Politics

McCain Staying Put

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

June 2, 2001 / 12:49 PM EDT / CBS

The political atmosphere in Washington is now so unstable that when the new Majority Leader of the Senate, Tom Daschle, spends the weekend with Republican Maverick and George Bush nemesis John McCain, no one believes it is a simple social call, reports CBS News Correspondent Eric Engberg.

In the aftermath of the Jeffords Thunderbolt -- which turned the Senate over to the Democrats -- the McCain-Daschle Summit had enough of a feel of another shoe dropping that the Washington Post saw it as the start to a McCain third-party movement to challenge President Bush in 2004.

Due to Vermont Sen. James Jeffords' defection from the GOP, Daschle is replacing Republican Trent Lott as majority leader this coming week as Democrats take control of the Senate for the first time since 1994.

McCain attempted to cool switch-of-party speculation with a statement that said: "I have no intention of running for president, nor do I have any intention of or cause to leave the Republican Party."

But the talk of a split is being actively fueled by some McCain allies, and is not likely to dissipate.

There is a history of bitterness. McCain complained during the nastly South Carolina primary that Bush forces were smearing him in semi-anonymous phone calls.

"He (Bush) comes from a better family. He knows better than this and he should stop it," McCain complained.

The feud has continued between McCain and Bush staffers with charges of back-stabbing and claims - denied by the White House - that McCain contributors are being "red flagged" when applying for political jobs.

What all the talk about McCain considering a Jeffords-style bolt has done is gotten the White House's attention and strengthened McCain's hand on the issues he's pushing, such as campaign finance reform. Which may been exactly what McCain has in mind.

The meeting with Daschle at McCain's Arizona ranch comes a week after the Arizona senator chastised GOP leaders for being too rigid and immature. But a spokeswoman said the gathering is a "purely social visit" arranged months ago.

"There will be no policy discussion," said Nancy Ives, McCain's spokeswoman.

"Bipartisan friendships are not as rare in Washington as some would believe," she said. "No one should read anything more into this. Senator McCain and Senator Daschle have known each other since 1983."

Jeffords stunned the Bush administration and the GOP when he announced last month that he was becoming an independent but would side with Democrats on organizational issues.

His move in a 50-50 Senate, where Republicans held control only because Vice President Dick Cheney could break ties, switched control of the Senate from one party to another for the first time outside an election.

Daschle has said he also had approached McCain in the last several weeks about leaving the GOP. McCain said through a spokesman last week that he will remain a Republican.

But McCain, who ran against Bush in the GP primaries last year and was one of only two Republicans in Congress to vote against his tax cut, used Jeffords' defection to lash out against the White House and party leaders.

"It is well past time for the Republican Party to grow up," McCain said. "If you're going to threaten retaliation, revenge and punishment to people because they don't vote exactly how you want them to, you're going to pay a price."

McCain also has sided with Democrats on patients' rights and other issues and, with sweeping support from them, succeeded earlier this year in pushing a campaign finance bill through the Senate over objections from Bush and GOP leaders.