Wordcruncher

McCain: Able For An '08 Run?

Many of us have wondered how McCain can be so cozy with the man who dishonorably slandered him during the 2000 GOP primary campaign in South Carolina. We've watched McCain take courageous stands against the vermin who lie so odiously about Kerry's military service. Then we're flummoxed to see him hug the man responsible for the slimiest politics in modern American political history.

McCain, I believe, has great political instincts. He knows he must toe the line and support the GOP candidate or the religous right will fund a fundie to run against him in the Arizona Senate primaries.

But more importantly, and more likely, McCain still harbors presidential ambition; his ambition of 2000 has never left him. If it had, he would have likely retired, just as Dole did after the '96 election. McCain believed 2000 wasn't his last chance to run for president. To run again in '08, he desperately needs the party apparatus, donors and infrastructure -- and that party would never forgive him if he were ever to become a member of a Democratic administration.

I believe McCain is skillfully positioning himself for an '08 run. If Bush wins, he was a good soldier and will be rewarded for his compliance. If Kerry wins, who else but McCain would become the virtual leader of the Republican party? Add the fact that Kerry is quick to mention how well the two can work together, and McCain's profile is bound to improve.

And so, by the way, does Kerry's.