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COLUMNISTS
TODAY'S STORIES
23.06.2008
McCain and Grover Now Officially Simpatico

Jonathan Martin flags an interesting tidbit from the new Fortune article on McCain:

Anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), who has sharply criticized McCain in the past, says now, "I'm happy." Norquist still can't get McCain to sign ATR's no-new-taxes pledge, but he has the next best thing: video of the candidate promising as much on national television, three times. "With the campaign's approval," says Norquist, "we took those three YouTube videos and sent them to everybody and their brother on the planet." Now when Norquist convenes his weekly Wednesday strategy meeting at ATR headquarters in Washington, there's always a McCain campaign representative at the table. Apparently all is forgiven. "He was just voting against Bush in general" is how Norquist explains McCain's reversal. "I think it was pique."

For those keeping score, my former colleague Ryan Lizza was among the first to pick up on the McCain-Grover rapprochement with this sharp piece back in 2006 (sadly not online thanks to our chronic archive situation):

[C]onnoisseurs of political enmity have savored the relationship between John McCain and his nemesis, the lobbyist Grover Norquist. A Hollywood-perfect hero/villain pairing, the two men have spewed bile at each other for almost a decade, ever since McCain began touting campaign finance reform, a crusade Norquist abhors. But what began as a policy spat has grown intensely personal. Norquist has regularly denounced McCain as a fraud, a flip-flopper, and, on one occasion, a nut job. The McCain camp, in turn, has condemned Norquist as corrupt, a shill for dictators, and (with just a dose of sarcasm) Jack Abramoff's gay lover. In a Washington devoid of grand political duels, the mutual hatred of McCain and Norquist has always been refreshing.

And now it's in danger of being snuffed out. McCain is as famous for forgiving his enemies--the North Vietnamese, George W. Bush--as he is for collecting them. And, lately, as he prepares to run for president, he's been on a tear, reconciling with many of the same characters who derailed his last run for the White House. Indeed, he's in such a forgiving mood that his surrogates are said to have approached Norquist to broker a truce. To be sure, some in the McCain camp deny it--"not true," insists his top operative, John Weaver. But, these days, you can't even get a McCainiac to bash Norquist. The official position on their feud is, What feud? "I don't know that the senator could pick him out of a lineup," Weaver says of Norquist.

I'll post a link if one mysteriously bubbles up from our web operation.

Update: Here's the link.

--Noam Scheiber

Posted: Monday, June 23, 2008 5:47 PM with 6 comment(s)

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ackyri said:

Not at all surprising. For all the worry/hope that the thought of GOP leaders abandoning McCain inspires, it's just not going to pan out that way. Party discipline has always been that party's main strength. If we had a candidate that discomforts the left as McCain does the right, you can bet your ass there would be massive Democratic defection to a liberal third party candidate - or at least to the couch on election day. (Just ask Joe Lieberman and Ned Lamont.) But no matter how much griping the likes of Norquist and Coulter engage in over McCain's perceived apostasies, the right will still be united behind McCain come November, and clearly that process has already started.

These people would back Lucifer himself so long as he had the right letter next to his name. (And I suppose he's already got the right color too.)

June 23, 2008 6:59 PM

Rhubarbs said:

Hey, where's commenter tepluk ... er, tep, to tell us that if government-respecting independents think McCain is one of them, and anti-government radicals like Grover Norquist think McCain is one of them, then McCain is trying to be all things to all people, and what does McCain really believe? Any candidate who appeals to broadly different groups with occasionally differing priorities is, ipso facto, a fake and a poseur lacking in real substance or concrete policy proposals, right?

June 23, 2008 9:37 PM

The Plank said:

John McCain cares so little about ideology, public policy, or the common good that he shifts his stands

June 24, 2008 10:36 AM

The Plank said:

Noam and Chris have both taken note of the Fortune article in which Grover Norquist expresses his satisfaction

June 24, 2008 12:57 PM

jemerk said:

He did that straight talk stuff - 24/7 access to the media mucketymucks (with donuts) and got a sweet profile - now he wants to win - say anything do anything.  Unfortunately for him his party and his president have so fouled the water its not likely anything will work.

June 24, 2008 3:31 PM

rmorr1 said:

Here's a thought:

Why is McCain promising everything to everybody? Because he knows that Democratic control of both the House and Senate is very likely. That, in turn, means that any ideological, etc. promises he makes will be impossible to keep, and will therefore be meaningless after Election Day.  If Grover Norquist comes complaining, all that JM has to do is refer him to Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi. McCain will "have" to compromise with the Democrats and find some middle way, or accomplish nothing . . . .which is probably what he had in mind all along . . .

Does this make sense?

June 24, 2008 10:13 PM