WriterDom
Good to the last drop
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2000
- Posts
- 20,077
Ok Hillary, here's your chance if McCain runs as third party.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Arizona Sen. John McCain (news - bio - voting record) has been conferring with advisers about leaving the Republican party and launching a third-party challenge to President Bush (news - web sites) in 2004, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing sources close to the senator.
McCain's press secretary denied the report.
McCain is not contemplating an imminent move, the Post said. For now, he will work to build a centrist faction within the Republican Party, similar to the moderate ``New Democrats,'' according to the Post.
Advisers said McCain may launch a third-party challenge to Bush in the 2004 election, if Bush struggles as president, and if the senators loses on key issues from tax cuts and campaign finance reform to a patients' bill of rights.
McCain's press secretary, Nancy Ives told Reuters on Saturday ''there's absolutely no truth whatsoever to the story.''
``Sen. McCain has directed no one, at anytime ever, to explore challenging the president in 2004,'' Ives said by telephone. ``We categorically deny every issue that's been raised by the unnamed McCain advisers.''
McCain is hosting Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle at his home near Sedona, Arizona, this weekend on what his office said was a ``strictly social'' visit that had been ``planned months ago.''
Daschle helped persuade Vermont Sen. James Jeffords (news - web sites) to defect from the Republican Party last week.
The Post reported that McCain had met privately to discuss party switching with at least three Democratic senators -- Daschle, Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina.
However, McCain has repeatedly said he intends to remain a Republican and has rejected suggestions that he might challenge Bush, possibly as an independent, for the White House in 2004.
McCain told the Post Democrats ``approached me a couple of times'' to discuss party switching, but he said he told them he had ``no cause to leave the Republican Party, period.'' He said his willingness to talk should not be interpreted as a signal of his willingness to abandon the GOP.
But McCain's confidants and advisers are pushing him in that direction, the Post said.
According to the Post, four McCain loyalists -- campaign strategist John Weaver, legislative director Daniel McKivergan, Weekly Standard magazine publisher William Kristol and Hudson Institute scholar Marshall Wittmann -- met on Thursday to debate whether the senator should quit the GOP.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Arizona Sen. John McCain (news - bio - voting record) has been conferring with advisers about leaving the Republican party and launching a third-party challenge to President Bush (news - web sites) in 2004, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing sources close to the senator.
McCain's press secretary denied the report.
McCain is not contemplating an imminent move, the Post said. For now, he will work to build a centrist faction within the Republican Party, similar to the moderate ``New Democrats,'' according to the Post.
Advisers said McCain may launch a third-party challenge to Bush in the 2004 election, if Bush struggles as president, and if the senators loses on key issues from tax cuts and campaign finance reform to a patients' bill of rights.
McCain's press secretary, Nancy Ives told Reuters on Saturday ''there's absolutely no truth whatsoever to the story.''
``Sen. McCain has directed no one, at anytime ever, to explore challenging the president in 2004,'' Ives said by telephone. ``We categorically deny every issue that's been raised by the unnamed McCain advisers.''
McCain is hosting Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle at his home near Sedona, Arizona, this weekend on what his office said was a ``strictly social'' visit that had been ``planned months ago.''
Daschle helped persuade Vermont Sen. James Jeffords (news - web sites) to defect from the Republican Party last week.
The Post reported that McCain had met privately to discuss party switching with at least three Democratic senators -- Daschle, Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina.
However, McCain has repeatedly said he intends to remain a Republican and has rejected suggestions that he might challenge Bush, possibly as an independent, for the White House in 2004.
McCain told the Post Democrats ``approached me a couple of times'' to discuss party switching, but he said he told them he had ``no cause to leave the Republican Party, period.'' He said his willingness to talk should not be interpreted as a signal of his willingness to abandon the GOP.
But McCain's confidants and advisers are pushing him in that direction, the Post said.
According to the Post, four McCain loyalists -- campaign strategist John Weaver, legislative director Daniel McKivergan, Weekly Standard magazine publisher William Kristol and Hudson Institute scholar Marshall Wittmann -- met on Thursday to debate whether the senator should quit the GOP.
