McCain Aide (Weaver) To Advise Kerry

[KittyWampus]

Weaver had been reported ready to join Clark in NH way back when.


Kerry Brings McCain Aide To Campaign
by Ben Smith

A close adviser to Republican Senator John McCain is informally advising Senator John Kerry on his Presidential bid and may go to work for the Democrat’s campaign.

The aide is John Weaver, a rangy Texan who served as political director to Mr. McCain’s failed campaign against George W. Bush for the G.O.P. Presidential nomination in 2000. Since Mr. McCain’s defeat, Mr. Weaver’s life has turned upside-down: He has left the Republican Party, given up San Antonio for Greenwich Village and narrowly survived a grueling bout with leukemia. Now he’s back on his feet, and hoping to apply the lessons of Texas politics to Mr. Kerry’s effort this year.

Referring to the Bush campaign, Mr. Weaver told The Observer: "They’re going to drop pianos on Kerry’shead. It’s going to be very distasteful, and you’re going to see as negative a campaign as you’ve ever seen on the Bush side."


-continued-

http://www.observer.com/pages/frontpage1.asp

[Cursive_Knives512]

1. Interesting

especially since the rumors McCain would be Kerry's vice pres.

"Distasteful?" Ugh, I hope not. I'm sick of the political slime being thrown back and forth. Maybe slime and distastefulness are inherent qualities of politics though.

[newyawker99]

18. Hi Cursive_Knives512!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[lastknowngood]

2. So now Kerry has a repug mole high in his campaign. How does

this help?

[TomSeaver]

3. I'm sick of the McCain talk

Either he endorses Kerry or I don't want to hear anything about him

[BootinUp]

5. He knows the Bush/Rove history

from his days in Texas politics, I'm sure some of that knowledge would be helpful.

[corporatewhore]

15. he once co campaigned with rove saw

it in bush's brain doc

[Leilani]

4. Did you read the article?

He's not a Repug mole.

[lastknowngood]

7. How often does a leopard change his spots? They used them

in Dean's campaign and they were helping Sharpton with money and
"strategy" do the math here a bastard who supports the rethuglican agenda isn't going to be of any use to Kerry if he's trying to win. McCain is just another rethuglican who has endorsed and is campaigning for the shrub, and you can bet his friends are just like him. The rethuglicans allow no divergence from the jackbooted fascist agenda. Wake the hell up and smell the napalm.

[mot78]

11. He's not a mole

He was attacked by the BFEE and Rove while he worked for McCain. He hates *.

[Adelante]

6. Interesting character

"Mr. McCain said Mr. Weaver was "blackballed by the White House and the Republican establishment," and McCain aides told The Observer that after Mr. Bush took the White House, his staff told members of Congress not to hire Mr. Weaver.

"Rove made it clear that if you want help from this President in your campaign, you’ll be careful about what consultant you hire—meaning not John Weaver," said Mr. McCain’s chief of staff, Mark Salter.

"Mr. Rove didn’t return a call to the White House press office seeking comment on his relationship with Mr. Weaver.

"Mr. Weaver said the feud between him and Mr. Rove is one-sided. "Karl never lets go of anything. I think there’s a one-sided feud, but Karl has a one-sided feud with about 3,000 people," he said.

"Mr. Weaver said that despite the White House’s enmity, he could have kept working as a Republican, but that his "disgust with the Republican hierarchy" swelled on the campaign trail with Mr. McCain."

[KittyWampus]

8. One-Sided Feud. Just Sounds So Much Like Nixon

But without Nixon's charm -sarcasm.

[Adelante]

9. Yes, just like Nixon

God, what a horrid man he was.

[BootinUp]

10. thats the coolest smiley yet...

[revcarol]

12. I would watch out for snakes

in the grass.

Seems there have already been some questionable aide things in this campaign.

[Bombtrack]

13. The man has been a democrat officially for a couple of years almost

plenty of time before he joined the Clark campaign it was reported that he left the GOP and wanted a democrat elected

[revcarol]

17. So were some of the other Democratic adivisers/staffers

who have pulled sneakies.

[corporatewhore]

14. weaver co ran a campaign here in texas with Rove

saw it in Bush's Brain Documentary at SXSW

[tameszu]

16. Clark should have had this guy

on his side before NH, but his hiring was scuttled by internal dissension. =(

Ah well, better late than never...

BTW, we should be ready and willing to take all defectors who truly hate *--and I can readily believe that McCain's top advisor's conversion as a Dem is sincere. After seeing what Bush did to McCain in SC in 2000, I can see how a number of folks who were for his candidacy would want to switch...