That List Of "Democrats And Indys" Backing McCain? It's A Bit Of A Sham.
This is a fun one. A few days ago, the McCain campaign proudly released a list of "prominent Democrats and Independents" supporting his candidacy. The idea was to appeal to disgruntled Hillary supporters and others by sending a message that it's okay to be a Dem and not support Barack Obama.
But there's only one problem: The list is a bit of a sham. A look at some of these "Democrats and independents" shows that it's a stretch to tout their support for the Republican as anything at all unusual.
Some of the "Democrats" and "Independents" on the list already have often supported Republicans in the past, suggesting that there's little if any meaning to their support for McCain over Obama. And others have a history of hostility towards the Democratic Party that makes it difficult, if not impossible, to take them seriously as genuine cross-over supporters.
Take a look at our rundown after the jump.
The McCain campaign's list of Democrats and independents supporting him includes:
• Bill Veroneau, former mayor of Concord, New Hampshire. The mayor's office there is non-partisan, and Veroneau himself originally endorsed Republican Mitt Romney for president. Shortly before the primary, he wrote a letter to the editor at the Concord Monitor that started off with this sentence: "Gov. Romney is a good man who is thoroughly honest and transparent about his views and beliefs."
• Former state Rep. Steve Wenzel of Minnesota. It turns out that he has also had a long history of friendliness to Republicans. In late 2002 he served on the transition team of Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who's apparently on McCain's Veep short list. And Wenzel is actually a Bush Administration appointee in the Department of Agriculture, a position he was given back in 2001.
• Former Massachusetts state Rep. Brian Golden. This "Democrat" is a conservative, and he's probably only a Dem because Massachusetts is a one-party state. It's likely that he'd be a Republican in any other state -- he endorsed President Bush in both 2000 and 2004. In 2004, he told National Review that the Democratic Party has to do "some soul-searching about its more extreme positions."
• Former Rhode Island state Senate majority leader David Carlin. Like Golden, he's a Democrat and conservative who has thrived in a one-party state. Carlin is a religious-right conservative, and to describe him as a Dem is quite a reach: A little over a year ago, he published a book called Can a Catholic Be a Democrat? How the Party I Loved Became the Enemy of My Religion.
• Clyde Hawes, a county-level official in Missouri. A nominal Democrat, Hawes has been a longtime supporter of the local GOP Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson and her late husband Bill Emerson, who held the seat before she did. In 1996, he bluntly told the St. Louis Dispatch, "I'm for anyone who's conservative" -- not exactly the words of a conventional Democrat.
• Perhaps the biggest stretch of all on the list is "former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Philip Frye." It's true that Frye did indeed seek the Democratic nomination for governor in 2004. But it's less than surprising that he is opposing a Democrat now.
Here's why he ran in the first place: Dem Gov. Bob Wise had been damaged after having been caught having an affair with Frye's wife. (When Wise withdrew from the race, Frye's star faded and he received less than one-percent of the vote.) To top it all off, Frye actually attacked Wise as a "typical Democrat" for having had an affair, so clearly he's hardly a Dem in any meaningful sense.
Greg, you are on a roll sir! I now officially have your back, if you ever need a fellow journalist mercilessly throat-chopped - let me know.. lol
June 17, 2008 2:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Indeed.
Well done!
June 17, 2008 11:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
I love this work!
June 17, 2008 2:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Now this IS the kind of investigative journalism that I've missed!
June 17, 2008 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
yeah this is really funny
http://sensico.wordpress.com/
June 17, 2008 2:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Most excellent. TDS or Colbert would be totally mashugana to pass this up. With material like this, they should put McCain on staff.
June 17, 2008 11:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't forget about Bender B. Rodriquez, yet another GOPer in Dem's clothing. I guess he got dropped from the list because of his propensity to shoplift.
June 17, 2008 2:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
And don't forget Frye's nephew, Hubert J. Farnsworth. Can't believe they left him off - he'd make McCain look young by comparison.
June 17, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Cha-ching!
June 17, 2008 5:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bender can't vote. He's a convicted felon.
June 17, 2008 5:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
From McGoo's list...
Elected National Delegate for Senator Hillary Clinton Debra Bartoshevich (Wisconsin)
Even overlooking the fact that Deadend Debra has been stripped of her delegate status, McGoo is really grasping at straws here.
June 17, 2008 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
A phrase we all should get used to seeing appended to anything having to do with McCain.
June 17, 2008 2:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sweet List there Greg! When researching this post, tell us were you laughing some at this list?
June 17, 2008 2:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey McGoo, you forgot Harriet Christian!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KACQuZVAE3s
June 17, 2008 2:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is it just me or does The McCain campaign have sort of a "Keystone Cops" feel to it?
June 17, 2008 3:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
The list has a former county sheriff on it. 'Nuff said.
June 17, 2008 3:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Does McCain's list really mean that Zell Miller refuses to endorse him? Is it because McCain is not joined closely enough to Bush? In any case this is BIG news. What about Christopher Hitchens...is he also withholding a McCain endorsement. More seriously here in Minnesota, Tim Penny is a former DFL congressman; but he has run for Governor on the Independence Party ticket in 2002 and has not been a Dem in a decade. Here is what Wikipedia says about former Dem Sandy Keith: "though he claims to be a Democrat, he currently serves on the board for the conservative Though he claims to be a Democrat, he currently serves on the board for the conservative Center of the American Experiment, and is outspoken in his endorsement of Republican candidates and policies." The Center for the American Experiment is more accurately described as a local far-right "think-tank" providing payment and platform to an assortment of right wing clowns and self-anointed pundits. Here is a lead for McCain and Co: Randy Kelly former DFL mayor endorsed Bush in 2004; he might sign; he was defeated in a landslide right after his odious endorsement of odious Bush.
June 17, 2008 3:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Philip Frye? Oh, how I hope his middle initial is "J." . . .
June 17, 2008 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Haha nice. He'll have a lucky four 7 leaf clover.
June 17, 2008 8:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
What about a list of Republicans supporting Obama?
June 17, 2008 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hmmmm. Let's start with Susan Eisenhower. And Julie Nixon. And Lillibet Hagel. And Frances Fukuyama. And Doug Kmiec.
That's a start.
June 17, 2008 3:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lawrence A. Hunter (who helped write the economics passages of Contract With America), Andrew Sullivan, Jeffrey Hart (National Review Senior Editor)...
June 17, 2008 3:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
That list is just as lame as the Democrats backing McCain. Who, who, who, who and who???? I going to have to 'a google' these folks and get back to you.
June 17, 2008 3:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Frances Fukuyama is the godfather of neoconservativism. He is very well known on the right.
Doug Kmiec is a staunch social conservative, and also very known on the right and in religious circles.
Jeffrey Hart is the editor of the National Review, the premier conservative rag in this country.
The fact that you're a Republican and have no idea who these people are is an indication that your head has been in the sand on a great many things.
June 17, 2008 3:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you for relieving me of the need to reply.
June 17, 2008 3:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
15 Obamacans per Wikipedia. Big deal.
June 17, 2008 4:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
The difference is, the Obama camp isn't proudly mailing the list out to the media.
June 17, 2008 3:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
and my sisters Kathy and Betsy and Judy and *Lisa *maybe
June 18, 2008 11:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
Happy to oblige.
The New Republic
Mr. Right? The rise of the Obamacons
by Bruce Bartlett
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=46a816dc-f843-41ec-9fe4-fbeac17bcfca
June 17, 2008 4:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obamacans and Obama-ents:
Fmr. Sen. Lincoln Chafee (I-RI), (R-RI while in office)
Fmr. Sen. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. (I-CT), (R-CT, while in office)
Fmr. Rep. John B. Anderson (I-IL), (R-IL while in office)
Fmr. Rep. Pete McCloskey (D-CA) (R-CA while in office)
Fmr. Gov. Walter Joseph Hickel (I-AK)
Fmr. Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. (I-CT), (R-CT while in office)
Douglas Kmiec, legal counsel to Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and co-chairman of Romney's Committee for the Courts and the Constitution
Noel Koch, former Special Assistant to President Nixon; former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
Lawrence Korb, former Assistant Secretary of Defense
William H. Donaldson, former Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, appointed by George W. Bush
David Ruder, former Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, appointed by Ronald Reagan
June 17, 2008 4:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
LARRY KING: Do you have a favorite between the two, the two Democrats?
LAURA BUSH: My favorite is the Republican.
KING (pointing to Jenna): Yours too, I would imagine.
JENNA BUSH: I don't know.
KING: A-ha! Are you open to…
JENNA BUSH: Yeah, of course. I mean, who isn't open to learning about the candidates and I'm sure that everybody's like that.
So perhaps, Jenna Bush rings a bell for you?
June 17, 2008 10:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Greg, Bravo. You deserve our respect and admiration for this, on top of your earlier post concerning McCain's similarities to Bush... You really are on a roll. Again, bravo!
June 17, 2008 3:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
And water is wet.
June 17, 2008 3:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually water itself is not wet, it makes things wet.
June 17, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
dhmo.org
be informed!!!
June 17, 2008 3:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh my God! Why isn't this a bigger national issue? What is Obama's position??
After I read this, I had my urine tested out of an abundance of caution. Amazingly, my urine is contaminated with over 90% DHMO!! What can I do?? The doctor says I'm sweating the stuff out of my body, and it's even coming out of my tear ducts when I cry.
We live in a truly disgusting world.
June 17, 2008 4:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
my diet has been completely DHMO free ever since I've been informed. The good news: I've lost 50 lbs. The bad news: I was only 10 lbs overweight to start, and I think it might be a lot like caffeine in that I'm having some serious withdrawal headaches.
June 17, 2008 9:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not that this will make a lick of difference to the members of the Hillary deadender fringe.
June 17, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's what matters:
Did they generally support Democrats and vote with the Democratic causes?
If they did and they now support McCain then they crossed over.
Clever parsing is just a feelgood moment for a doomed campaign.
(No, I do not support McCain.)
June 17, 2008 3:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Clever parsing is just a feel good moment for a doomed campaign
What an appropriate epitaph for the McCain campaign.
June 17, 2008 3:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
If you'd actually read the post, you'd already know the answer is no.
June 17, 2008 3:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually the post impliess that there is rare, occasional and marginal support. If the majority of their actions lined up with Democrats and they now support McCain then they did cross over.
June 17, 2008 4:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
And you evidently don't support Hillary Clinton, either, if you're ignoring her concession speech call to her supporters to unite behind Obama.
June 17, 2008 4:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't march lockstep to any "authority" unlike many of the brownshirts here.
I support neither candidate. I'd recommend that to all Clinton supporters.
June 17, 2008 4:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
June 7, 2008
Hillary's Remarks in Washington, DC
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/speech/view/?id=7903
(Gee, I wonder who most Clinton supporters will listen to -- Hillary, or the blogger who used to have a photo of a black man with the caption "owned" as his avatar?)
June 17, 2008 4:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
"On election day, stay home and pout!"
The patriot's rallying cry indeed.
You inspire us all.
June 17, 2008 7:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
So you support the person, not the positions.
Quite primitive as a form of political support. It is hero worship instead of rational thought. A lot of people suffer that kind of emotional bonding with a leader. It is more frequent among conservatives, and it usually does not turn out well
June 17, 2008 11:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
It used to be that Democrats could be conservative and Republicans could be liberal. This article is written such that the very notion of a conservative being a Democrat is downplayed as a poor schmuck having nowhere else to go.
This isn't yellow journalism, but as reporting goes, its a little green.
June 17, 2008 3:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
It does no such thing. The three people for whom "conservative" is mentioned are ones who have made explicit statements against the Democratic Party or have consistently supported GOP candidates. There have been and are conservative Democrats, but it's fair to question the bona fides of any Democrat who appears to be in the party purely out of electoral convenience.
If you want to find a party that has gone over to ideological purity, look to the one that uses "liberal" as a swear word and includes no one who dares to call themselves a "liberal Republican" -- "moderate" is as far as you're allowed to go, and even that is considered daring.
June 17, 2008 4:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's not just McCain... His whole staff still haven't figured out how to use "a Google"
June 17, 2008 3:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Have y'all seen the front page of TPM? There's a button there that is going to be handed out at the Repug convention. It says:
If Obama is elected,
will we still call it the White House?
Ok, everyone who jumped my ass yesterday for saying the Repugs are the party of racists can apologize now.
The hell they aren't!
June 17, 2008 3:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is the second thread I've seen today where people were harrassing you for the same brand of truth-telling you always bring around here. I go out of town for a week and people start showing their asses. Coincidence?
Makes me wonder what else I might have missed...
June 17, 2008 4:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
The majority of blacks that voted for Obama are racists.
A substantial portion of men who voted for Obama are misogynists.
You are just self-loathing.
June 17, 2008 5:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
oh, generalities.....
June 17, 2008 5:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is this post the equivalent of the action movie where the doofusy villain is out of bullets and just throws the empty gun?
June 17, 2008 7:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain's campaign distorts and lies like the Bush Administration, cementing the truth of McSame.
June 17, 2008 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry - If Obama is President,
will we still call it the White House
June 17, 2008 3:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Amazingly heavy handed, isn't it?
June 17, 2008 3:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
You gave Philip "Icky" Frye way too much credit when you said his star "faded" after Gov. Bob Wise withdrew from the race. "Icky" was a part-time appliance repairman and wannabe musician who only ran in the Democratic primary to embarrass Wise and to attract attention to himself - his candidacy was considered a joke from the outset.
June 17, 2008 3:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is it just me or does The McCain campaign have sort of a "Keystone Cops" feel to it?
Hey your campaign would have a "Keystone Cops" feel to it too if you had to fire half your top campaign advisers because they lobby for dictators and corporations you supposedly have disagreements with.
June 17, 2008 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's not just that they had to fire so many lobbyists. It's also that the McCain campaign has been operating on financial fumes since August of 2007.
Lobbyists is all they could get. A lobbyist can work for McCain in hopes of getting more money later on because of connections made during the campaign. Competent people who aren't lobbyists need to get paid now. Now McCain gets neither.
June 17, 2008 11:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Greg, there seems to be some mistake here... you've just gone an entire post without mentioning Hillary Clinton.
but really, good post. we need to see more of this kind of journalism.
June 17, 2008 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bravo Greg. Here is another mole
Former Lt. Governor and State Supreme Court Justice Alexander "Sandy" Keith (Minnesota)
From Wikipedia
"Though he claims to be a Democrat, he currently serves on the board for the conservative Center of the American Experiment, and is outspoken in his endorsement of Republican candidates and policies."
June 17, 2008 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sham? Hardly.
If Clyde Hawes has thrown in with McCain, Obama's campaign is in real trouble. Should the rest of the Hawes clan (Billy Bub Hawes, Jimmy Ray Hawes, Earl "Hog" Hawes, and Jethro Bodine Hawes) follow suit, Obama is as good as finished.
June 17, 2008 3:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Mc Cain's list of Democrats reminds me of John Stewart's parody of Bush's "Coalition of the Willing" by stating Australia's contribution was "A guy with a boomerang."
June 17, 2008 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
crenelle it is indeed true that a very long time ago Democrats could be conservative and Republicans could be liberal.
In fact when JFK first ran for congress he called himself a "fighting conservative" and when Nixon first ran he called himself a "practical liberal".
These days unless they are established politicians with their own campaign organizations it's almost impossible for either to be contrarians.
June 17, 2008 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's why he ran in the first place: Dem Gov. Bob Wise had been damaged after having been caught having an affair with Frye's wife.
Oh that is just AWESOME! I wished more political cuckolds would do the same.
June 17, 2008 4:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great work Greg & Eric! I love this kind of stuff and we need to keep exposing these lies.
June 17, 2008 4:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Interesting that they're not bothering to call Joe Lieberman a Democrat.
June 17, 2008 4:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have to object:
MA only just elected it's first Democratic governor in ... I don't even remember how long.
Weld, Romney, Celluci, Swift - I think our last D governor was Mike Dukakis, right around his run for POTUS.
There are certainly Republicans in state and local government, and a few representing us in DC.
Point being - it's not a monolithically Democratic state even if it has that reputation.
June 17, 2008 4:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Kmiec writes a lot about faith. He's a staunch conservative columnist. Sullivan is another one that's meaningful to me. If Obama gets Powell's or Hagel's nod, that will be big too. But the list is good and not self-parodic, like McCain's. Just another indication we're doing well this cycle.
June 17, 2008 4:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Next up, McCain rallies with only selected loyal republicans in attendance, just like his mentors Bush & Cheney did on '00 and '04. Anybody with a dissenting comment or t-shirt will be ejected.
June 17, 2008 5:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
It is more of a "good riddance" list
June 17, 2008 5:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Kuddos to you sir for engaging in real investigative journalism! The GOP will try anything to raise McCain's support.
June 17, 2008 9:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
He, LIEberman, does call himself an "Independent Democrat", although most news stories I see lately show him simply as (I-CT). Faux news most likely shows that differently, but I don't watch them.
June 17, 2008 10:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's a writeup from a W. Virginia newspaper on the only W. Virginian on the list. Pretty funny.
June 18, 2008 12:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
I forgot Lowell Weicker endorsed Obama.
His hatred for Joe Lieberman is legendary; for a man who loves to be in the news I'm surprised he hasn't given a public and nasty criticism of Joe, even if he just criticized him for not doing his job.
If the Obama campaign has managed to shut up Lowell Weicker, though, it shows how good of a campaign it is.
June 18, 2008 12:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
You know, we heard Bob Dole lecture about McClellan betraying the “hand that feeds him.” Isn’t boosting about Democrats who left their party essentially the same thing?
================================================
Help get Research 4 an educational psychology class.
Take a survey.
Here’s the link: http://www.questionpro.com/akira/TakeSurvey?id=987700
June 18, 2008 2:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
I tend to think of them as Limbaugh Demopublicans
June 18, 2008 11:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
Frye is a stretch because he's opposing a Democrat now?
Interesting, because I can name two Democrats who were opposing each other, at least up until a few days ago. Can you? Does that make them non-Democrats?
June 18, 2008 11:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, here is a Republican for Obama and you do not need any research. I actually wrote in McCain's name the last two elections because of the Bush I knew so well in Texas and who was dull witted, dangerous and deceitful there also. However, my moral code would not allow me to vote for McCain this time because he has sold his soul to the Bush Junta. What a sad thing that is. So I shall gladly vote for Obama, give money, and work for his election. I do not expect to be listed in any news item however. That would not bother me but Obama has too much class.
June 18, 2008 3:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hate to nitpick about this, but please, please, can people begin to say "thriven" and "throve"? Why is this so hard? I know there are a lot of far more important things to be up in arms about, but it just bugs the hell out of me.
June 18, 2008 5:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
I would gently caution any of us from being in any way complacent about an Obama win. We were SO sure Kerry couldn't lose.
Don't forget vote fraud. I have a sneaking suspicion that the reason Dick Cheney is seen much about these days is because he's busy fixing voting machines.
June 18, 2008 5:29 PM | Reply | Permalink