Posted on 06/02/2005 10:51:12 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
A leader of the modern conservative movement says the bipartisan deal to end the filibusters of President Bush's judicial nominees was all about the presidential election of 2008.
Arizona Senator John McCain was one of the seven Republicans involved in brokering the recent controversial "compromise" that suspended a Democratic-led filibuster and allowed judicial nominee Priscilla Owen to finally get an up-or-down vote before the full Senate. The deal called for allowing two other nominees to go before the Senate for a confirmation vote, but permitted Democrats to continue their filibustering tactics on future nominees.
Paul Weyrich, the founder and director of the Free Congress Foundation, has been on the Washington scene for decades. Weyrich is convinced "pure politics" were behind McCain's efforts to broker the judicial compromise that ended the filibusters before Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist could lead a change of Senate rules ending the unprecedented blocking tactics.
"I think John McCain could not stand to see Bill Frist [become] a hero to the conservative movement, which he would have been had he been able to deliver," says Weyrich. He feels the Arizona senator's hopes of someday moving into the Oval Office took over.
"To try to derail Frist's possible campaign for the presidency, McCain was willing to undercut his president, undercut his majority leader, undercut Republicans in the Senate, and undercut the country," Weyrich says matter-of-factly. "It is the kind of raw, nasty politics that most of us abhor [and] the kind of issue that is not going to be forgotten. In my opinion, this absolutely seals his fate in Republican primaries and conventions."
Weyrich is not alone in that assessment. Grover G. Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, told FreeRepublic.com that by his actions, McCain has essentially written himself off as a potential nominee.
(Excerpt) Read more at headlines.agapepress.org ...
McCain, as second fiddle, brings in far more votes then if the roles were reversed.
You're not thinking like a democrat. They want a win. John can provide that. Hillary is iffy.
You don't get it. John won't jump parties unless he's assured of the DNC's backing.
But McCain will NOT accept VP.
I know this for a fact.
McCain is not getting my vote.
Neat website @ http/www.realchange.org/mccain.htm. Sorry, don't know how to make this a link.
I don't think McLame was sitting pretty before the "deal" but he is definitely fried now. BIG TIME. He might as well run as a demoRat.......
If he does, it will be his death warrant. He'll want to avoid Ft. Marcy Park, for instance. I can think of several sinister scenarios.
No Democrat will vote for McCain the turncoat as headliner on a presidential ticket. His face value to Democrats is approximately [*] limited to his current role as a Democrat leaning kiss@ss from the Republican side of the aisle. His star value as a retread headliner approaches nada. [So sayeth SteveH-- fwiw ;-)]
As an indy (although I'm not certain the discussion started out this way), the media will support him only to the point he wicks away Republican support to Hillary!s advantage. To that end, he might shave off Ariz., but it doesn't have enough electoral votes to fill a half-full Tuscon spitoon (heaven help me, now I'm waxing Dan Ratherisms ;-).
Personally I think McCain's attraction as a ticket headliner is limited to sunbelt suburbs of Arizona and the MSM itself, in full political self-stimulatory mode.
(*) it just *might* make a difference if McC runs as second banana to Hillary. Maybe they can buy him off with a huge wad of offshore cash-- whatever it would take for him to swallow his ego and accept the attack dog role that comes with the VP slot. The MSM would give him all the face time he deserved in that role, multiplied by an order of magnitude by way of the traditional institutional bias. Hillary! needs him to "prove" (i.e., to the MSM, in a pretext kind of way) her "centrist" bona fides. All McCain would have to do would be to pick up the phone and give them his price... they'd probably meet it and consider themselves lucky he called them.
And that's IMHO how close we might be to a Hillary!/McCain ticket. The corollary, if the prediction were to come true, would be for McCain to bow out for health reasons soon after election, and replaced by someone else more Hillary!-compatible, such as Boxer or other political clone. Hillary!s strong suit is not patience (anyone recall don't ask, don't tell? not to mention dear departed Vince ;-) ;-)
Look for Billary to use McLame to split the ,08 ticket. A Clitoon favorite thing to do. And the only way she could win. I'm hoping the same thing happens on the Rat side too , with the far left Deanbots... Now that would make for a interesting race. A true Conservative and a moonbat and two middle of the roadies..... The winner would only need what 28% maybe..... How much of a mandate would that be ;)
While dear departed Vince may have receded from the conscious recollections of flyover country, he certainly hasn't receded from the conscious recollections of the beltway.
As if that wasn't the whole point of Ft. Marcy Park to begin with...
Sorry to be so blunt. (I'm just a bit nostalgic for the "old" FR this evening... ;-)
A two faced politician without a price tag?
Cite, please.
McCain is gone as a winning GOP primary candidate, and knows this fact. I do not believe he has even been close, to consideration. Frist has failed his grooming process, in so many ways. The lead 2008 GOP candidate will be Gov. Mitt Romney. He has passed many sounding tests, and will be Hillary's worst nightmare, well into a cocked hat. Rove and company are doing just fine...
............was willing to nuke his own possible campaign for the presidency
Tighten up those abs, sister.
Usually, I try not to post something that makes me look confused.
McCain betrays his party regularly and consistently at the national level. In organization support and in ideological positions.
McClintock's state party has regularly and consistently betrayed him at the state level. In organization support and in ideological positions.
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