esrosedotblog

VEEP

There it is right in the New York Times Undeterred by McCain Denials, Some See Him as Kerry's No. 2 or link upper right. There is a great picture of McCain and Kerry in there as well; K is carrying on and McC is slouching in a chair. McCain for Vice President on the Kerry ticket. You heard it here first; well third or fourth. This idea has been kicking around for awhile but was put down to excessive fantasizing. Now it re-emerges.

There was also the idea that Kerry continue to float McCain's name to keep the middle lane of the campaign wide open for all voters, Dem and Repub alike. Whatever it is, the idea will not go away. I think that the underlying message is very important and that is that junior is in bad shape and it is time to put partisanship aside, get this creep and his henchmen out of there and get serious about the war on terror and the many other pieces of business that have been languishing. He has been a serious embarrassment to serious Republicans in the middle and on the right.

There is also a great side benefit to all this speculation and that is to show the serious attraction that the Kerry campaign has for moderate Republicans. He is, if anything, the penultimately Republican Democrat. That is why the left is nervous when he is running in the primaries. The liberal Republican or conservative Democrat is a fine Massachusetts tradition. He has the square jaw and serious demeanor of Leverett Saltonstall; who, incidentally, was a great politician and liberal thinker. He has the twitchy Catholic rectitude of the Kennedys (when they are at their best). I am still not energized by Kerry for a lot of reasons but I am deeply moved by the need to get the de-bushed.

Of course we have to remember that Kerry and McCain are best friends in the Senate and have had many adventures together. Both are tough Viet Nam vets with a point of view. Perhaps this is all a little game between friends to keep the bushers off center and worried about 'what if'. It has to be very unsettling for them; a fusion ticket! Well, so much the better, if that is true. Anything to keep the ball rolling and the boil roiling.