Blumenthal Claims Inside Knowledge that McCain Flirted with Leaving GOP

Business and Media Institute ^ | 4/1/08 | Jeff Poor

[gridlock]

Clinton campaign adviser points to presumptive GOP nominee's positions on torture, taxes, global warming, tobacco and health care as evidence.

Could John McCain have been the Independent or Democratic senator from Arizona?

Though that sounds awkward, especially in the midst of a presidential race with McCain as the GOP’s nominee, but one Washington insider claimed McCain considered abandoning the Republican Party.

According to Sidney Blumenthal, a senior adviser for former President Bill Clinton and current adviser to Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton, at one point McCain was going to leave the Republican Party and caucus with Senate Democrats.

“And although he doesn’t want to talk to reporters about it now, there was a time and I was privy to some of those who were involved, did conduct negotiations through third parties about whether or not he would leave the Republican Party and become an independent more or less aligned in the Senate with the Democrats,” said Blumenthal on April 1. Blumenthal did not say when those negotiations took place.

snip

Although McCain has disappointed some members of the conservative movement, Blumenthal said he did not think this would hurt McCain on Election Day.

(snip)

Blumenthal even supplied advice for McCain.

“So I do not think this will hurt him and if I were advising McCain right now, I would say he’s slightly overreacting to his conservative base,” McCain said. “I don’t think he needs to do that so much. I think they don’t have any choice right now.

[trisham]

You know the alternatives.

******************

That's right.

[unixfox]

Sidney "The DNC whore" Blumenthal and John "The DNC pimp" McCain

What a pair.

[xzins]

This actually helps McCain cut into the moderate-liberal vote. I’m surprised that Blumenthal came out with it.

McCain’s “global warming” speech signals the same thing. McCain is after the moderate-liberals to counterweight his loss of strong conservatives (and so he can ignore making any promises to conservatives.)

My guess is that he’ll pick Mitt Romney as VP. Two reasons: (1) Romney has a liberal record and conservatives have mixed feelings about him. (2) Romney knows that the VP slot is his step up to the White House, so he’ll dump some of his own money and/or monied connections into the campaign.

[bigjoesaddle]

I wish this story had legs NOW...this would push McNut to choose a CONSERVATIVE VP.

[syriacus]

Some people never change

Hillary's aide - Sidney Blumenthal

There once was a low-life, name of Sidney.
Who passed along dregs, like a kidney,
He did Hillary's work,
Like some low-level clerk,
And had morals as pliable as a squid knee.

Old FR thread : Condi's trail of lies Salon ^ | Dec. 8, 2005 | By Sidney Blumenthal

[NoGrayZone]

“I don’t think he needs to do that so much. I think they don’t have any choice right now.”

Sorry, thought this was America. Guess I made a wrong turn.....

[Fox_Mulder77]

“I think they don’t have any choice right now.”

Bingo!
Conservatives don’t have a choice. So McNasty should stop lying about being a conservative and run a campaign totally dedicated to Libs.
It does McNasty no good to continue to try and fool conservatives into giving him money. We aren’t mind numb Libs willing to believe in his carp.

[AmericanInTokyo]

McCain is a disaster for this party.

[NoGrayZone]

"McCain is a disaster. for this party."

[BluH2o]

But ... but ... this can't be John McCain calls himself a conservative Republican. Surely Sidney Blumenthal (arrested on a aggravated DUI charge on the eve of the NH primary) is mistaken.

[sarasota]

I can stop reading now; that was the reality check I was hoping for.

[Amerigomag]

he is heads above ...

Their is no difference between liberals. They are only seperated by culture, gender, demeanor and stature.

In this case, the Republican Party's liberal, presumptive, presidential nominee is a angry little man of European heritage.

[weegee]

And the point is? That Democrats have THREE contenders to choose from in the 2008 preSIDential race?

[weegee]

This raises McCain up a couple of pegs for the Democrats who don’t want another 4-8 years of the Clinton-Bush Oligarchy and who don’t want the racist Marxist politics of Barack Hussein Obama.

[oldironsides]

Was Sidney sober when he spoke about McCain?

[DManA]

You hit it on the head.

[popdonnelly]

The Clintonistas are the premier collection of sleazebags in American political history. They only lie when their mouths are moving.

[SunkenCiv]

LOL! Excellent! Was thinking the same thing.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1995372/posts?page=15#15

[tobyhill]

If this is their way of trying to bash McCain it will backfire. McCain will peel Democrat voters from Hillary and/or Obama knowing he's really a Democrat. McCain is more centered than Obama and Hillary could ever claim which is not good for Conservatives or hard core Libs.

[LibLieSlayer]

Just by reading here on FR and seeing that there are many differences in “we” Conservatives, there must be equal differences in liberals... examples are Zell Miller, Joe Lieberman and Ed Koch.

BTW... I despise ALL liberals... but there are differences in them.

LLS