John McCain: Would-Be Democrat?

June 18, 2008 10:13 AMKelly Moeller
In a little-noticed interview in October 2006, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-SD, talked a great deal about his recollections of negotiations with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to become a Democrat.
The conversation is interesting in light of McCain's shift to the right on some issues as he pursued the GOP presidential nomination, but also Daschle's praise for McCain as someone capable of real bipartisan cooperation.
Interestingly, both Daschle and the journalist doing the questioning -- Linda Douglass -- are now with the Obama campaign.
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Douglass points out that the Senate was at the time "divided 50/50. And you were, both sides, both parties, trying to woo people from the other party to come over so that you one of you would have the majority. And ultimately you did succeed in-- Jim Jeffords, the Republican from Vermont did cross over and become and independent, which gave you the majority. You were talking at least at the staff level to John McCain in those days. How interested do you think he was in becoming a Democrat? Do you think he seriously considered it?"
DASCHLE: I do. Oh, it was more than -- we were talking to John, personally and very directly and privately on several occasions. And we thought that at one point that he would be the more likely of the three people. We were also talking to Lincoln Chaffee and Jim Jeffords, of course. And so Jim kind of surprised us one day when he called and asked us to meet him secretly at 6 o’clock in the morning in his hideaway to discuss how we might do this. We had open minds and quite a bit of communication with the other two. John McCain was very angry at George Bush for the way he was treated in the primary campaigns and his anger and his frustration with the Bush political machine was a big motivation. We talked a lot about his conservative views on abortion and on some of the social issues and how much of an impediment that would be. But he was very, very interested for awhile. And it was an interesting series of discussions and conversations with him.
DOUGLASS: So you think he came close to switching parties?
DASCHLE: I think so.
DOUGLASS: Even though there was a philosophical disagreement, you, and you think it was because of the way he was treated in the primary by the Bush people? Or do you think that there was a certain comfort level with the Democrats that would be sufficient for him to cross over? Did he communicate that to you?
DASCHLE: Well, John worked well with us. I mean there were so many occasions when we would work on legislation together. He would look for a prominent Democrat to work with on a number of things, whether it was campaign reform or, now its climate change.
But over the years, it was it was commonly understood that if you wanted a Republican partner, John was one of the people you could often times talk to. We all had a good friendship with him, so it transcended politics. It, he is truly somebody who could work both sides of the aisle and has great friends and relationships with people on both sides. So the personal relationships, I think, created the environment where you could actually talk about doing something professionally or politically. Then add to that the frustration that he had especially towards Bush and that first year following the presidential election and he had the right mix for at least the possibility of serious negotiations.
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Read the whole thing HERE and watch the video HERE.

Senator John McCain has always worked to do what he though was in the best interest of the people of this wonderful country. That is what makes him a true hero.

Dems face budget shortfall for convention

NEW YORK (AP) — Facing an $11.6 million budget shortfall, organizers of the Democratic National Convention are cutting events while hoping Barack Obama's emergence as the likely presidential nominee will spur his vast army of donors to pony up.
The convention's Denver host committee reported it has deposited $29 million of the $40.6 million it promised to the Democratic National Committee by a Monday deadline. The overall convention budget is about $70 million.
"The Denver Host Committee is fully confident about completing its fundraising goals. It will continue to raise private donations to meet its contractual obligations over the next two months," said host committee spokesman Chris Lopez.
The convention opens on Aug. 25, giving the committee just 10 weeks to come up with the money. Some faulted the slowing economy and the protracted Democratic primary as the two major reasons the committee has struggled to raise the cash.
"While we're disappointed with the current report, we expect the host committee will do everything they can to channel the unprecedented energy and enthusiasm our party has experienced throughout the primary season so we can deliver what Denver and the nation are expecting — a flawless event to help put Barack Obama on the path to victory in November," said Natalie Wyeth, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Convention Committee.
Rick Ridder, a Denver-based Democratic strategist who has helped the city's convention efforts, said the shortfall is a significant concern.


The DNC fundraising problems may stem from their treatment of Hillary Clinton and her loyal supporters. Many prominent Democrats are now supporting John McCain.

Obama Crowd Boos Clinton

Obama fans continue disgusting behavior towards Hillary Clinton and her supporters.

At this rate they will drive more HRC supporters to John McCain.

I say, keep it up you crude, rude and socially unacceptable BO idiots, we want more HRC supporters jumping the sinking ship of the DNC.

Prominent Orlando Politician Will vote for John McCain.

Betty Wyman, a prominent Democratic City Commission in Orlando, Florida tells this citizen that she will vote for John McCain.

She also expressed that she has a pretty good feeling that John McCain will win Florida in November.

A recent poll showed 25% of Democratic voters that voted in the primary, will not vote for a Democrat in November. Most indicated they would vote for John McCain, vote for Ralph Nader or just stay home.

John McCain can put Florida in his winning column for November.

Obama camp sees possible win without Ohio, Fla.

FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Barack Obama's campaign envisions a path to the presidency that could include Virginia, Georgia and several Rocky Mountain states, but not necessarily the pair of battlegrounds that decided the last two elections — Florida and Ohio.
In a private pitch late last week to donors and former supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe outlined several alternatives to reaching the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House that runs counter to the conventional wisdom of recent elections.
At a fundraiser held at a Washington brewery Friday, Plouffe told a largely young crowd that the electoral map would be fundamentally different from the one in 2004. Wins in Ohio and Florida would guarantee Obama the presidency if he holds onto the states won by Democrat John Kerry, Plouffe said, but those two battlegrounds aren't required for victory.
Florida, which has 27 electoral votes this year, gave the presidency to George W. Bush in the disputed election of 2000. Ohio, with its 20 electoral votes, ensured Bush of re-election in 2004 in his race against Kerry.

Plouffe is warning Democrats that McCain is an appealing candidate who has proved he can take votes from the middle before and could do so again. McCain won New Hampshire as a GOP candidate in 2000 and 2008, thanks in large part to the state's high number of independent voters.

Cocky ignorance

Jewish World Review


By Thomas Sowell





Now that Senator Barack Obama has become the Democrats' nominee for President of the United States, to the cheers of the media at home and abroad, he has written a letter to the Secretary of Defense, in a tone as if he is already President, addressing one of his subordinates.
The letter ends: "I look forward to your swift response."
With wars going on in both Iraq and Afghanistan, a Secretary of Defense might have some other things to look after, before making a "swift response" to a political candidate.
Because of the widely publicized statistic that suicide rates among American troops have gone up, Senator Obama says he wants the Secretary of Defense to tell him, swiftly:
"What changes will you make to provide our soldiers in theater with real access to mental health care?"
"What training has the Pentagon provided our medical professionals in theater to recognize who might be at risk of committing suicide?"
"What assistance are you providing families here at home to recognize the risk factors for suicide, so that they may help our service members get the assistance they need?"
"What programs has the Pentagon implemented to help reduce the stigma attached to mental health concerns so that service members are more likely to seek appropriate care?"
All this sounds very plausible, as so many other things that Senator Obama says sound plausible. But, like so many of those other things, it will not stand up under scrutiny.
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What has been widely publicized in the media is that suicides among American troops have gone up. What has not been widely publicized is that this higher suicide rate is still not as high as the suicide rate among demographically comparable civilians.
No one needs to be reminded that suicide is a serious matter, whether among soldiers or civilians. But the media have managed to create the impression that it is military service overseas which is the cause of suicides among American troops, when civilians of the same ages and other demographic characteristics are committing suicide at an even higher rate at home.
Moreover, this is not the first time that military service overseas has been portrayed in the media as the cause of problems that are worse in the civilian population at home.
The New York Times led the way in making homicides committed by returning military veterans a front page story, blaming this on "combat trauma and the stress of deployment." Yet the New York Post showed that the homicide rate among returning veterans is a fraction of the homicide rate among demographically comparable civilians.
In other words, if military veterans are not completely immune to the problems found among civilians at home, then the veterans' problems are to be blamed on military service— at least by the mainstream media.
Does Senator Obama know how the rate of suicides or homicides among military veterans compares to the rate of suicides or homicides among their civilian counterparts? Do the facts matter to him, as compared to an opportunity to score political points?
Perhaps even more important, do the media even care whether Senator Obama knows what he is talking about? Or is the symbolism of "the first black President" paramount, even if that means a President with cocky ignorance at a time of national danger?
The media have been crucial to Barack Obama's whole candidacy. His only achievements of national significance in his entire career have been media achievements and rhetorical achievements.
Perhaps his greatest achievement has been running as a candidate with an image wholly incompatible with what he has actually been doing for decades. This man who is now supposedly going to "unite" us has for years worked hand in glove, and contributed both his own money and the taxpayers' money, to people who have sought to divide us in the most crude demagogic ways.
With all his expressed concern about the war in Iraq, he has not set foot in Iraq for more than two years— including the very years when progress has been made against the terrorists there.
You don't need to know the facts when you have cocky ignorance and the media behind you.

Tom Brokaw Reports Death of Tim Russert

A tribute to the man who helped us understand politics a little better.

He always conducted his interviews with courtesy and respect.

Does Experience Matter?

In his own words Senator Obama.

Inside The Straight Talk Express

As consumers of politics, Americans watch these campaign events unfold before their eyes on TV or in person and they can only imagine the countless hours of planning behind each one. They probably don't even think about that part.
But as part of a broad remake of its Web operations in recent days, the John McCain campaign has launched a new blog, The McCain Report, which posts several items a day. It includes everything from a surprising tribute to Sen. Hillary Clinton's Democratic campaign to taking a documented shot at a specific New York Times reporter for "carrying water for Team Obama again."
Right on the redesigned website's homepage in the middle upper right is a tab called "Strategy." Click on that and watch a 15-minute PowerPoint demonstration led by Campaign Manager Rick Davis.
It fits in with the McCain Straight Talk image because campaigns are not normally comfortable laying out such detailed presentations for just anyone to see. These are the kinds of demonstrations that go on daily inside campaign conference rooms -- and they're stopped if anyone other than the invited walks in.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/