Is John McCain Running in '08 From a Third Party?
Right! One Hundred Eighty Degrees!
By Erick Posted in 2008 — Comments (40) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
What do Air America Radio, Barack Obama's Senate campaign, the Clinton Global Initiative, Democratic gubernatorial candidate John DeStefano in Connecticut, the campaign of Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm in Michigan, NoIraqDraft.com, Rock the Vote, PurpleOcean.org which is the online activism hub of the Service Employees International Union, and Rosie.com, the personal blog of Rosie O'Donnell have in common with John McCain? All of them are or were clients of Nicco Mele's blog company, EchoDitto, and John McCain has now hired Nicco himself. Who was the last Presidential nominee to hire Nicco? Why that would be Howard Dean. [UPDATE: Krempasky tells me that Nicco hasn't been "hired" by McCain. He's just now part of McCain's "kitchen cabinet." Here is Nicco's statement.]
EchoDitto's mission statement says
We create vibrant communities online and empower people through the creative use of emerging technologies. Following on our progressive values, we believe that building authentic internet voices and the establishment of a vigorous open source community is critical to the functioning of our democracy.
(EchoDitto, btw, is a great company that does good work -- they just tend to do work for lefties)
Marc Ambinder, one of the Hotline's top notch reporters, broke this yesterday. What makes it all the more interesting is that Jim Gergahty of National Review has repeatedly inquired about just this and was met with denial after denial.
Read on . . .
More and more I'm wondering if McCain is trying to set himself up to run, like his hero Teddy Roosevelt, as a third party candidate for President. McCain hacks off conservatives with his campaign finance reforms and willingness to raise taxes. He hacks off liberals by being mostly pro-life and mostly supportive of the President's war efforts. But now he's backtracking on the war to some degree. He is, it seems, trying to capture the media's high ground -- that mushy middle where one really stands for nothing except feel good pragmatism void of principles that help inform the decision making process.
In doing so, McCain is surrounding himself with Democrats and some Republicans. The straight talk image is buttressed by his bipartisan image, evolving into a nonpartisan image. McCain is setting himself up to be above the political fray and, for that to work, one might wonder if he'll need a party vehicle above the fray to get him to the White House. Such a vehicle would also have to be above the partisan fray. McCain, in effect, looks like he wants to become the first nonpartisan person to run for partisan office.
At the end of the day, John McCain and his new found friends on the left might win the media primary, but they will have a hard time winning a Republican primary, where voters tend to actually be conservative. Being middle of the road means you are easily persuaded to jump into the left lane or the right lane depending on the issue flow. And Republican voters are so tired of the GOP's fondness for jumping into the left lane, I expect they'll run him over should he run in their primary.
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Is John McCain Running in '08 From a Third Party? 40 Comments (0 topical, 40 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
Yeah, probably a repeat of 1992. Could even be the same "happy couple" standing in the 2008 winner's circle. McCain, like Perot, can't win it, but he can sure do a lot of damage if he wants to.
I think john mccain will turn into the john anderson of this race, just like in 1980. That loon ran as an independent thinking he had a shot, and look what it got him, a whole 5%. If we nominate a rino it's likely that mccain will siphon off a lot of votes, but if we nominate someone who runs a genuinely conservative campaign (romney or allen come to mind).
Save the planet, Kill yourself
It's going to be a crowded field and McCain will have to differentiate himself somehow.
he's a fool.
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If "pro" is the opposite of "con", what is the opposite of "progress"?
This is Nicco's denial of the rumor... although he does say if McCain runs in 2008 that Johnny's got his vote. Ugh.
There is no theory of evolution, just a list of creatures Chuck Norris has allowed to live.
down with McCain, as the senator did with Pat Buchanan, and warn Johnny boy he is outside the mainstream of the party. McCain will bolt at that point, run an unsuccessful third party bid, and eventually join Buchanan on obscure cable news programs and engage in an occassional anti-Republican rant that receives lavish media treatment. Well, he already does the former.
He is not running for as a 3rd party candidate...
Why would he be going to extraordinary lenghts to appeal to so many in the party if he was going the 3rd party route.
Why would he be spending time in Iowa, NH, MI, SC and other PRIMARY states if he wasn't going to run in a primary.
Why would he campaign for every vulnerable seat (and there are a lot of them) out there if he wasn't interested in running as the leader of the Republican party.
I know redstaters love to beat up on McCaiin but your conspiracy theories are running a little off the deep end this time.
An independent candidacy-minded McCain might still at least TRY to win the primary for a few reasons:
* The primary candidacy gives him a separate campaign to raise money for, keep himself in the spotlight for, and earn press for.
* He might as well give winning it a shot, because a win of the Republican nomination would make things easier on him.
* But even if he loses, the rejection helps him, because then the mainstream press storyline writes itself, even without the HAL-Jazeera device: "Republican party rejects moderation again; fiscal conservatives will join moderates to bolt from the theocrats."
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If you're seeing shades of gray, it's because you're not looking close enough to see the black and white dots.
that he isn't seeking the Republican nomination. He plainly is. Some people are concerned about what he might do if and when he fails (again) to get it. At his age, is he waiting for 2012 or 2016? Will he be happy staying in the Senate? Will he just walk away?
Quentin Langley
Editor of http://www.quentinlangley.net
I have listed reasons and evidence why is he not running 3rd party...you have given me nothing more than speculative ranting on why he might. Is there anything more to your claim or is this just a wild theory?
You have listed reasons why you think he is pursuing the GOP nomination. Nobody here has suggested anything different for a moment. You have not cited evidence that he is not considering a third party run in the event of his defeat in the primaries. Nor could you. Proving a negative is almost impossible.
So far all you have done is engage in an argument on your own - knocking down a strawman that nobody but you erected, and repeated your conclusions in capital latters.
This is not 'evidence'.
Quentin Langley
Editor of http://www.quentinlangley.net
This is how you start - You have listed reasons why you think he is pursuing the GOP nomination. Nobody here has suggested anything different for a moment."
How about reading the title of the post - "Is John McCain running in '08 from a 3rd Party"
All the discussion above is about what McCain will do if and when he loses the Republican nomination. The suggestion is that he might very well run a third pary candidacy, a la Teddy Roosevelt. As you may know, Teddy Roosevelt and John Anderson both pursued the Republican nomination and THEN ran third party campaigns.
The only people who spurn parties altogther are billionaire playboys like Perot and Bloomberg, who are just playing at politics in the way that some people burn money at Vegas.
Now we have got that straight, let's return to my main point. You have been engaging in a debate with yourself. You are repudiating a position that no-one here believes. That is not evidence of your position.
Repeating your conclusion in captial letters is not evidence either.
Quentin Langley
Editor of http://www.quentinlangley.net
and the general election for McCain to run as an independent. Given his recent utterances and actions, there is no reason to think he wouldn't do so. So far he has campaigned for vulnerable Republicans, and does so with 2008 in mind. But if that investment doesn't pay off, I am certain he will bolt somewhere between South Carolina and the GOP convention, if for no other purpose than to generate ink and broadcast coverage. This hardly amounts to a conspiracy theory given the man's behavior.
You mean like surrounding himself with all of crazies like Phil Gramm, Robert Zoellick, Phil Handy, Gerry Parsky, Dan Coats, etc, etc.
He hires one guy to do web work for him and that makes him a third party candidate?
it's McCain. He is driven to run for POTUS and wants to get even for the religious right cheating him out of the office in 2000.
He will never get the party nomination, he's way too flaky on most issues the base cares about. CFR, G14, Global Warming, shiving Bush on Iraq at every opportunity, taxes, etc, etc, etc.
When he gets whacked in the primaries, he will look very hard at being Perot redux.
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If "pro" is the opposite of "con", what is the opposite of "progress"?
So you must think things are just going peachy over there in Iraq?
He has strongly supported the goals of the war and supports our being there. Furthermore, he agrees that we must be there and be victorious...but that doesn't mean there isn't room for him to critic how the war is being fought.
I think we are playing at war when we should be fighting "total war". However, McCain has not strongly supported anything in Iraq. He's used every opportunity to undercut Bush, Rumsfeld and the conduct of the war over things that, by the time he criticizes them, are history. He is a whiner of the first order, and he knows that whining at the expense of the Administration will get him great press in the NYT and WaPo and good slots on Sundays.
McCain is a disgusting egotist who, hopefully, will end up in history's ash heap with Kerry, Durbin and Hagel.
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If "pro" is the opposite of "con", what is the opposite of "progress"?
He has been a leading advocate of the war and is supports the mission we have in Iraq. To say he has not supported anything about Iraq might be the least factual comment I have yet to read on redstate.
He most certainly has not undercut Bush and to the contrary has given him more cover in the war than any other Republican. And if you can name another..please do.
He has questioned how the war is fought and thus the strategy Rumsfeld has employed but I think that is justified in lieu of how things are working out.
And he hasn't whined but been concrete about having more troops in Iraq from the beginning.
He most certainly has not undercut Bush and to the contrary has given him more cover in the war than any other Republican. And if you can name another..please do.
How about every other Republican Senator or Representative outside of the (mostly NE) RINO caucus? I don't remember any of them going on TV complaining about how the war was being conducted. McCain didn't just start today... he's been complaining for a long time. Then of course there was his infamous "torture" bill.
Calling for more troops is a no-lose scenario for him. There is nothing courageous about it... if it goes well he can say he supported the war. If it doesn't, he can say we needed more troops. There is no way he can lose. Good thing he isn't smart enough to take no-lose positions on other issues, or he might have a shot.
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"I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more I have of it." -- Thomas Jefferson
I would hold my nose in the general but I would never vote for him in the primary. If there were a McCain POTUS, what would happen to the congress? McCain would tick off so many conservatives that the first mid term would be a slaughter and cause a blood bath to get McCain out in the next POTUS election.
We all understand that people need to win elections in their own states and often try to appeal to groups for various reasons. But McCain isn't a rookie and he knew his comments on Iraq the other day would be used by the MSM and all the talking head D's to pound Bush. That's unacceptable. I want Chaffee to go down in the primary this year as payback for his public announcement 3 weeks before the 04 election that he would not vote for Bush. RI didn't matter anyone, so if you don't vote for him then fine but keep it to yourself. But Chaffee wanted liberal love at the expensive of his parties nominee, so you get the justice later. If we lose the seat, we lose it with someone who isn't out for their own self interests.
he has jumped on the Iraq War criticism bandwagon, supposedly hired or tried to hire the web guy, and has decided to do a photo op in Greenland to emphasize alleged global warming and, I assume, the need for Kyoto. That's in the last week mind you.
definition of the term. He is too old, showing early signs of senility, an egotist of substantial proportion, will say anything to anyone to get a vote or a splot of ink, and can't seem to articulate any position without annoying both sides of it. If the leftwing MSM wasn't propping him up, he would be just another doddering old warhorse sitting around a golf clubhouse in Arizona playing gin rummy.
Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.
McCain's is bigger than the rest of the Senate combined. And his soul is clearly for sale.
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If "pro" is the opposite of "con", what is the opposite of "progress"?
McCain isn't the sharpest tack on the map, and he may fall off every once in awhile. But, I wouldn't agree that McCain's ego is the biggest, or that his soul is for sale. Many redstaters seem to really hate this man.
We are just selecting the best candidates....not saying who are the biggest sinners.
(or woman) in Washington DC. He is a self serving egotist who has no vision for America (see his four important points as POTUS). He latches onto minor or non-issues (CFT, torture, G14) that will boost his press time because he takes positions that the NYT approves of while ignoring major issues.
Where was McCain on entitlement reform - he blathered a tad but expended no real effort. Where is he on Iran? Etc...
McCain's problem is his positions or non-positions. He's not a leader, he's a latcher. He latches onto things that will get him adoring publicity and avoids being a leader on difficult issues. He needs to retire.
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If "pro" is the opposite of "con", what is the opposite of "progress"?
Quentin Langley
Editor of http://www.quentinlangley.net
This is real hyperbole to call McCain the most dangerous man in Washington D.C.
I am not a McCain fan, but there are a lot more dangerous persons than him.
Lots of politicians are "latchers," and publicity hounds.
OK, during his run in 2000 he was a strong advocate (leading centerpiece of his economic plan) and has remained a strong advocate of privatizing social security.
He voted against the prescription drug benefit because we can't afford it. (Also against the Energy Bill and Transportation bill because they were lathered with waste...but alas they are not entitlements.)
That seems fairly strong to me.
How do you like them apples!
Medicare Part D for the same reason he voted against the tax cuts... he was still pouting about his loss in 2000 (which wasn't in any his fault, of course) and he showed his displeasure by opposing the administration on big issues they were going to have a hard time getting through.
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"I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more I have of it." -- Thomas Jefferson
He voted against the tax cuts because he thought we needed the revenues to sell the entitlement reform. Turns out he was partially right as we weren't able to sell social security reform because of lack of money to pay transistion costs.
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"I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more I have of it." -- Thomas Jefferson
. . . but he plays on on TV.
He is not nearly that clever. However, he would sell his soul in a heartbeat to be elected POTUS.
Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.
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If "pro" is the opposite of "con", what is the opposite of "progress"?
won't it make a difference that he won't be running against an incumbent? All 3 candidates will be seeking the office for the first time.
I think Bush-1 caught a lot of voter-flack when he didn't read his own lips...he lost his would-be voters because of his performance...the next candidates won't have that built-in unrest that Bush had created for himself.
SO, I'm not so sure a McCain 3rd-party candidancy would garner as much support as Perot's did because (1) there won't be an incumbent to bash, and (2) Dems and Pubs both will be leery of giving the election to the other team by voting for a 3rd-partier.
Ask yourself: who would vote for McCain in the general election (as an Indy) after he's failed to win the R-nomination?
in that McCain will not win the GOP nomination. However, if he pulls a Lieberman and runs as an independent - with much more at stake than just a Senate seat, it will most likely spell doom for the real GOP candidate in the race.
McCain will siphon more votes from the right than from the left, splitting the conservative/GOP demographic and leaving whomever the Democrats nominate to win a plurality vote.
It will be a Clinton/Bush/Perot vote of much more immense proportions.
There is no theory of evolution, just a list of creatures Chuck Norris has allowed to live.