McCain: I'd Entertain Kerry VP Offer

NewsMax/AP ^ | 3/10/04 | Limbacher

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Republican Sen. John McCain allowed a glimmer of hope Wednesday for Democrats fantasizing about a bipartisan dream team to defeat President Bush.

McCain said he would consider the unorthodox step of running for vice president on the Democratic ticket — in the unlikely event he received such an offer from the presidential candidate.

"John Kerry (news - web sites) is a close friend of mine. We have been friends for years," McCain said Wednesday when pressed to squelch speculation about a Kerry-McCain ticket. "Obviously I would entertain it."

But McCain emphasized how unlikely the whole idea was.

"It's impossible to imagine the Democratic Party seeking a pro-life, free-trading, non-protectionist, deficit hawk," the Arizona senator told ABC's "Good Morning America" during an interview about illegal steroid use. "They'd have to be taking some steroids, I think, in order to let that happen."

McCain gained a reputation as a party maverick who appeals to independent voters during his 2000 race against Bush for the Republican nomination. This year, McCain has campaigned for the president and said he would continue to do so.

Unlike some other Republican senators, he hasn't railed against Kerry, a fellow Vietnam veteran. McCain called the Kerry-Bush contest "the nastiest campaign so far that we have seen" and said he preferred campaigning for candidates instead of against their opponents.

[Pikamax]

HE should know that giving an answer like this would damage Bush and make Kerry the center of attention. This is selfish behavior.

[clintonh8r]

Wow...two Manchurian candidates on the same ticket.

[DustyMoment]

Hey, this could work!!

Then we would have a PAIR of flip-flops on the ticket!!

[firebrand]

Beware the RINOs egomaniacs.

[onedoug]

Kerry's war crimes and murder, full circle.

[navyblue]

Then we would have a PAIR of flip-flops on the ticket!!

Exactly! When one flips, the other flops. Nothing like keeping things balanced!

Always knew he was a freaking Democrat at heart!

[SolutionsOnly]

How could ex-POW McCain even stand on the same stage with Vietnam Vets against the war radical Kerry? Amazing.

[truthandlife]

Anything to get his name in the limelight again

[Jim_Curtis]

They already have a guy named "Traitor John" on the ticket, if McCain switches to the enemy side there would be two guys named Traitor John and that wouldn't be a diverse ticket.

[smonk]

never happen. mccain violates the first rule of "2nd
position guys" by being better, smarter, and generally
more attractive that the apparent "1st position guy";
kerry would suffer by comparison.

perhaps mccain simply feels honor bound not to dismiss
the possibility out of hand due to a sense of camaraderie
with his fellow viet nam veteran.

[ClearCase_guy]

I know it won't happen, but this would be sweet:

McCain on the stump for his running mate John Kerry: "I remember being a POW. I remember beign tortured while the Communists gloated over the latest sayings of Lt Kerry. It tore my heart out then, and it still does. I considered it treason of the worst sort. And another thing ..."

And then, during George W. Bush's second term, McCain is given a nice reward.

[bwteim]

Here's the potential cabinet lineup...

[lilylangtree]

Not surprising! McCain is demoncRAT wearing Pub clothing. See below for an excerpt:

On Sunday's This Week, ABC's George Stephanopoulos
pleaded for John McCain to accept any potential offer to be John Kerry's running mate, asserting that for "a lot of Democrats," that would be "the dream ticked." Stephanopoulos appealed McCain's rejection of the idea: "So there's no chance you'll re-consider?" Stephanopoulos then tried to convince McCain he doesn't really share Bush's views, laying out some areas where they disagree before demanding: "Why are you supporting President Bush?" Recalling the 2000 primary campaign battle between McCain and Bush, Stephanopoulos inquired: "Does John Kerry have to worry that the Bush team will do to him what they did to you in South Carolina?"

During the March 7 appearance in studio by McCain,
Stephanopoulos played a clip from his November 28, 2002 show in which he asked McCain about being Kerry's running mate. He rejected the idea then and did so again: "I do not intend to leave the Republican Party." Stephanopoulos pleaded: "But a lot of Democrats think this is the dream ticked. So there's no chance you'll re-consider?" McCain: "I cannot envision the scenario, George, as I say it's flattering but no [mumble], leave the Republican Party."

Stephanopoulos: "Okay, I think that's, you're not quite being General Sherman, but I think you're clear on it. Let me switch over to the campaign. When I look through your record, you disagree with President Bush on tax cuts, you disagreed with him on the prescription drug coverage, you disagree with him on the energy bill, you disagree with him on global warming, many other issues. Why are you supporting President Bush?"

McCain explained that he agrees with Bush on many issues and
that Bush "led with moral clarity and strength" after 9/11.

Stephanopoulos moved on to the media-created controversy over the Bush TV ads, asking McCain if it was "appropriate" to use images from Ground Zero in the ad.

Next, Stephanopoulos painted Kerry as the next possible victim of the Bush attack machine: "It was a tough campaign. Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina said it was the nastiest campaign he had ever seen. You refused to say that President Bush ran an honorable campaign and called it 'savagery." Does John Kerry have to worry that the Bush team will do to him what they did to you in
South Carolina?"

McCain noted that he and Bush now have a cordial relationship, and while it will be a nasty campaign, that's "not contained to either side."

As recounted in the March 4 CyberAlert, on the March 3 Good
Morning America's ABC's Claire Shipman gushed that the idea of McCain running with Kerry represents "everybody's wishful thinking that he might switch parties and join his Vietnam buddy." See: http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2004/cyb20040304.asp#3

[N. Theknow]

McCain is nothing more than Howard Dean with a tour bus.

If he ran on the DemocRAT ticket he would have to change the name of it from the "Straight Talk Express" to the "Diversity Rant Short Bus."

[Truthsayer20]

The fact that McCain is pro-life is enough to disqualify him as a Democrat VP candidate. Abortion is the holy grail of the Democrat party.

[kimber]

Arizona wake up! Vote this guy out of office. This guy is a liberal in sheep's clothing.

[Jaxter]

"Wow...two Manchurian candidates on the same ticket."

Nah! The Manchurian candidate was brainwashed. Kerry voluntarily turned traitor.

[LucyJo]

"This is selfish behavior."

That's what we get from self-centered people.

[RAY]

When are the people of McCain's State going to get enough of him and elect a good Republican! Can any other Republican in that state win his Senate seat?

[GreatOne]

Revolting. A perfect example of why we are The Stupid Party. For some reason we have elected these twits who aren't 1/10th as partisan as the DemoRats. Must be the "minority status" disease infecting members of Congrss who were around before 1994.

Two wishes (among many): (1) that Lee Atwater hadn't died; and (2) that Newt Gingrich hadn't turned turned out to be such an effing flake instead of the leader I had thought/hoped he was.