McCain History, Switching Political Party

It ended up not happening, but in 2001, a few weeks before Jumping Jim Jeffords killed the republican majority by changing his party affiliation to Independent, Sen. John McCain considered switching parties when John Weaver, McCain’s chief political strategist, made overtures to key democrats.

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.

Sen. McCain was testing the waters in 2001, and, by his voting and legislative record, has been building that liberal ‘base’ ever since.

If you are looking for a conservative to lead the party, this is just another thing to consider, and ignored by the mainstream media, on how conservative Senator McCain really is. Switching political party does not sound like something a ‘conservative’ would even entertain.

related link: Democrats say McCain nearly abandoned GOP

Is McCain Conservative Because He Says He Is?

For weeks now, Sen. John McCain is taking every opportunity to tell anyone who will listen how he is a political conservative. His campaign will say it. If you have to tell someone that you are conservative then you are not a conservative.

After getting the endorsement of Gov. Schwarzenegger, CNN fawns over the moderate direction of the Republican party, citing Giuliani and Schwarzenegger as evidence that McCain is attracting moderates like them.

“McCain’s gains have come primarily among liberal and moderate Republicans as well as GOP voters under the age of 50,” Holland said. “Among liberals and moderates, McCain’s support doubled from 25 percent to 50 percent in the last two weeks. McCain also gained 29 points among GOP voters under 50 years old.”

We are witness to the intentional re-branding of the republican party.  Where liberal and moderate republicans are called conservative, and conservatives are the ‘far right’ and ‘out of the mainstream.’ Just a small group to be marginalized.

‘There are people out there that talk about reaching across the aisle, but he has shown the action, over and over again,’ Schwarzenegger said.

McCain does more than reach across the aisle Governor. John McCain sits in their seat on major issues most dear to conservatives. Is that what conservatives do? Do conservatives just adopt liberal ideals in order to get along or are they guided by principles much larger than any political party?

His fellow Arizonans don’t think he is conservative.

“We do not consider him a conservative at all,” says Rob Haney, a Republican Party chairman in McCain’s home district. The candidate’s bus, the Straight Talk Express, should be renamed, Haney says: “We call it the Forked Tongue Express around here. He’ll lie about anything.”

related link: Recent John McCain History