Was John McCain on the verge of switching parties in 2001?There’s a fascinating story in The Hill today, in which they report that according to both Tom Daschle and former Congressman Tom Downey (D-NY), McCain’s close adviser, John Weaver, approached Downey in 2001 to talk about McCain switching parties. Downey, a close friend of Weaver’s, is quoted as saying that Weaver told him McCain would be interested “if the right people asked him.” What followed were two months of talks with Daschle, who says they discussed “committees and his seniority” among many other things.
So what happened? Before a deal could be done, Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont quit the Republican party to become an independent, throwing control of the Senate to the Democrats. The talks with McCain (and also Lincoln Chafee, whom the Democrats had approached) broke off.
The McCain people are vehemently denying the story. But the level of detail, and the fact that some of it is already included in Tom Daschle’s 2003 memoir, convince me that it’s true. Besides, what would be the motive for Daschle or Downey to lie? As for the McCain campaign…
How does this story not translate to the end of a short but exceedingly bumpy road for the Straight Talk Express 2008? No wonder Republicans are looking at former senator and “Curly Sue” co-star Fred Thompson so hopefully.
You could shrug it off as just another bad day in a very bad week for John McCain, except for this:
Can you imagine Senate Democrats trying to form a cohesive Iraq exit strategy with McCain in the party, and Lieberman tagging along?
Talk about a nightmare scenario.
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