Kerry and Daschle have kept these particular juicy tidbits under their hats for years even though timely revelation could have done them much political good (especially Kerry, who got some flack at the time). Why dump it out now when it just embarasses and infuriates McCain? If McCain is still in the Senate in 2009 he'll be a lot harder to work with, and if they're planning to zing his presidential campaign I'd think they should wait until the thick of the campaign. At present the Republicans can just drop him with little harm to their prospects.
This only embarrasses McCain, not that it matters - since he is as reactionary a Republican as one can get.
join the unity ticket should he lose the republican primary or run as an independent. Or he will completely go on a full frontal attack against Republicans and the Bush admin when he loses. I don't see him taking getting punked again by them lightly.
they think having to drop McCain now will harm the Reeps' prospects more than hitting him with it later?
In a general election, the assertion that McCain considered becoming a Dem isn't going to be a persuasive argument to vote for the Dem over McCain. It's too spinnable in that context.
"The Dems are accusing me of wanting to join them. Apparently even they think that's something to be ashamed of."
But if it sinks his fundraising ability now, cripples him in the primaries (and the primary campaign is going on), they never have to worry about him in the general.
Also, these aren't the kind of revelations you can just drop right before an election and expect to have believed. The credibility of the assertions stems from the fact that they're coming out of the mouths of Dems. That means there's no way to put the story out without everybody realizing it's coming from the Dems. And that means that the closer to an election the story comes out, more likely voters are to assume that the story is intended to influence the election.
So you sow the seeds now and let the story trickle, and watch the Reep candidate who'd be the most difficult to take down in the general, flame out in the primaries.
Makes sense to me.
I just wonder if the claims are true.
Maybe because this is the straw that will break the back of the McCain run for the Presidency. One down, a couple of more to go.
John Mccain put his testicles and manhood in a hermetically-sealed box during the 2000 campaign when he was maligned by Messrs. Bush, Rove, et al, and failed to respond forcefully.
McCain licked Bush's hand in the manner of a whipped dog in the 2004 election, blindly parroting BushSpeak (BushSqueak?)
His failure to defend John Kerry from the scurrilous bleatings of the SwiftBoat cabal only underscored my belief that he has no honor...only a pathetic compulsion to win.
His blind fealty to Bush's Iraq debacle continues to remind us that he out of touch with today's electorate.
With that in mind, John McCain's testicles remain in that locked box to this day.
