Posted on 01/29/2008 12:38:12 PM PST by counterpunch
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.
At the end of their March 31, 2001 lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Bethesda, Md., Downey said Weaver asked why Democrats hadn’t asked McCain to switch parties.
Downey, a well-connected lobbyist, said he was stunned.
“You’re really wondering?” Downey said he told Weaver. “What do you mean you’re wondering?”
“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?” Weaver this week said he did have lunch with Downey that spring, pointing out that he and Downey “are very good friends.”
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
>Democrats say McCain nearly abandoned GOP
They got that half right.
Why am I not surprised? McCain sucks.
So, instead of moving to the other side he decided to stay and undermine it from within. So far looks like a perfect strategy to me.
Wowser!
Well he obviously has Florida Republicans fooled.
What’s this ‘nearly’ crap? He abandonned the GOP the minute he lost the VA primary in 2000.
Suspicious timing. I’m no McCain supporter, but I doubt this is entirely true.
Why would these Democrats release this information now, at a time when he is in a struggle with Romney for the Republican nomination, and it could easily sabotage his Presidential aspirations?
This is just odd.
H
The John McCain Truth Files
Capitol Hill staffers rate their bosses. McCain got no glory from those who work with him.
“Every election year we survey top aides on both sides of the aisle—administrative assistants, press secretaries, legislative directors, and chiefs of committee staffs—to get their up-close and personal, and anonymous, views. While there may be lots of partisan backbiting among congress members, their staffers seem far more capable of putting politics aside and making honest judgments. It wasn’t unusual for aides in both parties to name one of their own as “spineless” or give the “workhorse” nod to someone across the aisle. “
Worst Follower 2. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
Show Horse 2. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
Hottest Temper 2. John McCain (R-Ariz.) , known to snap at staff when the cameras are off
http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/mediapolitics/1666.html
McCain’s the candidate of amnesty for illegal aliens.
McCain supports embryonic stem-cell research.
McCain has said “I would not support repeal of Roe vs. Wade”.
McCain opposed the Bush tax cuts, and refuses to sign the “No New Taxes” pledge.
McCain supports legislation that would increase taxes on energy.
McCain was the ring-leader of the Senate “Gang of 14”, which kept the then Senate Republican leadership from ending the ability of Democrats to filibuster Bush’s judicial nominees.
McCain supports legislation to grant due-process rights to terrorists.
McCain sponsored the inept legislation which restricts free-speech rights of those involved
in the political process, (the McCain/Feingold bill)
McCain called evangelical-conservatives an “evil influence” on the Republican Party.
McCain - member of the Keating 5 that caused a bipartisan scandal during the S&L meltdown.
McCain had a recall election ran against him by the conservatives in Arizona.
McCain blocked the investigation into whether Viet Nam and the Soviets were still holding over 600 of our missing POWs in 1990.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1958293/posts?page=52#52
Latest (Jan. 2008) OVERALL Presidential Candidate Ratings On IMMIGRATION
How Good Are The Promises of Each Candidate to PROTECT Workers, Communities and Taxpayers FROM ILLEGAL & OVER-IMMIGRATION?
VERY GOOD# Mitt Romney (28 points)
GOOD# RON PAUL(24 points) # MIKE HUCKABEE(24 points)
POOR# RUDY GIULIANI(7 points)
BAD# JOHN McCAIN (5 points) # JOHN EDWARDS (5 points)
# HILLARY CLINTON (4 points) # BARACK OBAMA (4 points)
Please note that our ratings do NOT amount to endorsements. Nor do they convey anything about the character, the strength or any other positions about the candidates. http://www.betterimmigration.com/candidates/2006/prez2008.html
THE McCAIN WAY - ATTACK REPUBLICANS
.Defending His Amnesty Bill, “Presidential hopeful John McCain - who has been dogged for years by questions about his volcanic temper - erupted in an angry, profanity-laced tirade at a fellow Republican senator, sources told The Post yesterday. In a heated dispute over immigration-law overhaul, McCain screamed, ‘F— you!’ at Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who had been raising concerns about the legislation. ‘This is chickens—stuff,’ McCain snapped at Cornyn, according to several people in the room off the Senate floor Thursday. ‘You’ve always been against this bill, and you’re just trying to derail it.’” (Charles Hurt, “Raising McCain,” New York Post, 5/19/07)
In 2000, Sen. McCain Ran An Attack Ad Comparing Then-Gov. George W. Bush To Bill Clinton. SEN. MCCAIN: “I guess it was bound to happen. Governor Bush’s campaign is getting desperate, with a negative ad about me. The fact is, I’ll use the surplus money to fix Social Security, cut your taxes and pay down the debt. Governor Bush uses all of the surplus for tax cuts, with not one new penny for Social Security or the debt. His ad twists the truth like Clinton. We’re all pretty tired of that. As president, I’ll be conservative and always tell you the truth. No matter what.” (McCain 2000, Campaign Ad, 2/9/00; www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHoXkCprdL4)
Sen. McCain Repeatedly Called Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) nams. “Why can’t McCain win the votes of his own colleagues? To explain, a Republican senator tells this story: at a GOP meeting last fall, McCain erupted out of the blue at the respected Budget Committee chairman, Pete Domenici, saying, ‘Only an a–hole would put together a budget like this.’ Offended, Domenici stood up and gave a dignified, restrained speech about how in all his years in the Senate, through many heated debates, no one had ever called him that. Another senator might have taken the moment to check his temper. But McCain went on: ‘I wouldn’t call you an a–hole unless you really were an a–hole.’ The Republican senator witnessing the scene had considered supporting McCain for president, but changed his mind. ‘I decided,’ the senator told Newsweek, ‘I didn’t want this guy anywhere near a trigger.’” (Evan Thomas, et al., “Senator Hothead,” Newsweek, 2/21/00)
Sen. McCain Had A Heated Exchange With Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) And Called Him A “F*cking Jerk.” “Senators are not used to having their intelligence or integrity challenged by another senator. ‘Are you calling me stupid?’ Sen. Chuck Grassley once inquired during a debate with McCain over the fate of the Vietnam MIAs, according to a source who was present. ‘No,’ replied McCain, ‘I’m calling you a f—ing jerk!” (Evan Thomas, et al., “Senator Hothead,” Newsweek, 2/21/00)
In 1995, Sen. McCain Had A “Scuffle” With 92-Year-Old Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC) On The Senate Floor. “In January 1995, McCain was midway through an opening statement at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing when chairman Strom Thurmond asked, ‘Is the senator about through?’ McCain glared at Thurmond, thanked him for his ‘courtesy’ (translation: buzz off), and continued on. McCain later confronted Thurmond on the Senate floor. A scuffle ensued, and the two didn’t part friends.” (Harry Jaffe, “Senator Hothead,” The Washingtonian, 2/97)
Sen. McCain Attacked Christian Leaders And Republicans In A Blistering Speech During The 2000 Campaign. MCCAIN: “Unfortunately, Governor Bush is a Pat Robertson Republican who will lose to Al Gore. … The political tactics of division and slander are not our values… They are corrupting influences on religion and politics, and those who practice them in the name of religion or in the name of the Republican Party or in the name of America shame our faith, our party and our country. Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left, or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right.” (Sen. John McCain, Remarks, Virginia Beach, VA, 2/28/00)
Celebrating His First Senate Election In 1986, Sen. McCain Screamed At And Harassed A Young Volunteer. “It was election night 1986, John McCain had just been elected to the U.S. Senate for the first time. Even so, he was not in a good mood. McCain was yelling at the top of his lungs and poking the chest of a young volunteer who had set up a lectern that was too tall for the 5-foot-9 politician to be seen to advantage, according to a witness to the outburst. ‘Here this poor guy is thinking he has done a good job, and he gets a new butt ripped because McCain didn’t look good on television,’ Jon Hinz told a reporter Thursday. At the time, Hinz was executive director of the Arizona Republican Party. … ‘There were an awful lot of people in the room,’ Hinz recalled. ‘You’d have to stick cotton in your ears not to hear it. He (McCain) was screaming at him, and he was red in the face.’” (Kris Mayes and Charles Kelly, “Stories Surface On Senator’s Demeanor,” The Arizona Republic, 11/5/99)
Sen. McCain “Publicly Abused” Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL). “[McCain] noted his propensity for passion but insisted that he doesn’t ‘insult anybody or fly off the handle or anything like that.’ This is, quite simply, hogwash. McCain often insults people and flies off the handle…. There have been the many times McCain has called reporters ‘liars’ and ‘idiots’ when they have had the audacity to ask him unpleasant, but pertinent, questions. ” (Editorial, “There’s Something About McCain,” The Austin American-Statesman, 1/24/07)
Is it any wonder McCain has few endorsements from his Congressional piers? http://thehill.com/endorsements-2008.html
Hey, we’ve got at least four and some might argue five people that fit in this category this primary season.
And you’ve hit the problem with that right on the head. It is destructive to conservatism.
If the Dems have documented proof of this, it would explain why they are so eager to run against McCain. Release it the week before the Election, and kaboom goes his campaign. It would make Bush’s DUI in 2000 look like nothing.
>> Once McCain has the GOP nomination, he’ll be unleashed to run wild. He’ll run AGAINST the GOP. That’s what makes him a “maverick.” There will be no Republican in the race.
If this were the case, why would they leak this information BEFORE he’s nominated — when this information could very well end his chances of getting the GOP nomination?
Something doesn’t smell right here.
H
I think he left and forgot to change the letter beside his name.
I’m still trying to figure out why people in the GOP want to vote for this man. (including some *closet FReepers*)
You mean he didn’t abandon the Republican party?
Just kidding....that is not surprising at all.
CFR, Amnesty, compromise with democrats over judge appointments.
McCain is not going to embrace the GOP if he gets the nomination, as most people think.
He is going to denounce Republicans.
He is going to run away from Republicans and run against them.
And once he’s the nominee, there is nothing the GOP can do about it.
He is planning to destroy the GOP.
He’s been plotting for 8 years.
He hates the GOP and he’s out for revenge and to settle scores.
Suh-prahz! Suh-prahz! Suh-prahz!
I don’t know if anything in this article is true but I just don’t have any trouble believing it “could be”.
I can’t believe any Republican with a brain would vote for this turd.
Great post! Gosh, I wish FR had a “McCainTruthFile” link so this stuff could be indexed and searchable. *sigh*
they are saying this now. They think mccain would be tougher than romney because he has yet to really prove himself (we’ll see after florida).
It could backfire as independents see mccain as a uniter vs the very divisive Hillary who can’t work with anyone
NEARLY?
Exactly
Because, for whatever reason, the Democrats are scared of running against John McCain. They think John McCain will beat their candidate.
I don’t agree. I think John McCain will lose like Bob Dole.
But you have to understand these Democrats. That is what they think.
MCain abandoned the GOP long ago. He just never made it ‘official’.
What do they mean “nearly”?
Why this VN War hero would even think about associating with the radical anti-military party known as the Democrats is beyond me.
Anyone who would’ve given aid and comfort to my captors would be the LAST people on earth I would associate with.
“he has been a leader on the issue of global warming”. http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/65bd0fbe-737b-4851-a7e7-d9a37cb278db.htm
McCain mentioned in one debate that he was instrumental in writing carbon credits legislation. He’s the Al Gore of the Republican Party.
Whenever I saw the (R-AZ) behind McCain’s name, I always assumed that it stood for “Retiree- Arizona”. Never would of guessed that it was supposed to indicate “Republican”...
Because the dems don't want to run against McCain who is also a dem.
he decided to stay and undermine it from within
Exactly! But he would switch in a heartbeat if it benefited McCain.
Obviously he never did. Even after two opportunities to join the majority and gain influence, he stayed in the Republican Party.
So... why would he change? Obviously he saw something he didn’t like in the Democratic Party. Read closer— the only reason the Dems say McCain was even considering it was because Bush gave him and his staff the “up yours” after Bush won the GOP nomination. It was never an issue of principle.
Come to think of it... doesn’t anyone notice how most of the stuff McCain gets harped on here happened after Bush’s election?
And by the way... I notice this was written ten months ago but you conveniently left off the date when you posted it now.
how about a joint McClain/Clinton or McClain/Clinton ticket? to give us a true unity government. (scarcasm off)
>> Because, for whatever reason, the Democrats are scared of running against John McCain. They think John McCain will beat their candidate.
That doesn’t square with the assertion that McCain is the Democrats’ favorite Republican and that they’re pushing him to be nominated so that there will be no conservative candidate.
>> I don’t agree. I think John McCain will lose like Bob Dole.
Honestly — I think ANYONE left on our side (excepting Ron Paul) could beat Hillary Clinton. She’s too widely hated. I think Obama is more formidable — he is likable, outwardly optimistic, and a relatively inspirational orator.
>> But you have to understand these Democrats. That is what they think.
Then why bump him up, as people claim they have been for so long, only to sabotage him before he gets the nomination?
Something about the timing of this just doesn’t make sense.
H
Some on FR have predicted that should McCain get elected, he may actually switch parties and become a Democrat. At first, I thought this was a ridiculous speculation...but now, I’m not so sure.
Because they didn't. If you follow the link, it was published ten months ago on "03/28/07 07:39 PM [ET]". counterpunch put today's date on the thread when he posted it instead of the original publication date. Changing the publication date is just as bad as changing the title of the thread.
If you read carefully the whole article, the information came out in a 2003 book by Daschle, and is just getting noticed now due to the other reports about the talks between McCain and Kerry about McCain being Kerry’s running mate.
I wish the sleasy S#& had left.
Think about it...it is the same reason the New York Times endorsed him, that Bill Clinton praised him (despite his joke about Chelsea being "so ugly because Janet Reno is her father") and libs like Lanny Davis back him. They want conservatives to knock him out of the primary so they can face Mitt!! (Even fat Timmy Russert got this right...but the dunces here on FR won't!)
I still think it’s ridiculous.
If he earns the nomination and the presidency he’ll have next-to-full control over the direction of the GOP. Why on Earth would he squander such power by changing to the party of Clinton? It’s never happened in history— not once— where a person switched party mid-campaign.
Besides, if McCain left the GOP I’d think some people here would find it a welcome change.
I see no one has mentioned just how heavily John F Kerry tried to recruit McCain to be his VP. I read Time’s “How Bush Won” about the 2004 elections and it shocked me how close McCain was to joining “French”.
Kerry was convinced that McCain would join him.
I agree.
We also know that Hillary has a similar temperment...everything from throwing things to calling secret service f’ing this and that..
McCain and Hillary....made of the same cloth
If McCain gets the nomination, you can kiss the White House goodbye for at least four years, and say hello to President Clinton or President Obama.
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