Gee what a surprise coming from Pitts liberal paper.
My in-laws will not be voting for him.
You forgot the Barf Alert.
From the Hill, how McCain was going to jump to the Dims to take the Senate from Republicans in 2001, then Jeffords jumped.
Democrats say McCain nearly abandoned GOP
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, McCains 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 McCains case, they said, it was McCains 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 hadnt asked McCain to switch parties.
Downey, a well-connected lobbyist, said he was stunned.
Youre really wondering? Downey said he told Weaver. What do you mean youre 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.
He claims, however, that Downey is grossly mischaracterizing their exchange: We certainly didnt discuss in any detail about the senators political plans and any discussion about party-switchers, generically, would have been limited to the idle gossip which was all around the city about the [Democrats] aggressive approach about getting any GOP senator to switch in order to gain the majority. Nothing more or less than that.
Downey said Weaver is well aware that their discussion was much more than typical Washington chit-chat.
Within seconds of arriving home from his lunch with Weaver, Downey said he was on the phone to the most powerful Democrats in town. One of the first calls he made was to then-Senate Minority Leader Daschle.
I did take the call from Tom [Downey], Daschle said in an interview. It was Weavers comment to Downey that started the McCain talks, he added.
Daschle noted that McCain at that time was frustrated with the Bush administration as a result of his loss to George W. Bush in the 2000 Republican primary.
Daschle said that throughout April and May of 2001, he and McCain had meetings and conversations on the floor and in his office, I think in mine as well, about how we would do it, what the conditions would be. We talked about committees and his seniority [A lot of issues] were on the table.
Absolutely not so, according to McCain. In a statement released by his campaign, McCain said, As I said in 2001, I never considered leaving the Republican Party, period.
Some of the meetings Daschle referred to are detailed in the former senators 2003 book.
Other senators who played major roles in the intense recruiting effort, according to Democrats, were then-Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) as well as Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
John [Edwards] at that time was working with McCain on a couple things and there was a sense that because of his relationship that he might be a good person to talk to him, Daschle said. He was clearly one of those that we thought could be helpful.
A source close to Edwards said Daschles comments are accurate.
Daschle also said, Both Sen. Reid and I talked to [McCain] both individually and together.
Several former McCain aides who worked for the senator in 2001 and are now in the private sector did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a longtime friend of McCains, said yesterday, I have never heard one word from Johns mouth to suggest he was going to leave the Republican Party. These are political-intrigue stories that have no basis in fact.
Speculation about McCains flirtations with becoming an Independent surfaced in the press throughout 2001.
In one article, Marshall Wittman, a McCain loyalist and strategist six years ago, put the odds of McCain leaving the Republican Party at 50-50. Wittman, who now works for Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), declined to comment for this article. A source said that Wittmans comment at that time was completely based on speculation.
McCain consistently shot down the rumors, though Weaver acknowledged this week that the senator did talk to Democrats about leaving the GOP.
He said McCain was invited to a meeting in Kennedys office with several other Democratic senators but didnt know what the meeting was for and left soon thereafter. Weaver added that Edwards approached McCain on the Senate floor to discuss the matter.
Daschle, however, said the talks went much further, claiming that there were times that he and Democratic leaders thought McCain might be our best opportunity. Daschle stressed that McCain never considered becoming a Democrat, but was close to becoming an Independent.
Downey said, I actually thought during the initial stages of this that [McCain leaving the Republican Party] was almost a certain deal.
Weaver, who changed his party affiliation to Democrat several years ago, said he respects Daschle and Downey, but added, Theyre partisan Democrats and were in the political season.
Told of Weavers version of what happened, Daschle said, Obviously, our recollection of what transpired is somewhat different.
Daschle first made some of these assertions in little-noticed parts of his book, titled Like No Other Time: The 107th Congress and the Two Years That Changed America Forever.
The book states that in 2001, Daschle and other Democrats were attempting to persuade three Republicans to leave their party: Jeffords, Chafee, and McCain.
Asked which one was the closest to committing, Daschle answered, Depended on the day.
On page 62, Daschle wrote that McCain and Chafee seemed like real possibilities to bolt their party. He pointed out that few, if any, of McCains people were hired by the Bush administration.
John didnt think that was right, Daschle wrote, that his staff should be penalized like that.
Chafee confirmed to The Hill this week that he had meetings with Democrats about changing parties in 2001 because he was alarmed at the differences between President Bushs campaign promises and the policies coming out of his administration.
Weaver said he hasnt read Daschles book, which does not mention the Downey-Weaver lunch.
Mark Salter, who in 2001 was McCains chief of staff and now works for the senators campaign, said McCain has not at any moment thought about leaving the Republican Party: Never at any time. Never.
Salter said there were no staff discussions about this issue, noting he would have been in on them.
Soon after Bush was inaugurated as the nations 43rd president, McCain was working with Democrats on many issues, ranging from gun control to healthcare to campaign-finance reform.
McCains links to Democrats were so clear that Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) now a close ally of McCain publicly criticized him in the early part of 2001 for keeping unusual company.
Jeffords pulled the trigger on May 24, 2001, throwing control of the Senate to Democrats. Chafee and McCain then broke off their discussions with Democratic leaders, according to Democrats.
Downey said he talked to Weaver at least once a week during McCains discussions with Democrats, asking him questions like, What is the state of play? and Where are we?
Weaver was very active in this, Downey said, None of this happens without Weaver.
The Democrats claims about McCain come as the senator is courting the Republican base for his 2008 White House bid. Other frontrunners for the GOP nomination have raised some eyebrows in conservative circles. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) voted for Democratic Sen. Paul Tsongas (Mass.) in 1992, while ex-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) endorsed then-New York Gov. Mario Cuomo (D) a couple years later.
Asked why this news hasnt come out before, Downey said, Its a mystery to me. And in fact, the last time Weaver and I had dinner together [on April 26, 2006], we laughed about this Its never been written about, never got in the paper.
He denied any political motivation, saying he is still friends with Weaver and deeply respects McCain. I would have been happy to come forward last year or the year before if someone had asked There were meetings in offices. You cant deny [these meetings took place]. They occurred.
Downey added, Its my hope that John McCain is the Republican nominee because from my perspective, although I think Democrats are going to win, if they dont, McCain is the sort of man I would feel comfortable [with] as the president of the United States. Im not trying to hurt him.
Daschle said he doesnt believe the new revelations will hurt McCain. Everyone has known John McCain to be independent, to take his own course. That was a time in his life when he at least weighed the possibility of becoming an independent, but he rejected it, so I cant imagine that can ever be used as a political liability.
On June 2, 2001, The Washington Post ran a front-page story with the headline McCain is Considering Leaving GOP; Arizona Senator Might Launch a Third-Party Challenge to Bush in 2004.
The article, written in the wake of the Jeffordss announcement, noted that Daschle and his wife were visiting the McCains at the senators home in Arizona for what was billed by McCains office as a social event. But by that time, McCain had decided to stay a Republican, according to Daschle.
In his book, Daschle wrote that plans for the June weekend getaway were made months earlier when McCain was mulling changing his party affiliation.
As the media camped outside the senators vacation house in Sedona, Ariz., Daschle and McCain discussed what an incredible piece of history Jim Jeffords had just written, Daschle wrote. Nothing was said about John doing the same thing. I think we both knew that wasnt going to happen, not now.
McCain and Bush settled their differences before the presidents reelection campaign in 2004, when McCain strongly backed his former nemesis after reportedly rejecting an offer from Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to become his vice presidential nominee. Last year, McCain aggressively stumped for dozens of GOP candidates.
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/democrats-say-mccain-nearly-abandoned-gop-2007-03-28.html
I understand he is a war hero, but unfortunately a war hero doesn’t a President make.
At the very moment that a dangerously fractured Republican Party could have disintegrated...
John McCain shoved another one of his famous “Backstabber(tm)” knives into it, ensuring its demise.
That’s a helluva endorsement. When IS the Pennsylvania primary?
McCain is a traitorous snake in the grass
McCain was a prisoner of war, NOT a war HERO. I’m tired of him being billed as a hero. (Maybe a hero sandwich)
If this keeps up he will have more blue state endorsements than red state votes.
Im sticking with Huckabee.
This is the man John McCain chose to be his "Hispanic Outreach Director." Hernandez is a verified traitor. Born in Dallas he decided as an adult to become a dual-national Mexican citizen. His last "real" job was serving in Mexican President Vicente Fox's cabinet as his "American Reconquista Director." After that gig ran out, he worked (sic) for George Soros funded internationalist foundations, like the one that published his book.
The "New American Pioneers" proclaimed in his book are the illegal alien invaders he urges to become settlers in the USA. Hernandez believes all Mexicans and Mexican-Americans in the USA should become dual citizens and consider themselves Mexicans first, "to the 8th generation." He believes there should be no border at all between Mexico and the USA, ever.
And this is the man McCain chose for his "Hispanic Outreach Director." In the past week he was asked about this choice, and McCain said he chose Hernandez because he agrees with his positions. If so, McCain is supporting invasion and reconquista.
Then I read our Constitution, Article 4 Section 4, and I can only conclude one thing: Juan McShamnesty is our new Benedict Arnold.
Just remeber, Benedict Arnold was a war hero too.
http://www.williamcooper.net/index.htm [* link no longer active *]
Senator John S. McCain is The Manchurian Candidate
http://williamcooper.net/mccain.htm [* link no longer active *]
I knew Senator John McCain's father when Admiral John S. McCain Jr. was the Commander in Chief of the Pacific (CINCPAC). I sincerely believe that Admiral McCain, if he were alive, would tell you exactly what I am about to tell you. Admiral McCain always put his country first and foremost above all other issues.
The fact that Senator John McCain was shot down and captured over North Vietnam does not make him a hero. The goal of any pilot is to not get shot down. The fact that he was a Prisoner of War does not make him a hero. The goal of all military personnel is to not become a POW. The fact that he endured prison, torture, and brainwashing for all that time makes him a survival hero in my humble opinion. I am very happy that he survived and that he was able to return home.
However, Senator John McCain was tortured and brainwashed by the communists for over 5 years. Regardless of what you may have been told, or what you may believe, no one, not anyone on this earth can withstand torture and brainwashing without breaking down, giving up information, and permanent damage to the mind... usually to traditional belief systems and thought processes in the areas of religion, philosophy, and politics.
By his own admission Senator John McCain, while a POW, traded information for special medical treatment which no other POW received. He made public statements while a POW detrimental to the United States Navy and the United States of America.
Many brainwashing victims become fractured personalities programmed to perform some task or tasks in the future. Their programming can be activated by audio, visual, or other types of stimulation. These are facts not conjecture. Anyone can confirm these facts with a little research.
Remember, what is known about torture and brainwashing is old information, and it is terrifying. I have no access to what is still kept secret. I have no knowledge of what can be done to a victim using the state of the art techniques which are held in the strictest secrecy by all nations.
I doubt that Senator McCain knows the extent of the damage done to his mind... and according to all the studies and facts available concerning torture and brainwashing he could not have anything other than a damaged mind. The movie may have been fiction... but Senator John McCain is without any doubt the real Manchurian Candidate.
When I look at his voting record in the United States Senate I do not see a conservative Republican. I see a record that reveals a closet socialist, a proponent of the New World Order.
Love him if you must, honor him if you can, respect him in his office, but don't ever vote for him again. It was a mistake to put him in the Senate. It would be a much bigger mistake to put a man who has been tortured and brainwashed by communist mind control experts for over 5 years in the White House.
William Cooper
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Well wasn’t Benedict Arnold a great war hero too?
You know if he wins the general election. He will be the first preseident in ages whose sons are in military during war time.
That's NOT how I saw the speech at all!