Republican Sen. John McCain intends to take the first formal step toward a White House run next week by launching a presidential exploratory committee, GOP officials say.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting a public statement from the four-term Arizona senator, who is considered the front-runner for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.
McCain, the GOP maverick who unsuccessfully sought his party’s nomination in 2000, already has opened a bank account for the committee, one official said.
“The senator has made no decision about running for president,” said Eileen McMenamin, a McCain spokeswoman.
Aides to McCain say the senator will discuss whether to seek the presidency with his family over the Christmas holiday and decide thereafter.
Establishing an exploratory committee allows a potential candidate to raise money for a White House run and travel the country.
Establishing an exploratory committee would also permit the Senator to determine exactly what it is he stands for, said aides, on condition of anonymity. “The Senator is certain in his heart of hearts that he stands for something,” said one McCain insider. “The exploratory panel will be seeking to find whatever that is, and get back to the Senator, so that he can go about the hard business of representing whatever that may be to the American people.” Our source was vague regarding what that might be, but indicated that it was “more compelling than you might think,” and that it was “full of significance for the national political discourse.” He was certain that the exploratory panel, after a “period of exploration, as a panel,” would discover the “intensely significant thing, or interlocking group of things, for which Senator McCain stands, and has always stood.”
I can save them a lot of time here. What John McCain stands for is John McCain for President.
All else is negotiable, mainly with the media.
No.
No. No.
No. No. No. No.
NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNo
No.
Uh-uh.
Nope.
No way, Jose.
NONONONONONO.
Do I make myself clear?
Anybody who is capable of spitting on and tap dancing on the Constitution like McCain did does not have my support.
‘Mkay?
”…..has always stood.—
He’s always stood until about June of 2004 when he
apparently sold his carcass to Bush for a few shekels and a future endorsement from same that he
will be wise not to enforce. He represents the worst of the idealogues; the kind who compromise on core principles for powers sake alone. Just because he no longer services the Prez in a kneeling position and has removed the pads, does not mean he once again, stands.
Shekels, eh? Apart from your reasons, I agree with you for once, Antisemiticleo.
You would think that the lefties who hold Kerry’s and Murtha’s wartime service as sacred, would have some respect for Senator McCain.
Ohhhh… ok. Forgot that your service is only honorable if you come back to the states and become anti-war.
My bad.
McCain is a rock solid conservative. Except when he isn’t.
But who else is there? Rice is intriguing, but pro-choice. All the Secretaries of Cabinetry are up there in years or down there in popularity. Governors? Not many exciting national figures, not that that stopped guys like Carter and Clinton from getting to the White House.
The GOP has an image problem if the second logical choice is a guy like Mayor Rudy or Trent Lott. Maybe Arizona’s other Senator, Jon Kyl, could run. After all, having Janet Napolitano appoint a replacement won’t turn the Senate to the Dems anymore.
The right hates him, the left hates him, and the media are telling him that means he must be doing something right.
Which I’m sure will be a huge consolation when he makes it to the GOP convention with all of 17 delegates.
– McCain knows he has as much chance as Usama. He just wants to be among “one of those guy’s who ran for president”, so he’ll be sure his name appears in a few history book sidebars. Wiki is never enough for these people.
– Rudi, with Steele or Condi, is my chioce, and since the banana heads are dead set against the Hilldebeast, she’ll win it in the primaries, hands down. If the Dembulbs try to counter with Obama as VP, a 2nd year jr. Senator, it would be a slaughter. With that lineup in the contest, I’d expect a Gop landslide.
Condi maybe. But didn’t Steele lose as a Republican pretending to be a Democrat? Sure he gave the homeless jobs, but with the new identity restrictions in most polling places, relying on the homeless vote just won’t get you very far.
Then again, the ticket of Rudy and Steele would be a RINO and a fake Democrat, which is just the kind of bipartisanship the GOP primary voters are looking for.