June 12, 2004 (New York Times)
WA****NGTON, June 11 -- John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee
for president,
has repeatedly and personally asked Senator John McCain, the
independent-minded Arizona Republican, to consider being his running
mate, but Mr. McCain has refused, people who have spoken to both men
said Friday.
Mr. Kerry, the Massachusetts senator, made his first direct overtures
to Mr. McCain about three weeks after locking up the Democratic
nomination in March and approached him again, in person or by
telephone, as many as seven times, as recently as last week, according
to one person who has discussed the issue with both.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/12/politics/campaign/12MCCA.html?ei=5007&en=22de10fcb50e67f3&ex=1402372800&partner=USERLAND&pagewanted=print&position=
"It was always artfully phrased, but he asked him on several occasions
to serve as his running mate," the individual said. "He'd say, `I
don't want to formally ask because I don't want to be formally
rejected, but having said that, would you do it?' or `I need you to do
it,' or `I want you to do it.' "
"It was always phrased in such a way as to give both men plausible
deniability," the individual added.
Neither Mr. McCain nor Mr. Kerry could be reached for comment on the
rare cross-party running mate discussions. Stephanie Cutter, Mr.
Kerry's communications director, said, "Senator Kerry and Senator
McCain are good friends and have spoken during the course of the
campaign, including when Kerry called McCain to thank him for standing
up and defending Kerry against baseless political attacks."
Aides to Mr. McCain did not return repeated phone calls on Friday; his
chief of staff, Mark Salter, told the Associated Press, which first
re****ted the discussions, that "Senator McCain categorically states
that he has not been offered the vice presidency by anyone."
Less than a month ago, Mr. McCain denied having even casual
discussions with Mr. Kerry on the subject.
Word of Mr. Kerry's personal entreaties, and Mr. McCain's flat
refusal, may bring an end to the persistent, and at times fevered,
speculation among Democrats and others about the potential of a
bipartisan ticket, with the two friends and Vietnam veterans matching
up against President Bush and Vice President Cheney, neither of whom
fought in that war.
Mr. McCain's testy relation****p with President Bush, whom he ran
against in 2000 for the Republican nomination, fueled the speculation,
even though Mr. McCain has repeatedly denied being interested in the
job. He said as recently as last week on a late-night television show
made clear his lack of enthusiasm about being No. 2, "I spent several
years in a North Vietnamese prison camp, in the dark, fed with scraps.
Do you think I want to do that all over again as vice president of the
United States?"
But his denials did not stop prominent members of Congress - including
Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, himself considered a potential Kerry
running mate - from suggesting that a Kerry-McCain ticket would be
unstoppable in the fall. Mr. McCain showed in 2000 that he could draw
Independent voters. A CBS News poll recently found that a Kerry-McCain
ticket had a 14-percentage-point edge over Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney
among registered voters, 53 percent to 39 percent, compared to most
head-to-head polls that show Mr. Kerry alone tied or slightly ahead of
Mr. Bush.
Some Democrats have warned it recent days that the talk about McCain
threatened to make whomever Mr. Kerry did select look unexciting by
comparison. Among the many potential running mates, those mentioned
most frequently include Senator John Edwards of North Carolina,
Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri and Gov. Tom Vilsack of
Iowa. Indeed, the person who has spoken to both Mr. Kerry and McCain
said he believed Mr. Kerry's campaign had deliberately leaked the
story on Friday afternoon so it would be lost in coverage of Ronald
Reagan's funeral and in the thinly read Saturday newspapers.
A friend of both men said Mr. McCain's rejection of the idea came down
simply to his disinterest in being vice president, no matter who is in
the White House.
"Kerry and McCain have been close for some time, for years, and there
is a comfort level between them," this friend said. "But remember, the
first responsibility of a vice president is to be ready to be
president, the second is to be comfortable with the president, the
third is to know your place. One and two work for McCain, but three
doesn't. And I think John McCain knows that he could not be vice
president to anyone, whether it be John Kerry or a Republican."
The person who has spoken to both men gave a slightly different reason
for Mr. McCain's refusal to consider the job: "At the end of the day,
he's a Republican, he sup****ts President Bush's re-election, and while
he and John Kerry agree on some major issues, they disagree on more
than they agree," the person said. "But the first two of those are
more im****tant than the last."
Mr. McCain and Mr. Kerry's relation****p began as an acid one; the
Arizona senator, a Navy bomber pilot who spent more than five years as
a prisoner of war in Hanoi, was outraged by the antiwar activities of
Mr. Kerry, a Navy Swift boat commander who famously led protesting
veterans in throwing their medals away in 1971.
Mr. McCain campaigned against Mr. Kerry in his first race in 1984, but
the two men made peace and worked together during the Clinton
administration to resolve the fates of American prisoners of war and
service members missing in action, and to normalize American relations
with Vietnam.
On the campaign trail until now, Mr. Kerry has cited his friend****p
and collaborative work with Mr. McCain as evidence of his own ability
to reach across the partisan aisle to get things done.
He even used Mr. McCain's image in one of his recent campaign
commercials, showing a picture of the two senators side-by-side.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
On Mar 27, 6:02 am, "Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names"
<PopUlist...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> It is no secret that John McCain prides himself on being a straight-
> talkin' maverick and that the media eats it up, which is why his
> cozying up to the likes of Rod Parsley and John Hagee received so
> little coverage. For that matter, it is probably also why McCain's
> recent speech to the Council for National Policy received so little
> attention ... well, that and the fact that the CNP is notoriously
> secretive and limited press access to his address.
>
> But now, several weeks after the event and with absolutely no fanfare,
> the CNP quietly posted a transcript of his remarks on their threadbare
> website and while McCain would most certainly deny that he addressed
> the gathering with any attempt to pander for their votes, he certainly
> did a lot of telling them what they wanted to hear.
>
> McCain offered up a litany of issues the Right cares about on which he
> completely shares their views: federal spending (too high), taxes
> (bad), dependence on foreign oil (also bad), the border (too ****ous),
> Iraq (a success) and, most im****tantly, judges:
>
> -----
> I want to just mention a couple other things with you very briefly.
> Judges. I am proud to have played a role in the appointment of two of
> the finest judges I think that may have ever been appointed to the
> United States Supreme Court in Justices Alito and Roberts.
>
> I commit to you, as I have for many years, I will appoint, nominate
> Judges to the United States Supreme Court who strictly interpret the
> Constitution of the United States and do not legislate from the
> bench.
> -------
>
> McCain then opened the floor to questions and assured those in
> attendance that he intends to use his campaign to "articulate a strong
> and conservative vision for the future of this country" and bring the
> party together. He also reiterated his pledge to secure the borders,
> defeat terrorism, fight the Fairness Doctrine, control health care
> costs, and "change the culture in America to respect the rights of the
> unborn." He also promised to throw his weight behind efforts to
> prevent gays and lesbians from being treated equally when it comes to
> marriage:
>
> ------
> ATTENDEE: Senator, we are from Ohio, and in 2004, many say that the
> marriage amendment made the difference for Bush. This coming election,
> you are going to have - Florida is already on the ballot. Arizona is
> more than likely going to be on the ballot, and California. Will you
> openly sup****t the marriage amendments in those three States?
>
> SENATOR McCAIN: Yes, sir. And as I say, I am proud to have been the
> honorary chairman of our effort last time, which was narrowly
> defeated, as you know, because there was a misinterpretation of the
> language, and we are going to clear that up. I think we can win it
> this time.
> --------
>
> McCain's "straight talk" reputation is based, at least implicitly, on
> the assumption that he tells it like it is and won't hesitate to tell
> audiences things they might not want to hear. But so far in this
> campaign, McCain has addressed three purely right-wing audiences (the
> CNP, the Values Voter Summit, and CPAC) and each time he has used the
> op****tunity not to demonstrate his "maverick" ways but to humbly seek
> their sup****t by constantly reminding them of the principles and
> positions they share, touting his conservative record, and all around
> telling them what they want to hear.
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