to have the government run the health care system in America. I want the private sector to do it. On the issue of national security policy, there are very sharp differences... They want to withdraw from Iraq and if we do that al Qaeda wins." [Face the Nation, 2/3/2008]
"I have a strong conservative record and I'm proud of that record and I also believe on the national security side it's going to be a clear difference between me and Senator Clinton or Senator Obama. A clear difference on whether we're going to increase spending or decrease spending, increase taxes or decrease taxes, whether we're going to withdraw from Iraq or we're going to see this thing through to the success." [Fox News Sunday, 2/3/2008]
McCain's 100 Year War in Iraq: "We have to take care of the world's security"
"...This strategy is succeeding. Ad I believe that if we had set a date for withdrawal or if we do set a date for withdrawal, al Qaeda will then win and we'll see chaos and genocide in the region. That's another significant difference that Senator Clinton and I have...and I look forward to discussing it. It's not a matter of how long Americans stay. It's a matter of American casualties. And those casualties are coming down and we can eliminate them. Look, we're in Kuwait right next door to Iraq. We're in turkey. We're in Bosnia. We're all over the world. One of the obligations, unfortunately, of being a great superpower is that we have to take care of the world's security." [Fox News Sunday, 2/3/2008]
McCain: More of the Same Bush Supreme Court
"I would appoint justices such as the ones I've strongly supported and gotten through the Senate with the help of many others or help along with others. Only those who strictly interpret the constitution of the United States and do not legislate from the bench... If you have justices that have a clear, conservative, a clear, strict interpretation of the constitution of the United States, then you don't have to worry about what their decisions will be." [Fox News Sunday, 2/3/2008]
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/alerts/331
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