Kerry's actual vote

[Keystone Phil]

Remember how Kerry and McCain are good friends? Remember how Kerry's number one choice for a running mate was McCain? My question:

Would John Kerry, thoughly publicly endorsing the nominee of his party, actually vote for John McCain over Hillary or Edwards?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

No, because none of those claims were real, and was just election positioning. Anyone who honestly believes Kerry seriously considered McCain for his running mate should ask me about some nice warm property with tons of palm trees in Minnesota I'm interested in selling.

[Keystone Phil]

No, because none of those claims were real, and was just election positioning. Anyone who honestly believes Kerry seriously considered McCain for his running mate should ask me about some nice warm property with tons of palm trees in Minnesota I'm interested in selling.

Ok but even if that's the case, do you think he would vote for McCain, a good friend of his, over Edwards and Hillary especially after hearing his relationship with Edwards went down hill?

[Smash255]

No, I generally agree with BRTD on this in regards to it was never anything seriously thought about  Also McCain has changed quite a bit since the 04 elections and has lost basically all of his Independent and Maverick streak he was prior which is what made the talk about the VP slot possible,and gave him some appeal to Democrats in the 1st place.

[Person Man]

No, I generally agree with BRTD on this in regards to it was never anything seriously thought about  Also McCain has changed quite a bit since the 04 elections and has lost basically all of his Independent and Maverick streak he was prior which is what made the talk about the VP slot possible,and gave him some appeal to Democrats in the 1st place.

...yeah.

[Smash255]

No, because none of those claims were real, and was just election positioning. Anyone who honestly believes Kerry seriously considered McCain for his running mate should ask me about some nice warm property with tons of palm trees in Minnesota I'm interested in selling.

Ok but even if that's the case, do you think he would vote for McCain, a good friend of his, over Edwards and Hillary especially after hearing his relationship with Edwards went down hill?

You can really like one person, strongly dislike another, but still think the person you strongly dislike would make a better President.  Fact of the matter is ideology wise Kerry is MUCH closer to Edwards than he is to McCain, especially with McCain turning about as far away from Maverick as possible and basically turning into your establishment Republican.

[Joe Republic]

You could ask the same question about who McCain voted for in 2004.

[Smash255]

You could ask the same question about who McCain voted for in 2004.

True and likely at the time the rift between McCain and Bush was far greater than any rift between Kerry & Edwards, due to the lingering effects of the South Carolina Republican Primary attacks in 2000.

[Keystone Phil]

No, because none of those claims were real, and was just election positioning. Anyone who honestly believes Kerry seriously considered McCain for his running mate should ask me about some nice warm property with tons of palm trees in Minnesota I'm interested in selling.

Ok but even if that's the case, do you think he would vote for McCain, a good friend of his, over Edwards and Hillary especially after hearing his relationship with Edwards went down hill?

You can really like one person, strongly dislike another, but still think the person you strongly dislike would make a better President.  Fact of the matter is ideology wise Kerry is MUCH closer to Edwards than he is to McCain, especially with McCain turning about as far away from Maverick as possible and basically turning into your establishment Republican.

Sure his ideology is much closer to the others but he seems to have a serious distaste for the guy. A lot of politics, whether we choose to see it or not, is about personal relationships, folks.

You could ask the same question about who McCain voted for in 2004.

Exactly but as I said to someone else who mentioned that, that's another question for another time. 

[defe07]

Hey Keystone Phil, is the freedom fighter in your signature Luca Toni or not?

[Smash255]

No, because none of those claims were real, and was just election positioning. Anyone who honestly believes Kerry seriously considered McCain for his running mate should ask me about some nice warm property with tons of palm trees in Minnesota I'm interested in selling.

Ok but even if that's the case, do you think he would vote for McCain, a good friend of his, over Edwards and Hillary especially after hearing his relationship with Edwards went down hill?

You can really like one person, strongly dislike another, but still think the person you strongly dislike would make a better President.  Fact of the matter is ideology wise Kerry is MUCH closer to Edwards than he is to McCain, especially with McCain turning about as far away from Maverick as possible and basically turning into your establishment Republican.

Sure his ideology is much closer to the others but he seems to have a serious distaste for the guy. A lot of politics, whether we choose to see it or not, is about personal relationships, folks.

I wouldn't go as far as to say a serious distaste.   Its not exactly on the McCain-Bush level by any stretch of the imagination.  Personal relationships may trump some ideological differences, but not to the point the differences we are talking about here.  This isn't the same Maverick McCain we have seen in the past, this is Mr establishment now.  Also Kerry has made an end to the war in Iraq and stopping anything happening in Iran his biggest priorities, while mcCain pushed for expansion in Iraq, wants to be there for many years to come, and perhaps an escalation with the situation in Iran, while Edwards is basically, while Edwards's position on Iraq & Iran is basically the same as Kerry's. 

When it comes down to it most people aren't going to vote for someone so different on an ideology level, especially on the issues of most importance to them even if they really like the person.   How many hardcore social liberals do you think would vote for Huckabee even if they really liked him as a person over a social liberal they disliked personally?

[angus]

Would John Kerry, thoughly publicly endorsing the nominee of his party, actually vote for John McCain over Hillary or Edwards?

I often wonder how politicians vote as well.  Presumably, they almost always vote for themselves, if they're on the ballot and are allowed to vote (i.e., not a convicted felon in a state in which convicted felons can't vote but can run for office.)  But do they vote for whom they endorse?  Presumably the endorsements are made of political expediency.  But how you vote is a secret.  Does Joe Lieberman vote for John Edwards if Edwards becomes the nominee?  Does Mitt Romney vote for Mike Huckabee if Huckabee becomes the nominee?  Does Bill Clinton vote for Hillary Clinton?  Did Bush's two daughters, whose lives would be easier if they weren't daughters of a sitting US President, vote for their father in 2004?  Will Michelle Obama, who in the early stages made no secret of the fact that she did not want to be First Lady, vote for Barrack Obama? 

Obviously we'll never know unless they decide to tell us at some future date.  In Kerry's case, I don't think he's worried about Clinton losing his state if he votes for McCain, so he's free to strategically endorse her publicly, perhaps in the hope of getting an Ambassadorship, but doesn't have to worry about strategic voting in private.

[Reaganfan]

George McGovern said after President Ford died in 2006, that he voted for Ford in 1976.

[TomC]

What a dumb question. While I'm sure he likes McCain, the whole running mate thing was an attempt to draw upon McCain's independent voters who might have a distaste for the more conservative Bush. John Kerry will vote for the more liberal candidate, which is surely not McCain.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Politicians are intensely high-information voters, and more so than any other partisan subgroup, politicians are likely to buck partisan inclinations when behind closed curtain.  Especially when you consider that there are personal friendships involved.

I'd guess that there's a decent enough chance Kerry would vote for McCain.  He'd never be able to admit it, of course.

[angus]

No doubt his wife, a lifelong republican till her husband ran for US President in 2004, will probably vote for McCain or Romney--whether she would vote for Democrat-lite Mike Huckabee is another matter.  But husbands and wives do influence one another's voting preferences, as most couples will admit.

I think it's a profound question, but one which will never be answered.

[JSojourner]

No, because none of those claims were real, and was just election positioning. Anyone who honestly believes Kerry seriously considered McCain for his running mate should ask me about some nice warm property with tons of palm trees in Minnesota I'm interested in selling.

Kerry and McCain are very close personal friends.

But so are Orrin Hatch and Ted Kennedy.

They won't run together.  Ever.

The closest you MIGHT see is a President McCain appointed Kerry to a cabinet position as Secretary for Veterans' Affairs.  But even then, I would expect that slot to go to Tom Ridge.

These political types understand that and accept it.  There will never been a McCain-Kerry ticket, just as there was never a chance for a Kerry-McCain ticket.

[Keystone Phil]

Hey Keystone Phil, is the freedom fighter in your signature Luca Toni or not?

Yes it most certainly is. 

Politicians are intensely high-information voters, and more so than any other partisan subgroup, politicians are likely to buck partisan inclinations when behind closed curtain.  Especially when you consider that there are personal friendships involved.

I'd guess that there's a decent enough chance Kerry would vote for McCain.  He'd never be able to admit it, of course.

Thank you. Some people are so naive to think that those higher up vote more on ideology than anyone else.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Politicians are intensely high-information voters, and more so than any other partisan subgroup, politicians are likely to buck partisan inclinations when behind closed curtain.  Especially when you consider that there are personal friendships involved.

I'd guess that there's a decent enough chance Kerry would vote for McCain.  He'd never be able to admit it, of course.

not that it would matter, given that he lives in MA.

Also, I must say I wonder whether McCain voted for Bush in 2000. Something tells me he probably didn't.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Politicians are intensely high-information voters, and more so than any other partisan subgroup, politicians are likely to buck partisan inclinations when behind closed curtain.  Especially when you consider that there are personal friendships involved.

I'd guess that there's a decent enough chance Kerry would vote for McCain.  He'd never be able to admit it, of course.

not that it would matter, given that he lives in MA.

Also, I must say I wonder whether McCain voted for Bush in 2000. Something tells me he probably didn't.

Well, if you want to look at it that way, than nobody's vote matters so long as the margin of victory is greater than 1.

[perdedor]

No, I generally agree with BRTD on this in regards to it was never anything seriously thought about  Also McCain has changed quite a bit since the 04 elections and has lost basically all of his Independent and Maverick streak he was prior which is what made the talk about the VP slot possible,and gave him some appeal to Democrats in the 1st place.

Pretty much. John McCain has turned into a Bush-puppet of a war mongering hack. Rather different than Kerry, who doesn't know what he believes about Iraq.