There was bad blood between Bush and McCain in 2000. Though McCain's politics weren' t exactly mine, I was inspired by his campaign and I became a supporter. I vividly remember being outraged over the dirty tactics used against McCain in the South Carolina primary. I wouldn't be surprised if McCain did not vote for Bush in the gerneral election that year.

MCCAIN: I enjoyed it. I campaigned with him. I did everything I could to get him elected and reelected president.

Um...the thanks of a grateful nation?  

Is this the same Arianna Huffington who sent her illegal immigrant nanny packing when her disclosure threatened hubby's senate campaign?  Just asking.  

"O'REILLY: On her website yesterday, somebody blogged that you collaborated with the North Vietnamese, and they didn't torture you. This is Arianna Huffington. Now Arianna Huffington flat out said you did not vote for President Bush in 2000."

This is typical of the intellectual dishonesty and rank disinformation we've come to expect from O'Reilly and the Fox propaganda mill.  Some low-level blogger at the site repeats an anti-McCain slur first spread by Karl Rove in 2000.  O'Reilly then attempts to discredit Arianna by attributing the slur to her personally.

Nice try, Bill.  Too bad the Post and the Times are corroborating her account.

You should post the video from that one -- my wife and I both remarked on how uncomfortable McCain looked and sounded in discussing this issue with O'Reilly.  That desperate-sounding cackle in the "ridiculous question" line was especially striking.  Whatever was said between McCain and Arianna Huffington and her friends, this is clearly a subject that really brings up a lot of uncomfortable thoughts and emotions for McCain.

This one's gettin' silly.  The latest (in the online WashPost, I believe) has corroboration of the original claim coming from...wait for it...Bradley Whitford and Richard Schiff, ex- of "The West Wing."  (It's in the column/blog/whatever called "The Trail."

Crowley has the McCain/O'Reilly transcript where the senator denies voting against Bush in 2000 here

OK.  I'm gonna try and square the circle.  There are two John McCains.  There's the Straight Tak Express, the maverick, the cool guy who goes on The Daily Show, the McCain who got slimed by Rove in 2000 and voted against Bush that year.  Then there's the 2008 nominee McCain desperately trying to prove his conservative bona fides to the Base.  That guy voted for Bush in 2000.

Either that, or McCain was against Bush before he was for him.  Windsurfing, anyone?

Crowley, do you really find it hard to believe Arianna is lying?  The woman has no convictions or principles.  She is the most transparent opportunist alive.

Remember when she was the articulate spokesman for the Right?  Then, when she discovered there was no percentage in being a Rightist when you're now living in Hollywood and want desperately to be part of this town's social scene, she does the big turnaroo!

The woman is a major league charlatan.  Hillary-Arianna.  Now that would be a ticket!

Is this the same Arianna Huffington who a decade ago was the wife of a hard-right congressman? Is this the same Arianna who was involved in multiple plagiarism scandals? Is this the same Arianna Huffington who called into the KCRW political radio show 'Left, Right, and Center' from a friend's yacht off the Italian coast? Is this the same Arianna who bemoans global warming while living in a mansion and jetting across the country in a private jet?

I'm guessing it can't be, because that person would have absolutely zero credibility.

Zero credibility?  Sounds like her account is well-corroborated.

blogs.tnr.com/.../more-mccain-v-arianna.aspx

Channie, Peter - still not too late to join the reality-based community.

waynejm, I've been following Arianna's reality since I read her biography (hatchet job) on Picasso 25 years ago.  That's what put her on the map until she married a homosexual multi-millionaire.  And, after a decent interval, bailed with his money.

So, yeah, I'm well in touch with the reality that is the basis of the Arianna community.  I've even spent time with her at her home.  She's a charming, highly self-centered, charlatan.

Maybe, Channie, but that's not the question.  Even charlatans are right sometimes.  And on the McCain-Bush relationship, the evidence weighs in her favor.  If you want to credit McCain's current pronouncement, that's your prerogative.  But it seems here that he's doing a lot of running away from his past in an effort to reassure the Bush base that he isn't who they think he is.