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McCain Almost Left GOP
Ai, if this is true (or / and perhaps even when it’s not), it could hurt Senator John McCain: Democratic lawmakers say that John McCain was ready to leave the GOP in 2001 “weeks before then-Sen. Jim Jeffords (Vt.) famously announced his decision to become an Independent�.
Former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and ex-Rep. Tom Downey (D-N.Y.) told The Hill that they were involved in the discussions with McCain about this matter.
It all started when Downey was having lunch with McCain’s top strategist Weaver. Weaver asked Downey why the Democrats hadn’t “asked McCain to switch parties.�
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8 Responses to “McCain Almost Left GOP”
Assuming this is true, it would devastate the McCain campaign now, which is already lagging in the polls and in meeting its own fundraising goals. It certainly would only help Democrats in the event that he wins the GOP nomination- releasing it at this moment does them no good politically. If you remember how devastating Bush’s personal attacks on his opponent and his family were in the South Carolina primary were, it makes this seem more credible.
What is truly mindbending is that McCain could move on from that point in totally the opposite direction. How does one go from considering a conversion to the Democratic party to taking on the most conservative positions in the Republican party in six years? It just tells me that McCain is too blinded by his own presidential ambitions to have even a shred of political integrity left. That is a regrettable evolution of a man I formerly admired greatly, even if I disagreed with him on some issues.
this basically shows why the Republicans are going to lose in a rout. All of their candidates have many hidden issues. The Democrats have learned how to use them. If Senators Obama or Clinton are nominated, no Republican has a chance because those are the two candidates that will be immune to “October Surprises.”
But SD, if that were true, why would this have come out now? The timing might not help McCain with Republican primary voters, but it will help Romney and Giuliani. Giuliani, in particular, would present more of a threat in the general election than McCain, whose support among the GOP has diminished severely since last year.
kritter,
Giuliani is a disaster waiting to happen. Giuliani has more hidden issues than McCain.
I am not a big fan of the timing issue because that implies more control than really exist. Who knows why Daschle and Downey are doing this know excpept to settle some old score.
Before Dems start celebrating… Keep an eye on Thompson (and on Giuliani of course).
My final pairing includes none of the current canidates……Thompson vs. Gore is what I’d like to see happen.
Pyst- That would be interesting- I’m a huge Gore fan myself . Who should we nominate for VP- Obama, Dodd, or Richardson? Thompson is getting in a little late in the game, what did he accomplish in the Senate?
As a former Tennessee resident, Thompson v Gore would be intriguing. But considering how Frist turned out….