McCain Can Play Maverick Again

By TChris, Section Other Politics
Posted on Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 09:30:40 PM EST
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As we wait and wonder about the accuracy of reports that Hillary Clinton will accept the top job at the State Department, the news about John McCain is more definitive: he left his meeting with Barack Obama without an employment offer. Good thing he kept his day job.

Why the meeting? It's good press for both of them. Obama looks bipartisan, McCain gets a chance to repair his tarnished reputation by pledging to work with the president he helped elect. And this:

Even with the enlarged Democratic Senate majority and smiling Harry Reid attempting to herd them, Obama is gonna need some Republican help with his ambitious program there. And who better to work with than the ex-Republican presidential candidate untrusted and abandoned by so many of his own party's base?

Unfettered by enforced loyalty to a Republican president, McCain can go back to being a maverick. And why not? He'll soon be on his way to genteel retirement. He might as well have some mavericky fun along the way. If Obama is looking for Republican filibuster busters, McCain might be one of several options. [more ...]

It's easy to be magnanimous when you're the winner. Easy for Democrats, anyway. Obama did the right thing by reaching out to McCain so quickly. And as easy as it is to detest Joe Lieberman for (among many other reasons) his vigorous support of McCain's candidacy, it was smart of Obama to urge his party's senators to continue caucusing with Lieberman. Obama did Lieberman a favor, and he has the right to expect a favor in return. If Obama ever needs Lieberman to help him twist McCain's arm, he can remind Lieberman of debts come due.

McCain will not be Obama's only option if he needs Republican support. Maine's Republican senators and New Hampshire's Judd Gregg in the blue northeast have political incentives to be both moderate and bipartisan. Arlen Specter craves attention, likes to feel important, and probably resents the humiliating slap his party gave him when he attempted to think independently. Any Republican running for reelection in 2010 (particularly in the new-blue states of Ohio, Iowa, Florida, and North Carolina) has to worry about the political impact of being labeled an obstructionist. No matter the outcome of the Senate's open races in Alaska, Georgia, and Minnesota, Obama should be able to overcome most filibusters during his first two years in office.

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McCain Can Play Maverick Again | 16 comments (16 topical)

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Good point about Lieberman (5.00 / 2) (#1)
by bluegal on Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 09:52:05 PM EST

I've always been in favor of stripping him of the chairmanship not because I wanted to be vindictive but because he was incompetent. Joe may think that he has the upper hand here but it really is Obama and he could use him to get John McCain to vote with the dems since he will owe Obama big time. McCain, Collins, Snowe, and Gregg on some issues and we could easily get enough to prevent a filibuster.

Not bad.

Immigration reform... (5.00 / 1) (#3)
by oldpro on Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 09:57:29 PM EST

looks like a possible portfolio item for the mav...

It shoud be interesting to see how Obama handles this hot potato. So far, silence. Not at the top of the priority list, as it should not be.

But...gonna need those Hispanic voters 2 years and 4 years from now, so incrementalism may not be enough to nail down their growing 'loyalty' to Democrats.

The one 'right thing' W tried to do...

McCain (5.00 / 1) (#14)
by cal1942 on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 05:04:06 AM EST

From much of what I've read, McCain really did consider jumping parties a few years ago.

If that is correct then it's interesting to speculate that if he had become a Democrat would he have had a chance at the 2008 nomination and given the circumstances have won the White House?

Great post, TChris (5.00 / 0) (#15)
by barryluda on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 07:09:46 AM EST

I especially liked...

McCain gets a chance to repair his tarnished reputation by pledging to work with the president he helped elect.

Oh please (none / 0) (#2)
by pluege on Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 09:53:35 PM EST

Obama did Lieberman a favor, and he has the right to expect a favor in return.

this is LIEberman you're talking about...first, last, and always of, for, and only about Joe - egomaniacal, pedantic, narcissist LIEberman. If being owed a favor is really Obama's thinking on LIEberman, we're in hugely deep doo-doo.

: I would agree but (none / 0) (#4)
by bluegal on Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 09:59:48 PM EST

Have you seen Lieberman's numbers in CT? There is no way the man is getting reelected if he doesn't move to the left FAST and if he is seen as blocking any Obama policy his constituents will throw him out. Obama won CT by over 20 points compared to Kerry who won it by about 9. Joe Lieberman is all about Joe Lieberman and you know he is going to want to be Senator again in 2012 so he better start acting like he cares about the will of his constituents.
He's powerless.

: Yes. Well, that chairmanship (none / 0) (#5)
by oldpro on Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 10:01:05 PM EST

can go bye bye on any given day...assuming the leadership and/or the caucus gets PO'd enough over some issue to break the bond.
Joe has to watch his step now...he's on borrowed time.

mavericky... (none / 0) (#6)
by of1000Kings on Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 10:23:55 PM EST

maybe my new favorite 'word'

Sounds good, except..... (none / 0) (#7)
by coigue on Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 10:32:02 PM EST

Unfettered by enforced loyalty to a Republican president, McCain can go back to being a maverick. And why not? He'll soon be on his way to genteel retirement. He might as well have some mavericky fun along the way.

McCain is an infamous grudge-holder. If he is pissed at Obama over something in the campaign, he may show it in the Senate.

Grude vs legacy? (5.00 / 1) (#8)
by nycstray on Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 10:35:42 PM EST

which way will he go?


Legacy (none / 0) (#9)
by bluegal on Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 10:44:08 PM EST

McCain may hold grudges but he has a massive ego. Remember how he kept talking about his "honor?"


Yeah, I don't think McCain wants to end (none / 0) (#10)
by tigercourse on Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 10:51:28 PM EST

on an ugly note. He isn't Rudy Giuliani afterall.


: Thank Dawg! (none / 0) (#12)
by nycstray on Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 11:21:46 PM EST

I'm twitching at the thought of Rudy running for Gov {shudder}
McCain may be released now to go back to Mav mode. He seems to like that role and it does suit him (imo). Or maybe I just get a kick outta how it bugs the republicans, lol!~

I imagine McCain is most angry (5.00 / 1) (#11)
by ThatOneVoter on Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 11:05:40 PM EST

at the advisers who told him he must pick Palin.


: I wholeheartedly agree. And, I suspect he has (5.00 / 1) (#13)
by DeborahNC on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 12:09:09 AM EST

some residual animosity for certain Republicans who turned their backs on him when he needed support.
When you've lost an election, you can't be too high-handed; but, you can bolster your legacy through bipartisanship, "for the good of the American people," of course. I foresee McCain taking that route.
He'll be praised for working with the President as well as be in a position to exact revenge against a few Republicans in the process.

geez, (none / 0) (#16)
by cpinva on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 01:35:17 PM EST

when, exactly, was mccain a "maverick", other than in his own mind? he sold that nonsense to the "boys on the bus" during the 2000 campaign, and like the pathetic wanabe's that they were, they ate it up from "st. john", the hero of vietnam.