Blitz: WaPo's 7,000-word aticle on McCain repeats debunked Kerry rumor

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Sat Aug-26-06 03:00 PM
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Blitz: WaPo's 7,000-word aticle on McCain repeats debunked Kerry rumor

Edited on Sat Aug-26-06 03:02 PM by ProSense

The McCain Makeover

Does the veteran Republican rebel really mean all those nice things he's saying about George W. Bush?
By Glenn Frankel
Sunday, August 27, 2006; W12

To succeed, McCain must perform the old political two-step: Capture conservative Republican loyalists who dominate the party's nominating process; then, once nominated, swing back to the center to attract independents and moderate Democrats. It's an especially tricky task for a politician who has always cast himself as a man of unvarnished principles and straight talk.

McCain concedes he's being more careful with his rhetoric and off-the-cuff comments. Which is why he looked so uncomfortable with Jon Stewart: "I don't want to say anything that I'm going to be hearing about for the next couple of years."

Otherwise, he insists, nothing's changed -- except perhaps the perceptions of some analysts. "Some on the liberal side say, 'Ah, McCain's not the maverick that we thought he was. Oh my God, he supports the war in Iraq! How could he!' And some of my friends on the right say, 'Well, he voted against the marriage amendment,'" which would ban gay marriage.

In many ways, he's still the same sly, sardonic and self-deprecatory candidate who charmed the press and a surprisingly large segment of the public in 2000, the quixotic reformer whom political columnist Joe Klein described as "a man on a white horse attempting to traverse a muddy field."

Snip...

Upon his return, he was surprised to discover that rather than condemning him to oblivion, the defeat had enhanced his national stature and name recognition. He increasingly became the go-to senator for television commentators on foreign affairs and military policy. After the 9/11 attacks, McCain seemed to pop up even more often on news shows, offering words of comfort and determination. He became so popular with independents and many Democrats that Democratic nominee John Kerry tried to persuade him in 2004 to become his vice presidential running mate.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/23/AR2006082301586_pf.html

Would that be the makeover between last Tuesday and Friday?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2797917&mesg_id=2797917

It's known that the rumored offer of a VP slot was started by McCain, and he has already denied that it happened (of course after the fact).

Snip...

Through a remarkable orchestration of behind-the-scenes politicking, John McCain's advisors thrust him in the middle of the John Kerry Vice Presidential selection process - the McCain as VP rumors started not in the Kerry camp but in the McCain camp.

By elevating his status among Independents and Democrats, John McCain dramatically increased his appeal and political power. In fact, McCain currently outpolls some potential Democratic 2008 candidates among DEMOCRATS.

The possibility of McCain running as John Kerry's Vice President forced Rove to deal with McCain. Because with the pending launch of the Swift Boat veterans teed up, Rove simply couldn't let Kerry pick McCain. Two veterans, running together, unifying the country in a time of war would have been virtually unbeatable.

But would McCain have really switched and joined Kerry? The White House couldn't afford to wait to find out. Was a true deal struck? Was McCain promised the power of running as an incumbent Vice President in 2008? Few know for sure and I certainly am not one of them.

But when I saw John McCain embrace George Bush 2004, not just support him, but passionately embrace him, I wondered how he could do it.

When I saw a conservative magazine bring more attention to the rumors of a potential Dick Cheney departure, I wondered some more.

And if Dick Cheney leaves, and John McCain becomes Vice President, wonder no more.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-boyce/vice-president-john-mccai_b_16678.html

Here is his March '04 "flirtation" with the idea:

McCain's rhetorical flirtation with the idea of becoming Sen. John Kerry's running mate is just the latest act in an ongoing intramural psychodrama that began in 1999, and no amount of common geostrategic purpose in the post-9/11 world can end it. He is a proud man, a fierce fighter with an ego to match the pride and ferocity. He wanted the Republican nomination in 2000, wanted it badly, and raged against what he saw as a system rigged against him.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4506988

Here is Biden a few days later fanning the rumor:

Biden endorses
a fusion ticket:
Kerry-McCain
Democrat's 'Hardball' comments likely to fuel new speculation
By Mike Stuckey
MSNBC.com Politics Editor
Updated: 1:06 a.m. ET March 17, 2004

One of the presidential nominating season's most unusual ideas was proposed again Tuesday, this time by one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress, when Sen. Joseph Biden advocated a "unity" ticket of Democratic Sen. John Kerry and Republican Sen. John McCain.

Biden made his comments on MSNBC TV's "Hardball" when moderator Chris Matthews asked him: "Do you think McCain is seriously � and I mean this professionally � flirting with the idea of accepting a second place on the ticket with John Kerry, and creating a fusion ticket to run against the president?"

Replied Biden: "I think that this is time for unity in this country, and maybe it is time to have a guy like John McCain � a Republican � on the ticket with a guy he does like. They do get along. And they don't have fundamental disagreements on major policies."

The red and the blue

When asked by Matthews if he would support such a ticket, Biden said, "I would. Yeah, if John Kerry said that's who he wanted, and McCain � I'd encourage McCain to say yes. I doubt whether John would do it. I doubt whether John McCain would do it. But, you know, we need some unity here, man. The red states and the blue states � we've got to have something to coalesce around here."

The notion that a lifelong Republican like McCain would join the Democratic ticket is widely dismissed by many Washington observers, but McCain himself fanned the flames when he said last week on an ABC News show that he would "entertain" joining Kerry on the Democratic ticket.

"John Kerry is a close friend of mine. We have been friends for years," McCain said on "Good Morning America" on Wednesday. "Obviously I would entertain it."

more...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4542473

Here's McCain is in June '04 denying it ever happened:

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who has been asked for months whether he would join the Kerry ticket, said Wednesday he has never been offered the job of Kerry�s running mate and would not accept such a position. He declined to comment on whether he and Kerry had discussed a unity ticket. The Associated Press reported that discussions ended last week with McCain rejecting Kerry�s request to consider being his running mate.

�I�m not going to talk about private conversations I�ve had with senators. I�m just not going to do that. But I was never offered that,� McCain said. The Arizona Republican said he will campaign for Bush�s re-election.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5225039

So WaPo has included a debunked rumor as fact.

Welcome to the media's McCain is a great moderate guy blitz.