Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] interesting Indiana Primary point

[Mike Miller <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

On Wed, 7 May 2008, Vern Green wrote:

> ok, I concede that, but this is not equivalent to him saying he will not 
> run, or even whether he might not run. I take this as him saying that he 
> will evaluate where he is when it is time to make that decision. Is it 
> automatically assumed that a first term President would run for a second 
> term. I think we all hope they will if they are our candidate, but since 
> McCain is a republican, I can see why democrats would want to spin his 
> words into "He might not run for a second term"

That's not spinning his words, that is exactly his point.  That is what he 
is saying.  He might not run in 2012 if he wins in 2008.  It is a very 
unusual thing to say, so I take it seriously.  Here's how I'll spin it: 
He plans not to run in 2012 if he wins in 2008.  That's what I think, but 
that is only my personal inference.  He is quite definitely leaving his 
options open which means that he *might not* run in 2012 if he wins in 
2008.  It's very plain.


> From further in the article you posted:
>
> "My health is good, my campaign schedule is heavier than anybody else's, 
> and I've said many times I can out-campaign anybody," McCain said. "I 
> think the decision as to whether to run for reelection has to do with 
> the circumstances at the time. I really do. You shouldn't run for eight 
> years, because then you think you've got eight years to get these things 
> done."
>
> I think this statement sheds a slightly different light on whether he 
> would run in 2012 than the point you were trying to make before.

Is he the first ever to say that?  Probably at least in my lifetime.  Why 
is he saying it?  Think it through.  He must be saying it for a reason.

Mike



> No, he did say something about this when he was campaigning in New 
> Hampshire:
>
> http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/03/addressing_age_issue_mccain_says_he_may_seek_only_one_term/
>
>  John McCain is 71 years old, but the issue of his age comes up only
>  occasionally on the campaign trail. So it was striking when at Pembroke
>  Academy yesterday, a woman asked whether McCain had the stamina to serve
>  as president for eight years.
>
>  McCain responded by leaving open the possibility that, if he is elected,
>  he might not seek reelection. "If I said I was running for eight years,
>  I'm not sure that would be a vote-getter," McCain said.
>
>  Asked in a press conference to elaborate, McCain said that every
>  president evaluates his progress after two or three years and that he
>  would be no different.
>
> He isn't saying that he won't run in 2012, but he is saying that he might not run in 2012 (depending on his self-evaluation of his progress after 2-3 years of a first term, if he has
> one).
>
> Mike
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