'Bull Moose' McCain
In her latest Political Points commentary, CBS News Senior Political Editor Dotty Lynch takes a look at the continuing importance of John McCain, a true political maverick.
This week it looks like John McCain will play nice. McCain has signaled that "out of deference to the president" and to move the process forward he will probably vote for the non-binding budget resolution when it comes to the Senate floor on Friday. However, McCain adds that he still believes the Bush tax cut tilts too much toward the rich, that there is more money needed for special education and that there should be more attention paid to debt reduction and military readiness.
John McCain's hero is Teddy Roosevelt who led a progressive revolt against the Republican Party and ran for re-election as the candidates of the Bull Moose Party in 1912. And although he vows that the Republican Party was, is and always will be his home, he is looking more and more like his hero, TR.
McCain showed in the 2000 presidential primaries that he could do what Republicans have been trying to do for 30 years — bring Democrats and Independents into their ranks — though when he trounced Bush with their help in the Massachusetts and Michigan primaries, the GOP cried foul. In polls this year he is as well liked by Democrats and Independents as he is by Republicans, and the McCain- Feingold bill had four times as many votes from Democratic senators as from Republicans.
McCain has a very conservative voting record but his presidential campaign of reform seems to have moved him from maverick to moderate. Two issues that came up during the race against Bush - tax cuts and health care – have continued to be areas of disagreement with the White House. Early this year, McCain joined with Ted Kennedy on a Patient’s Bill of Rights and continually says that he fears Bush’s tax cut tilts too much toward the rich.
"What do you think John McCain really wants," a Bush strategist asked over lunch last February. It is clear the Bush crowd sees him as their greatest political threat and believes he may well challenge him again in 2004.
McCain has said straight out that he's finished with presidential politics, adding "you can’t catch lightning in a bottle twice." Aides say that his latest melanoma scare has caused him to reflect on how short life can be and that, at the age of 64, he’s pretty much put the presidency out of reach. Nonetheless, the prospect is tantalizing and the chatter continues.
Whatever his future, McCain has emerged as an extremely important political figure. He continues to enjoy phenomenal popularity with the media and is a very shaky member of the Republican caucus in a 50-50 Senate. One McCain aide said he will vote with the Republicans on procedural votes but "substantive amendments will be decided on a case by case basis."
Severayears ago, as they were looking at portraits of former Senate Commerce Committee chairs, McCain told CBS News Correspondent Eric Engberg that the main thing he wanted was "not to go down in history as just another senator whose name nobody remembers." That may be exactly what John McCain wants and how the Bushies come to terms with it may determine whether Bush goes down as just another president.
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