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 30, 7:47 pm, "Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names"
<PopUlist...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Oh, that John McCain. Adorable and straight shooting. A war hero, too,
> and that's for real. But so is his noteworthy ignorance on issues of
> war and peace (it's kinda im****tant to know the difference between
> ****'a and Sunni in Iraq when you're supposed to be a foreign policy
> "expert".) The idea that it's okay because many Americans don't know
> the difference, as suggested by the adoring McCain press defenders, is
> scary because we know that'll be the attitude when we get into
> questions about science.
>
> Science? Start with an appearance by McCain at a Discovery Institute
> sponsored lunch last year for a speech:
>
> Friday at noon in Seattle, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will speak at a
> luncheon event being co-presented by the Discovery Institute -- the
> controversial organization that promotes intelligent design theory and
> combats Darwinism.
>
> As usual, the adoring press finds excuses for McCain:
>
> McCain is beng hammered by a liberal group for associating with the
> Discovery Institute, although the luncheon is being formally hosted by
> the CityClub of Seattle and the Seattle World Affairs Council, with
> the Discovery Institute is one of nine organizations "co-presenting"
> the event...
>
> McCain's campaign pooh-poohs the controversy.
>
> "He's addressing the Seattle World Affairs Council and CityClub of
> Seattle and there are a number of co-presenters as well, of which the
> Discovery Institute is one," says McCain exploratory committee
> spokesman Brian Jones.
>
> The Discovery Institute is as loathsome to science as an appearance at
> an anti-Catholic fundie school like Bob Jones would be to those of
> faith, or anti-Catholic bigot John Hagee (let's talk about his
> sermons, fair and balanced press):
>
> Our double standard: Barack Obama takes a hit for wacko comments by
> his minister. And the GOP prince? McCain said he was "very honored" by
> the sup****t of the Rev. John Hagee, who takes a back pulpit to no one
> in the divisive-speech department. Hagee slams feminists, gays and the
> Catholic Church (he calls it "the great whore"). Like Obama, McCain
> says he disagrees with the pastor's comments. Unlike Obama, McCain is
> forgiven.
>
> - Linda Valdez, editorial writer
>
> But McCain hasn't stopped there. So far, two weeks in a row, he has
> put his foot in his mouth on science and medicine issues that, btw,
> are laced with politics and controversy. Last week it was over
> vaccines and autism:
>
> McCain said, per ABC News' Bret Hovell, that "It's indisputable that
> (autism) is on the rise amongst children, the question is what's
> causing it. And we go back and forth and there's strong evidence that
> indicates that it's got to do with a preservative in vaccines."
>
> McCain said there's "divided scientific opinion" on the matter,
> with "many on the other side that are credible scientists that are
> saying that's not the cause of it."
>
> Actually, there's overwhelming evidence that there's no scientific
> link between vaccines and autism and there's no "divided scientific
> opinion". Another pass from the press, because isn't McCain just
> adorable, and, like, science is, you know, hard!
>
> So now to this week last year, this time, and to help everyone out,
> here are the facts from CDC:
>
> When condoms are used reliably, they have been shown to prevent
> pregnancy up to 98 percent of the time among couples using them as
> their only method of contraception. Similarly, numerous studies among
> ***ually active people have demonstrated that a properly used latex
> condom provides a high degree of protection against a variety of
> ***ually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection.
>
> and from the Fed's own AIDS site:
>
> Be safe. The best way to prevent HIV is to abstain from having ***. If
> you do have ***, use a new latex condom every time. Do not share
> needles or syringes.
>
> Any questions? Any questions for straight shooting John [March, 2007,
> bolded mine]?
>
> Re****ter: "Should U.S. taxpayer money go to places like Africa to fund
> contraception to prevent AIDS?"
>
> Mr. McCain: "Well I think it's a combination. The guy I really
> respect on this is Dr. Coburn. He believes - and I was just reading
> the thing he wrote- that you should do what you can to encourage
> abstinence where there is going to be ***ual activity. Where that
> doesn't succeed, than he thinks that we should employ contraceptives
> as well. But I agree with him that the first priority is on
> abstinence. I look to people like Dr. Coburn. I'm not very wise on
> it."
>
> (Mr. McCain turns to take a question on Iraq, but a moment later
> looks back to the re****ter who asked him about AIDS.)
>
> Mr. McCain: "I haven't thought about it. Before I give you an
> answer, let me think about. Let me think about it a little bit because
> I never got a question about it before. I don't know if I would use
> taxpayers' money for it."
>
> Q: "What about grants for *** education in the United States?
> Should they include instructions about using contraceptives? Or should
> it be Bush's policy, which is just abstinence?"
>
> Mr. McCain: (Long pause) "Ahhh. I think I sup****t the president's
> policy."
>
> Q: "So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just
> abstinence. Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?"
>
> Mr. McCain: (Long pause) "You've stumped me."
>
> Q: "I mean, I think you'd probably agree it probably does help stop
> it?"
>
> Mr. McCain: (Laughs) "Are we on the Straight Talk express? I'm not
> informed enough on it. Let me find out. You know, I'm sure I've taken
> a position on it on the past. I have to find out what my position was.
> Brian, would you find out what my position is on contraception - I'm
> sure I'm opposed to government spending on it, I'm sure I sup****t the
> president's policies on it."
>
> Q: "But you would agree that condoms do stop the spread of ***ually
> transmitted diseases. Would you say: 'No, we're not going to
> distribute them,' knowing that?"
>
> Mr. McCain: (Twelve-second pause) "Get me Coburn's thing, ask
> Weaver to get me Coburn's paper that he just gave me in the last
> couple of days. I've never gotten into these issues before."
>
> John "the surge is working" McCain. When you don't know something, do
> as George W. Bush does. Bush was ignorant about ****'a and Sunni before
> he invaded Iraq for bogus reasons, and that's sure worked out well for
> the US, hasn't it? Sure it has. Just ask John McCain to read the
> graph.
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