MCCAIN AND CHOICE
If he jumps, have no fear

I love McCain speculation. Now if I were a betting man, I'd say there's very little chance that he would jump over to the Democrats, and even less that he'd be Kerry's running mate. But I didn't say it was a real possibility. All I said was that it's fun!

Kos -- the target of some Grade-A mock outrage from the right lately -- has some thoughts on McCain:

Keep in mind that his voting record would immediately improve if he were to switch parties (party discipline, while not absolute, is still a powerful force. Especially since he still has to raise money as a Republican for his reelection fights). So it may be a bit unfair to hold him against his past record. I'd be more interested in where he would stand in the future on issues like choice and the war in Iraq (which he strongly supported).

Hmm... a guy in Washington who's been strongly anti-choice for a long time... hypothetically runs for nationwide elective office as a Democrat... and suddenly becomes pro-choice! Hey, it could happen!

Now now, my intent is not to take a shot at my boy Dennis. Especially since I'm playing him this quarter. My point is that if a portion of the Democratic party's left flank was willing to support a guy who only recently got religion on a woman's right to choose, after building up a substantial voting record against it, then I wouldn't worry about McCain if he entered Donkey Federation territory and his abortion stance changed for the better.

For a while, at least within my mind, I was pretty gung-ho about the possibility of a Kerry-Edwards ticket, as it would have the potential for 16 years of executive control for the Democrats. I'm now on the fence about that, but given calls from such people as Nancy Pelosi that Kerry pick a running mate by May 1st, I will further articulate my views on whom Kerry should choose soon...

My one-word review of a Kerry-McCain ticket? Spicy!!!