Democratic challenger John Kerry said on Wednesday his first choice as defense secretary would be Republican Sen. John McCain.
Setting aside my personal opinions of these two men, which obviously don't mean much, I think this is a brilliant move by Kerry (in terms of winning the election.)
itīll be a great move as long as mccain doesnīt say he wouldnīt accept...which, of course, he wonīt say... over on dailykos theyīve been clamoring for a shadow government for a while now, they must be pumped....
of course wes clark is BUMMING. although iīm sure heīd be pumped to get NSA or DCI. personally i say give him homeland security, which is a crappy job, but heīll sure learn a lot about kissing congressī' ass....
otherwise i assure you i would not have posted with 2 instances of the word pumped. ouch.
dci = director of central intelligence?
politically it looks like a good move as bjil said as long as he doesnt turn it down the next time meet the tim asks him. but unless he gives the impression that he might accept, it wont mean much either way. every time i see him on meet the tim he makes pains to state that he supports this president and he will and has campaigned for him. so unless he changes his public pronouncements it wont have any impact. he might later change his mind and accept the job but that would have no bearing on the election.
McCain scores points on the integrity factor, which is a major weak point with the Cryto-Evalgelists and Neo-Cons.
i think mccain is basically a not-so-crypto neocon with a heart of brass. also he has a thing for linda evangelista. (she once talked to him at a party in the 80s and hes had a secret crush ever since.)
To me he seems more like a con than an neo. And he shows a willingness to waver from the party line.
the best part of that powell article in esquire is when someone (forget who) is parsing some washington-speak and they say "thatīs like when mccain says he has a cordial relationship with bush, and it means he doesnīt tell him to fuck off every time they meet"
after cohen served as clintonīs defense secretary i donīt see how mccain can say itīs a party loyalty issue...
i didnt say he wouldnt take the job (especially if it was settled after the election) but he has said he would turn down the vice presidential slot and cited party loyalty. and my point was that unless he gave strong hints to the affirmative that it would give kerry no boost. obviously it signals kerrys foreign policy outlook to the swing voters, many of whom, it has been said, have a favorable outlook on sen mccain.
mccain is certainly a hawk and had (has?) close ties with the weekly standards william kristol who endorsed him for president in 2000. mccain has repeatedly been willing to challenge elements of the bush agenda but most notably on domestic issues.
mccain cosponsored with mayor mclieberman the iraq liberation act of 1998 which inevitably funneled money to chalabi and friends who turned around and gave the misleading reports which justified the actions for war.
ultimately i think hes better than most but i dont want to be fooled about his willingness to indulge the neocon ideological agenda.
Political rule # such-and-such: the deputy cannot be more exciting than the top guy.
i read one article that made it sound as if kerry was suggesting mccain as a replacement for rummy right now. it seems unlikely that rummy will go but that would make alot of sense, except that he and shrub dont really get along.
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Setting aside my personal opinions of these two men, which obviously don't mean much, I think this is a brilliant move by Kerry (in terms of winning the election.)
- jim 5-12-2004 9:20 pm
itīll be a great move as long as mccain doesnīt say he wouldnīt accept...which, of course, he wonīt say... over on dailykos theyīve been clamoring for a shadow government for a while now, they must be pumped....
of course wes clark is BUMMING. although iīm sure heīd be pumped to get NSA or DCI. personally i say give him homeland security, which is a crappy job, but heīll sure learn a lot about kissing congressī' ass....
- big jimmy in london (guest) 5-12-2004 11:56 pm [add a comment]
otherwise i assure you i would not have posted with 2 instances of the word pumped. ouch.
- guests canīt edit!!! (guest) 5-12-2004 11:57 pm [add a comment] [edit]
dci = director of central intelligence?
politically it looks like a good move as bjil said as long as he doesnt turn it down the next time meet the tim asks him. but unless he gives the impression that he might accept, it wont mean much either way. every time i see him on meet the tim he makes pains to state that he supports this president and he will and has campaigned for him. so unless he changes his public pronouncements it wont have any impact. he might later change his mind and accept the job but that would have no bearing on the election.
- dave 5-13-2004 1:02 am [add a comment]
McCain scores points on the integrity factor, which is a major weak point with the Cryto-Evalgelists and Neo-Cons.
- mark 5-13-2004 12:21 am [add a comment]
i think mccain is basically a not-so-crypto neocon with a heart of brass. also he has a thing for linda evangelista. (she once talked to him at a party in the 80s and hes had a secret crush ever since.)
- dave 5-13-2004 1:32 am [add a comment]
To me he seems more like a con than an neo. And he shows a willingness to waver from the party line.
- mark 5-13-2004 3:09 am [add a comment]
the best part of that powell article in esquire is when someone (forget who) is parsing some washington-speak and they say "thatīs like when mccain says he has a cordial relationship with bush, and it means he doesnīt tell him to fuck off every time they meet"
after cohen served as clintonīs defense secretary i donīt see how mccain can say itīs a party loyalty issue...
- big jimmy in london (guest) 5-13-2004 3:21 am [add a comment] [edit]
i didnt say he wouldnt take the job (especially if it was settled after the election) but he has said he would turn down the vice presidential slot and cited party loyalty. and my point was that unless he gave strong hints to the affirmative that it would give kerry no boost. obviously it signals kerrys foreign policy outlook to the swing voters, many of whom, it has been said, have a favorable outlook on sen mccain.
mccain is certainly a hawk and had (has?) close ties with the weekly standards william kristol who endorsed him for president in 2000. mccain has repeatedly been willing to challenge elements of the bush agenda but most notably on domestic issues.
mccain cosponsored with mayor mclieberman the iraq liberation act of 1998 which inevitably funneled money to chalabi and friends who turned around and gave the misleading reports which justified the actions for war.
ultimately i think hes better than most but i dont want to be fooled about his willingness to indulge the neocon ideological agenda.
- dave 5-13-2004 4:11 am [add a comment]
i should add that the iraq liberation act of 1998 was unanimously passed by the senate and, it would seem, well regarded by president clinton.
- dave 5-13-2004 4:19 am [add a comment]
Political rule # such-and-such: the deputy cannot be more exciting than the top guy.
- alex 5-13-2004 4:20 am [add a comment]
i read one article that made it sound as if kerry was suggesting mccain as a replacement for rummy right now. it seems unlikely that rummy will go but that would make alot of sense, except that he and shrub dont really get along.
- dave 5-13-2004 6:55 pm [add a comment]