Free Republic

Could Mitt Romney and John McCain turn out to be the hidden arrows in Marco Rubio's political quiver in New Hampshire?[continued]

On Friday, after blaming conservatives like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) for the Obama administration's mishandling of military death benefits, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said Cruz simply did not represent the GOP. Fox News host Martha MacCallum mentioned that Cruz would be visiting President Barack Obama along with other Republican senators like Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Marco Rubio (R-FL) at the White House on Friday. She asked McCain, "How do you feel about him representing you there?" In response, McCain smirked before saying, "First of of all, Martha, please, he's not representing us there." Also in the interview,...

Republican establishment strategist Mike Murphy, who is close to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Mitt Romney and favors candidates like them, slammed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), saying he would be a disaster in a general election like George McGovern was for Democrats in 1972. Murphy told National Review that though Cruz may win the nomination if he chooses to run because he appeals so strongly to conservatives, but he would not win a general election. In Murphy's eyes, conservatives that support Cruz are not "regular Republicans" like McCain and Romney, both of whom lost general elections. [Snip] During the 2012...

In the wake of a political setback for national health care legislation, Senator John McCain, the losing candidate in the last presidential election, advised his victorious 2008 adversary on Sunday that the way to get meaningful changes passed is to “start from the beginning” by meeting with Republicans. Mr. McCain, a Republican from Arizona, said on the CBS news program “Face the Nation” that President Obama should sit down with Republican leaders and begin adopting some of their ideas for improving the nation’s health care system such as overhauling medical malpractice lawsuits, allowing residents of one state to buy health...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Sunday that it was time to start over on the health care debate - and that Republicans would be willing to try to meet common ground with Democrats on several key issues. Appearing on CBS's "Face the Nation," McCain said Republicans should "say we'd be willing to start over from the beginning," saying the party would like to address malpractice reform, and transportability of coverage across state lines. "There are many things we can do," McCain suggested.