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March 29, 2007
St. John Stumbles, Badly
Wow.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was close to leaving the Republican Party in 2001, weeks before then-Sen. Jim Jeffords (Vt.) famously announced his decision to become an Independent, according to former Democratic lawmakers who say they were involved in the discussions.(H/t: A-Man) There's really no good reason for the Dems to knock McCain out of the race this early, as he's behind their candidates in most polls and extremely unpopular with Republicans.In interviews with The Hill this month, former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and ex-Rep. Tom Downey (D-N.Y.) said there were nearly two months of talks with the maverick lawmaker following an approach by John Weaver, McCain’s chief political strategist.
Democrats had contacted Jeffords and then-Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) in the early months of 2001 about switching parties, but in McCain’s case, they said, it was McCain’s top strategist who came to them.
McCain didn't have much of a chance for the nomination before this news came out, and now he has even less. The name of James Jeffords still sends conservatives into fits of rage...the news that McCain almost did the same thing out of pique at Bush is bad for his faltering campaign. If he thought his fundraising was bad before, just wait until this news gets out to the rank and file.
Posted by slublog at March 29, 2007 12:00 AM
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