McCain Floats a Trial Balloon

"Maverick," "Straight-Shooting" Senator Is the Last to Realize He's a Liberal

Well, brace yourselves. McCain is preparing the rhetorical and PR glide-path that will bring him to Kerry's ticket as Vice President:

Despite McCain's public demurrals, he has been privately deliberating how things might work if he ever did agree to run as Kerry's vice presidential candidate. The bitter political divide in America worries McCain, especially when the nation is at war. He knows that for many Americans, he has become a symbol of a bipartisanship that could overcome these divisions -- and bring Red and Blue America closer together. That call to duty is powerful for McCain. He'll be 68 later this summer, and he knows that his time to shape American public life is now.

The Kerry camp has made overtures, and McCain has taken them seriously. He has tried to imagine the details of how such a partnership would work in practice.

In related news, another Senator who bravely takes on his own party -- Georgia's Zell Miller -- can't get Aaron Brown to return his phone calls.

For some reason, turning against the Democratic party dogma isn't "maverick" or "straight-shooting" in the eyes of the media. I can only speculate as to why that might be the case.

Update: Newsmax, citing an AP report, says that McCain personally declined Kerry's offer last month.

posted by Ace at 03:41 AM

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