The McCain Mutiny

McCain seems a bit sensitive about the John Kerry subject. We’re referring of course to the widely reported discussion John McCain entertained back in 2004 to become John Kerry’s running mate.

The NY Times (newfound disdain for McCain) gives attention to the matter, and a recent testy exchange aboard McCain’s campaign aircraft re: John Kerry.

Senator John McCain fielded a question at a public forum on Friday morning in Atlanta that he said he had never been asked before. Because Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, had approached him about being his running mate for the White House in 2004, would Mr. McCain now return the favor?

Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, who has long been distrusted by conservatives as a Democratic sympathizer, quickly said no he would not — and just as quickly said he had never considered sharing the ticket with Mr. Kerry, a friend.

Fair enough question: since Kerry asked you to be his running mate in 2004, will you ask Kerry to be your running mate. By the way, doesn’t the very nature of the question acknowledge that John McCain is no conservative. Can you imagine someone asking Reagan if he would make Tip O’Neill his running mate?

McCain’s answer:

“He is, as he describes himself, a liberal Democrat,” Mr. McCain said of Mr. Kerry, adding that he meant no offense by the term. “I am a conservative Republican. So when I was approached, when we had that conversation back in 2004, that’s why I never even considered such a thing.”

Well, certainly we can agree that Kerry is a liberal democrat… but I continue to be dumbfounded that McCain can claim with a straight face that he’s a “conservative Republican.” Not hardly. I resist the temptation to recite the standard list of McCain’s liberal accomplishments.

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