A lot of tongues have been wagging at this AP story:
John Kerry says Republican John McCain doesn’t have the judgment to be president.
If that’s the case, then it’s probably a good thing McCain rejected overtures from Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, to form a bipartisan ticket and run with Kerry as his candidate for vice president.
Unsurprisingly (and unfortunately) the Ass Press got the story wrong. It was McCain who approached Kerry. And the Ass Press completely missed McCain’s flip-flop on the subject.
From “McCain: I’d ‘entertain’ Democratic VP slot,” 03/10/2004:
McCain said in a television interview that he would consider the unorthodox step of running for vice president on the Democratic ticket — in the unlikely event he received such an offer from the presidential candidate.
“John Kerry is a close friend of mine. We have been friends for years,” McCain said Wednesday when pressed to squelch speculation about a Kerry-McCain ticket. “Obviously I would entertain it.”
Within hours, the Arizona senator’s chief of staff, Mark Salter, closed the door on that idea. “Senator McCain will not be a candidate for vice president in 2004,” Salter told The Associated Press, saying he spoke for the senator.
From “McCain Asked About Kerry’s V.P. Offer,” 03/07/2008:
Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee… said he had never considered sharing the ticket in 2004 with Mr. Kerry, a friend of his…
Later, aboard his campaign plane, when Mr. McCain was asked about the conversation – and why he said in an interview with The New York Times in May 2004 that he had not even had a casual conversation with Mr. Kerry on the topic – Mr. McCain displayed some of the temper that he has largely kept under control in this campaign.
And then there’s this, from the Washington Post, on 06/12/2004:
Although Kerry has made no formal offer to McCain to join the Democratic ticket, according to these sources, the purpose of the discussions appears to have been to gauge McCain’s interest…
Mark Salter, McCain’s chief of staff, said McCain “has never been offered the vice presidency by anyone.”
Sorry to burst any bubbles, but as much as I like seeing Kerry with egg on his face, it’s a richer experience for me when it’s actually deserved. And exposing the Ass Press’ incompetence and bias is more important than trashing Kerry. For now.
