The Hill: MexiCain Nearly Abandoned the GOP in 2001

February 1, 2008 Democrat Corruption, Election 2008, John McCain, News, Opinion, Presidential Candidates View Comments

In a not so surprising revelation in The Hill, it is being exposed by Democrats that Juan MexiCain, the man who “main stream” Republicans wish Conservatives to abandon principles to coalesce around, nearly abandoned them 7 years ago. I say not so surprising because the writing has been on the wall for nearly a decade.

Juan MexiCain is no more a Republican than Hillary Clinton is. Why should we abandon our principles to “coalesce” around him when he hasn’t any loyalty to the Party or its platform?

From The Hill:

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.

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. emphasis mine

If the report in The Hill is correct, and I have no reason to believe it isn’t, the man who is leading the race for the nomination of the Republican Party was reaching out in an effort to leave. He wasn’t being courted, he was doing the courting.

At the end of their March 31, 2001 lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Bethesda, Md., Downey said Weaver asked why Democrats hadn’t asked McCain to switch parties.

Downey, a well-connected lobbyist, said he was stunned.

“You’re really wondering?” Downey said he told Weaver. “What do you mean you’re wondering?”

“Well, if the right people asked him,” Weaver said, according to Downey, adding that he responded, “The calls will be made. Who do you want?”

Weaver of course is denying the conversation because he wants his boss to win. But I believe that it doesn’t serve the Democrats very well to stand in the way of MexiCain if this is true. Because if it is, the Democrats would literally have 2 candidates running in the General if MexiCain won the nomination.

That said, enter Tom Daschle…

“Within seconds” of arriving home from his lunch with Weaver, Downey said he was on the phone to the most powerful Democrats in town. One of the first calls he made was to then-Senate Minority Leader Daschle.

“I did take the call from Tom [Downey],” Daschle said in an interview. “It was Weaver’s comment” to Downey that started the McCain talks, he added.

Daschle noted that McCain at that time was frustrated with the Bush administration as a result of his loss to George W. Bush in the 2000 Republican primary.

Daschle said that throughout April and May of 2001, he and McCain “had meetings and conversations on the floor and in his office, I think in mine as well, about how we would do it, what the conditions would be. We talked about committees and his seniority … [A lot of issues] were on the table.”

MexiCain was looking for Committee Chair positions within the Democrat Party. He wanted to switch but he didn’t want to start at the bottom like a Freshman Senator. That is the only way to characterize the “talks”. If he wanted out, why then would he need to have “talks”. You just jump ship. Unless of course you want a level of authority in your new Party.

Cartoonist Lisa Benson

It is for reasons like this that if MexiCain wins the GOP Nomination, I will join respected Conservatives like Ann Coulter and vote for the Democrat alternative. If we are going to have a liberal in the White House again then we might as well have an open liberal.

“If you’re looking at substance rather than whether it’s an R or a D after his name…If he’s our candidate, then Hillary’s going to be our girl, Sean, cause she’s more conservative than he is. I think she would be stronger on the war on terrorism. I absolutely believe that.” – Ann Coulter