June 15, 2005

The McCain gambit

By Richard Baehr
Just as Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman is the Republicans' favorite Democrat (now that Zell Miller is retired from the Senate), Arizona Senator John McCain is the Democrats' favorite Republican. McCain's selective opposition to domestic policy initiatives of the Bush administration and his challenge to the President for the nomination in 2000 secured his firmest base, the nation's mainstream political writers and broadcasters. Whether McCain would have held that support against Al Gore in the 2000 general election is unclear, but he was certainly the MSM's choice against then—Governor Bush in the 2000 race's primary season. E.J. Dionne had a fascinating column yesterday hinting that the latest intrigue of the Bush—Rove team to preserve the GOP's dominance in 2008 and beyond might be a McCain Presidential run in 2008. The price for the Bush team's support for McCain in the wide—open GOP nominating process in 2008 would be for McCain to put Florida...(Read Full Article)