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Arianna: McCain Told Me He Didn't Vote for Bush in 2000

May 05, 2008 6:38 PM

Arianna Huffington writes that Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told her several years ago that he didn't vote for George W. Bush for president in 2000.

"Not true," says a McCain aide. "Consider the source."

Arianna's story: "At a dinner party in Los Angeles not long after the 2000 election, I was talking to a man and his wife, both prominent Republicans. The conversation soon turned to the new president. 'I didn't vote for George Bush' the man confessed. 'I didn't either,' his wife added. Their names: John and Cindy McCain (Cindy told me she had cast a write-in vote for her husband).

"The fact that this man was so angry at what George Bush had done to him, and at what Bush represented for their party, that he did not even vote for him in 2000 shows just how far he has fallen since then in his hunger for the presidency. By abandoning his core principles and embracing Bush -- both literally and metaphorically -- he has morphed into an older and crankier version of the man he couldn't stomach voting for in 2000."

Whom do you believe?

- jpt

May 5, 2008 in Weblogs | Permalink | Share | User Comments (69)

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I won't vote for him or any other Democrat either.

Posted by: mike | May 7, 2008 2:42:48 PM

When was the "dinner party", where was it held, and was McCain there?

Was McCain in Los Angeles at all in November or December 2000? That at least should be verified before spreading the rumor.

Posted by: tioedong | May 6, 2008 6:53:14 PM

Arianna is a former Republican windbag and now she changed; she's a liberal "something" windbag.

Posted by: irma | May 6, 2008 3:14:52 PM

Many say that, "they wouldn't believe a word that comes from Arianna". Well, I'd believe the words over McCains word ANYDAY! At least she tell it as she see's it. He tells it as dreams it.

Posted by: OU2IC | May 6, 2008 12:25:58 PM

Ariana's problem with the republican party is subliminal.....that she subconsiously associates her sham marraige and shame that comes from tying the knot with a gay man during her tenure as a republican. Any life-altering circumstance such as hers is bound to form the foundation for insanity. She naturally gravitates toward fabrications today as her previous 'reality' as a republican was really 'fiction' in her consious mind. Now she does herself a disservice by 'projecting' her insanity on the Internet and attempting to inflict damage on the one, true consistant theme in her prior life, conservatism. Kind of like the daughter who is given everything by her parents as a child but then goes on to fail as an adult, only to find fault with her parents' style of upbringing. Nothing to do with her own personal choices, mind you. /s

Posted by: Alex in DC | May 6, 2008 11:33:06 AM

Arianna is a joke whose 15 minutes of fame are up.

Posted by: HoosierSue | May 6, 2008 10:16:06 AM

Coming from Arianna Huffington this means....Absolutely nothing! Having said that, this won't prevent the Liberal media from using this as a 'story' as evidenced by this article...Also, John Kerry's offering of the VP slot to McCain in '04 and McCain actually considering it will resurface during this election year as well...This is what happens to people like McCain - who are dependent on the media to create them - they are then destroyed by the same promiscuous Media...McCain was dumped for Obama - plain and simple...Knowing the variables of McCain and the Media - seems like a fair deal to me - Live with it, Senator!

Posted by: Jacob Ezekial | May 6, 2008 8:26:24 AM

I Wouldn’t believe anything Hufington has to say. She has no credibility

Posted by: HEA | May 6, 2008 7:11:42 AM

I am not sure if I believe it or not, but that is not really the point. While I am not a fan of John McCain, his vote is his private business and none of mine or anyone else's.

Posted by: Brian, Decatur, GA | May 6, 2008 6:54:43 AM

His vote is private & isn't anyone's business.

Posted by: ellsbells930 | May 6, 2008 6:25:25 AM

I'm no fan of McCain but I wouldn't believe a word that comes from Ariana Huffington.

Posted by: jb | May 6, 2008 4:37:21 AM

Seriously, as much as i'm against Mccain.. you can't trust that thing called arianna huffington.. she just comes out as a blatant propagandist most of the time with no objectivity or honesty!

Posted by: BonoX | May 6, 2008 2:33:59 AM

I believe it, and is really the basis why I wouldn't vote for him. I liked McCain in 2000, but then he prostituted himself and became G.W.'s lap dog to get ahead.

Posted by: gator | May 6, 2008 2:24:50 AM

Still voting for Ron Paul. Not going to compromise for any of these remaining puppets. They are all the same candidate, just different marketing. May as well be a monarchy if Clinton gets in between the Bushes and Clintons. Here's how I see things going. 1988 BUSH - 1992 Clinton, 2000 Bush Jr., 2008 The Hillary, 2012 or 2016 Jeb Bush, 2020 or 2024 Chelsy... The only reason I could see voting for McCain or Obama would be to break this never ending cycle of two families controlling everything.

Posted by: aboe | May 6, 2008 1:56:58 AM

So how exactly does it help McCain's Presidential quest to embrace one of the least popular presidents of all time? His support of the war in Iraq was not based on his love of President Bush but on doing what he thought was right based on the knowledge we all had at the time. I think it's great that he didn't vote for Bush in 2000 and I think he should admit it proudly. It's got to be really tough to run as a Republican beacuse there are so few of them that you can't risk losing any of their votes so you have to keep them in your back pocket while courting disaffected and moderate Democrats, Independents and Hispanics who won't vote for Obama but may very well vote for Hillary. You've got to twist yourself into as much of a pretzel as my previous sentence. Good night and good luck.

Posted by: Diane | May 6, 2008 1:40:50 AM

Wow, this is some smoking gun [sic] that Arianna Huffington has come up with. That John McCain, according to her recollection of a party after November 2000, did not vote for George Bush. Considering the events that took place affecting Mr. McCain it is completely understandable. This of course is subject to the validity of Ms. Huffington’s recollection and in light of her grasp of reality and tendency to fabricate “facts” on the Huffington Post it is questionable.

This of course is a vehicle for her piece on this account which leads to a conclusion using faulty logic leading to the expected conclusion of hers that “voting for McCain is a bad thing.” I’m sure she would use those very exact words.

Other than for the committed Huffingtonites and Democratites, this is a highly irrelevant issue since it doesn’t take into account whom he might have voted for in 2004.

Consider the source and please, keep trying Miss Stassinopoulos, you and your followers are rather entertaining when you get desperate.

Posted by: Huffingtons Drivel | May 6, 2008 1:30:40 AM

If Hillary doesnt win the nomination -and we all know she wont - then Im writing her name in on th ballot in November.

Posted by: tomdavie | May 6, 2008 1:04:18 AM

nice, jake. i agree with previous poster -- either way it looks bad for mccain. finally, let's see some pressure put on him.

Posted by: forthebirds | May 6, 2008 12:21:54 AM

Who cares I dont? It was eight years ago.

Posted by: Christopher | May 5, 2008 11:50:52 PM

McCain - Clinton 2008 (Hillary makes the ghost of her father happy by being Republican again)

Posted by: Oscar Meyer | May 5, 2008 11:33:23 PM

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