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by BooMan
The Hill has a highly amusing story about how John McCain almost became an independent in 2001 that would have caucused with the Democrats. After the 2000 election, the Senate was split 50-50. That meant that Cheney had to break ties, but it also meant that the Republicans controlled the committee chairs. As soon as the Bush administration came into office they began acting quite differently than the way they had portrayed themselves in the campaign. They also refused to hire anyone that had worked for McCain's campaign. As a result, three senators considered bolting the GOP and flipping control of the Senate to the Democrats. The senators were Jim Jeffords of Vermont, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, and John McCain of Arizona.
Throughout the spring, the Democrats had secret negotiations with all three senators. In the end, it was Jim Jeffords that flipped. That happened on May 24, 2001 and it has a happy day in my household. After Jeffords flipped, the negotiations with McCain and Jeffords petered out. I assume that is because it wasn't worth giving up committee chairs to them just to add to their majority. The funny things is that McCain's people are now denying that there ever were any negotiations. That's obviously because his flirtation with the Democrats isn't going to be popular with Republican primary voters. But there are plenty of people that can corroborate the story.
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.). No one will get very far calling Tom Daschle a liar. No one is going to believe that. My biggest fear is that the 2008 presidential election is going to be a repeat of the 2006 Connecticut election. McCain will lose the primary but run as an independent and win.
McCain Flirted With the Democrats | 6 comments (6 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
McCain Flirted With the Democrats | 6 comments (6 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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