There are two words a person can count on hearing pass through
John McCain's lips as he explains where he falls on the political spectrum on the campaign trail these days: conservative Republican.
Never mind the fact that he has spent decades cultivating the image of a moderate, someone who votes their conscience and not the party line. But the New York Times is pointing a couple of other inconsistencies in
McCain's new-fashioned self image: the two occasions during the first
Bush presidency when
McCain almost switched parties.
In 2001, when the Senate was evenly divided 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, former Democratic Leader
Tom Daschle says McCain approached him about switching parties. The negotiations became moot when another Republican made the switch, handing control of the Senate to the Democrats.
John Kerry says in 2004,
McCain staffers approached him about considering
McCain for the second spot on his ticket.
Kerry reports that he was wild about the idea but in the end couldn't get McCain to do it.
McCain remembers it differently, of course. Now he's the "conservative Republican" nominee for president, he
obviously never considered becoming a Democrat.
