McCain Almost Pledged To Only Serve One Term

Marc Ambinder:

When he formally announced his presidential candidacy last year, Sen. John McCain was inches away from making an unprecedented pledge: if he were elected, he would serve only one term as president.

It could have been an earth-shifting moment for the campaign and the primary. At the time, McCain's fundraising pace was falling well short of its target and Republicans were not treating McCain as the frontrunner.

The idea to serve one term had long been discussed among top advisers, and McCain was on board.

A one-term pledge was set to be the central thread of his presidential campaign, and Mark Salter, McCain's chief speechwriter, crafted an announcement speech around it.

Read the whole story: Marc Ambinder

Comments

[waltontynerross]

How about zero you mindless zombie?

[hopelessobama]

troops hit all time lows in casualties, and huffpost refuses to report it with the same excitement it showed for 4000 dead. way to go huff.

[hopelessobama]

just another example of mccain showing his desire to serve his nation, while obama is revealed as having nothing but selfish ambition at heart. mccain wants to serve america, obama only serves himself. barack obama, the american fidel castro!

[donballz]

Personally, him pledging to serve only one term would scare me even more. GWB's first term wasn't as bad cause he knew he had to watch what he did/said or risk not being re-elected. A one-term pledge guarantees us not only four more McYears but fours years without accountability of any kind.

[Heaphy]

I think that all Obama supporters and all Clinton supporters should pledge right now that McCain will serve ZERO terms. For that, we will need party unity. No gloating and no pouting, please.
- Jim Heaphy

[wm1066]

Thats a pledge I can make.

[PioneerKing]

Too bad the main stream media fell for the bait and switch with the medical records - if they had done their jobs and demanded that all records be released without conditions perhaps they would have found the reason McCain would pledge to run for only one term

[fourex]

Is he trying to get the Clintons support?

[incontempt]

Then he will accept no terms?...go home gramps you're lost.

[BluesDogLefty]

Dude, wait until you are president before start negotiating with the American people about how many terms you are gonna have. lol

It just reminds my of a joke my dad use to love to tell: "Hey, I am working on my second million"--of course, he was--because making the first million didn't work out.

[Grannysue]

Yup maybe that dog catcher's position is open and he can serve one term there, hopefully there will be many rabid dogs for him to chase!

[DennyCrane]

If this were true, Hillary would be thrilled. She could encourage her supporters to not vote for Obama, watch him lose, see McCain makes things worse for Americans, and then she could ride in claiming to be the one who could fix everything.

[ThirdSection]

Had he stuck with that pledge, his party wouldn't have gone with his nomination because the idea is to grab and hold the office. Plus, it's easier to get an incumbent reelected than it is to run a new candidate.

[ahsaki80]

Don't worry Sen. McCain. You won't be serving ANY terms(not in this lifetime, anyway).

After President Barack Obama knocks you of the electoral map in November, you can get a 10th home with Cindy in Texas and retire next to your old buddy Bush!

[hopelessobama]

hahhahahaha have you even looked at the state by state polls? obama is trailing every dem nominee since 1972 at this point in the race. the clinton machine was kids gloves. the RNC wont be pulling punches, and soon every white working class voter, hispanic, and older woman that stood with hillary will be standing with mccain. barack hussein, the new george mcgovern.

[findingthetruth]

McCain KNOWS that he'll need assistance with a 1st term. He simply refuses to inform his supporters.

[Susanfrom29]

Let him dream that he will be able to serve one term.