The Nation -- Is McCain Going to Knife Bush?

[Killarney]

The Nation has an interesting article about the Bush-McCain feud/soap opera/melodrama. Their spin on McCain's latest words is that possibly McCain has plans for Bush.

edited to include the link:
http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=1833
McCain: The October Surprise?

The McCain-Bush conflict has been one of the most-watched soap operas in Washington. Now it appears the Arizona senator may have a rude surprise for the president.

snip

So this year McCain sucked it up and hit the trail for Bush, even as the Bush brigade was mounting the same sort of trash-and-slash attack against McCain's colleague, John Kerry. But maybe there was another reason beyond loyalty to the party and to the commander in chief why McCain saddled up with Bush. Perhaps he wanted to get near enough to knife Bush--metaphorically speaking, of course. As in, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. (Think The Godfather.)

Then the article goes into detail on how McCain flogged Bush on FoxNews Sunday with some great quotes.

The Bush campaign eagerly embraced McCain early in the summer when Bush was slipping in the polls due to the mess in Iraq. So when McCain (rather than Kerry) says Bush hasn't articulated a plan for Iraq, can the White House dismiss this serious statement? It sure cannot be pooh-poohed by Bush's mouthpieces as partisan rhetoric. Might such a remark cause Bushies to wonder whether McCain infiltrated the Bush campaign in order to better zing the man whose lieutenants once bitterly and scurrilously attacked McCain's family and questioned McCain's loyalty to veterans?

The McCain-Bush face-off has been one of the most-watched soap operas in Washington. Now it appears that when McCain hit the campaign trail for Bush this summer, the conflict was not ultimately resolved. A few more twists and turns could come, and in this relationship, McCain at the moment has more power. (Remember McCain's home state of Arizona could end up being a key state on November 2.) With his recent comments, McCain has essentially called out the administration and undermined Bush's spin. If McCain continues to talk so candidly, he will be serving as a wingman for Kerry. Is this calculation or coincidence? Revenge being served out of a deep-freezer?

[T Roosevelt]

1. That would be sweet

but I think he'll be the good little Repub soldier and toe the line like the rest of them...

[Carla in Ca]

18. I don't understand what McCain is up to

He is great friends with Kerry; stand up for him re:Vietnam. Got "the treatment" from * in 2000 but campaigns for him, including hugs.
Critical of * on last Sunday's talk shows.

Is he "the October surprise"?

[Ripley]

2. Oh for crying out loud, not this again.

...he will be serving as a wingman for Kerry.

Utter horseshit. McCain will hug Smirk a zillion times before he will help Kerry. Please quit hoping he's not a repuke. He is.

[2Design]

8. McCain is not for Kerry - his statement that kerry is fair game

about his actions after he came back from Nam were telling

He has not gotten over kerry speaking out against nam and the viet cong using those statements against (mccain) as a prisoner.

That is what swift boat is really about = pows were tortured based on kerry remarks about torture to vietnamse people

like our torture of iraqis - pictures are causing iraqis and insurgents to be more brutal

[Jackpine Radical]

26. There is no evidence that this is true:

"pows were tortured based on kerry remarks about torture to vietnamse people."

And in fact there is evidence that it is false, in that no POWs ever reported Kerry's name beniong mentioned by thier captors.

[DrFunkenstein]

10. McCain HAS Helped Kerry As Much As A Future GOP Candidate Can

Called him an able commander-in-chief.

Tore up Ted Sampley and the Swift Boaters, called on Bush to directly denounce them.

And, yes, made a hesitation before declining Kerry's VP offer - which in Washington is an enormous amount of time. Think about it.

Hey, I don't agree with McCain on alot of major issues, and I wouldn't want him choosing a Supreme Court Justice, but I recognize a good thing (useful tool, whatever) when I see it.

[Ripley]

15. I saw McCain interviewed and that is NOT what he said.

He was never asked to run as Kerry's VP. He flatly denied he was asked and said he wouldn't even have considered it. I believe it was Hardball where he said that.

McCain is not 100% Delay-repuke, but he always, ALWAYS backs up their team player. He is irrelevant as a "wingman" for Kerry. The R's will just whisper he's "a little screwy because of the POW thing" and the D's will be misguided into loving him again, then BAM....he will stick the knife in Kerry's back.

[noamnety]

16. can we stop perpetuating the myth?

When did Kerry ever offer McCain the VP spot?

[DrFunkenstein]

22. Kerry Asked McCain How He Felt About Being On The Short List

He wasn't actually asked, for political reasons, so both he and Kerry could subsequently deny it.

[arlib]

12. Sadly

You are correct.

[dave123williams]

3. Is McCain that smart?

I don't know; at first I thought he had been bought off through political patronage, but now he's smashing Iraq policy on the chatshows. Maybe he's just nuts?

[Lugnut]

4. Oh, I hope so

But I won't be holding my breath waiting.

[Demi_Babe]

6. That would be very sweet

[IIgnoreNobody]

5. Explanation for McCain's contradictory and conflicting statements re Bush:

He's a self-serving hypocrite who believes in nothing.

[Dhalgren]

7. I love it!

Now, if Mccain just doesn't commit "suicide" for some reason...

[Killarney]

9. Here are some of the things McCain said on FoxNews Sunday

He accused Bush of making "serious mistakes after the initial successes by not having enough troops there on the ground, by allowing the looting, by not securing the borders. There was a number of things that we did. Most of it can be traced back to not having sufficient numbers of troops there."

He noted that the Bush administration has allowed insurgents to establish sanctuaries--such as in Falluja--where anti-American rebels or terrorists can be trained and harbored.

Then Chris Wallace asked him some question about the Iraqi insurgents wanting to break the will of the American people and play a role in defeating Bush. McCain said, "I don't think they're interested so much in defeating President Bush."

He basically said that the terrorists want Bush to win.

Strong words.

[PATRICK]

11. Sure and Nader will drop out

in a few weeks. Sometimes what you see is what you get. McCain feels constrained for various non-Bush motives. Trying to influence(vainly, laughably vainly)issues is one payback he demands. Bush people shrug. they get to pick and choose what effect McCain has in the media. he is allowed to wildly help Bush, and is tolerated in silence when he rants off on a specific topic. This is his petty and pretty inconsequential pique or self- redemption at work. Powell has been tanking for years doing the same thing with the same cast of naive well-wishers waiting for that inevitable burst of integrity to save the day.

Childish fantasy from the left. Is this like CBS's master plan, Daschle's clever strategy etc.?

If McCain goes ballistic it will be a result of an excess of anger not of critical planning, and guess what? All those stories about anger management will come out to sink him again.

And will Nader finally work to defeat Bush? If The Nation does not understand this peculiar pathology of the wandering savior it should at least stop trying read some unlikely rationality into bad behavior.

[lanparty]

24. These people don't EVER let you in the circle ...

... unless they have dammin dirt and evidence to destroy you should you choose to LEAVE the circle. Thats the way all cults work!!!!

[AlCzervik]

13. Et Tu Brute?

it's a nice thought but i'm not pinning my hopes on this.

[bluedog]

14. In Plain English "cheney" NO

McCain is just playing his little games again..........notice he again is going on talk shows and showing his true colors.........McCain is a "captive" of his own making in the Republican Party.........and will kiss up to * and co every time.................Hes a traitor to America and its valves.

[napi21]

17. I suppose there is a scenario where McCain could be playing

payback...lowering the defenses of the shrub campaign with his support, and waiting just long enough to drop the hammer, and not giving shrub sufficient time to recover.

I don't know. It's certainly a long shot idea, but the vicious attacks on Kerry recently could have revived some bad old memories!

[grasswire]

19. Corn is all wet on this

I don't like this kind of fanciful speculation. There's not a solid bit of info in the whole thing.

What McCain is doing right now is giving Bush cover on Iraq by taking the issue away for Kerry. It's called "triangulation."

Any idea that McCain will stab Bush to help Kerry is naive and silly.

[lanparty]

25. McCain is keeping his place in line ...

McCain will be running in 2008 regardless of whether Bush wins in 2004. McCain has to show "loyalty" to have a credible shot at a nomination in 2008.

Frankly, I think that McCain would rather have Bush loose in 2004. If Bush remains on top of the party, brother Jeb will have the inside track in 2008.

[hlthe2b]

20. Without doubt, McCain is a paradox, but allow me to speculate....

To do what David Corn is suggesting, would require such a tremendous level of self-restraint, patience (beyond the belief of most of us) and very long term strategic planning, that it seems impossible to those of us more intune to our own impulses, emotions, and instincts.

But, remember, McCain had nearly five years in a POW camp, where, it is quite possible, he honed these kind of skills. There have been books written on the amazing level of introspection and philosophical development among those wrongly imprisoned and tortured, in terms of those predictors of survival and later "recovery" to live a fairly normal life. I can recall one important such account of a woman falsely imprisoned for decades in a Chinese workcamp after the communist revolution. At any rate, these kind of skills might well make Corn's theory plausible with respect to McCain.

Again, he is a paradox, but I think I will just wait and watch, witholding final judgement....:shrug:

[tomfodw]

21. DU Wet Dream

There is no way McCain is going to do this. He would be burning any bridges he has to the rest of the Republican Party for good, with no way back. The fact is, he doesn't like George W. Bush personally and he disagrees with much of the president's policy. But he's a very conservative Republican. There's no getting around this. He enjoys a solid reputation nationwide as a straight-shooter, courageous, and even moderate, but he's not the latter. I have no reason to think he's not a good buy, but he's no RINO and it's wishful thinking to try to imagine him into being one.

We're gonna have to win this one on our own.

[Darth_Kitten]

23. Something could definitely be up......

:D