Why IS He So Angry?
John McCain, ladies and gentlemen:
Everyone knows about John McCain’s famous temper, the same temper that has him dropping F-Bombs in senatorial debates, and what is sometimes viewed as a likely liability in the fall.
In case you forgot what McCain was berating the reporter over, allow me to remind you. Back during the 2004 campaign there was some rumors getting spread around that John Edwards was not in fact John Kerry’s first choice as running mate; that would have been John McCain.
We don’t know, really. You see, there was some back and forth about that wherein McCain said Kerry approached him first, and Kerry said McCain’s people approached him first, and the ol’ Straight Talk Express himself refuses to give an account of where the actual facts lie.
In retrospect, it’s all a little bit silly. Enlisting John McCain as a running mate would have been a coup against the Bush candidacy that would have more than trumped that ridiculous Zell Miller keynote address at the Republican convention, at the same time, it may have also resulted in the kind of backlash amongst hardcore Dems and liberals that would have sank the good ship Kerry far worse than actually happened.
Besides, McCain wouldn’t have done it anyway. He got absolutely abused by Bush in 2000, true, but he took that beating on the premise that he would be THE nominee in 2008, which actually came to pass. By the time 2004 came around, McCain’s job was to be the guy who was next in line, and that’s where he was staying.
So why would McCain get all riled up over ancient history? Since he also didn’t answer that question from the NYT reporter, we don’t know for certain, I can take a pretty good guess.
Remember, McCain’s support amongst his own party is now one of his big weaknesses. While there has been a slow unification of the conservative base since McCain became the presumptive nominee, that unification is likely to be tenuous at best, and the last thing he needs is any kind of liberal credentials pinned on him.
This is most likely the reason why he voted for more torture after spending years staking a principled and informed claim against it.
While he spends much of this time convincing his base that he really is a conservative, reminding Americans that he came *this* close to being John Kerry’s running mate could throw all of that work out the window.
More at memeorandum.
UPDATE: Thanks to Wonkette for linking in (during a blog roundup of their own, no less).
Best McCain picture EVER!
Yeah, I think I got the fail dogs from Sully, and I swear I go there once a day now to laugh myself to tears. I wanted a pic to show an “angry mccain” and found this one.
Priceless.
McCain’s temper tantrum…
What we saw today was just a preview of things to come. It was nothing, really. The infamous McCain temper has yet to show itself in the 2008 presidential campaign. When it does, you’ll know.
McCain Flashes Temper at Reporter
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – R…
Great pickup by Wonkette btw.
http://wonkette.com/365459/a-fond-farewell
Um….
*coughseetheupdatecough*
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