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2 YEARS LATER




THE US ARMY CONTINUES TO MAINTAIN ORDER IN IRAQ.

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SENATOR MCCAIN ANNOUNCES INTENTION TO SEEK THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION FOR THE UNITED STATES SENATE IN 2004.

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DEMOCRATS ALMOST CERTAIN TO NOMINATE MCCAIN.

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WEAK DEMOCRATIC FIELD FOR PRESIDENTIAL RACE RAISES QUESITONS OVER WHETHER OR NOT THEY CAN DEFEAT BUSH IN 2004.

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SENATOR MCCAIN SILENT ON WHETHER OR NOT HE WILL ENTER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL RACE.

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POLLING SHOWS MCCAIN IN THIRD PLACE BEHIND DEAN AND GEPHARDT.

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ARIZONA REPUBLICANS SEARCH FOR CANDIDATE TO UNSEAT MCCAIN.

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HOWARD DEAN SEEN BY MANY AS FRONTRUNNER FOR THE DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION.

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McCain 2004? Very, very interesting. However, I must express some doubts that the Democratic Party would even consider nominating McCain, who was a Republican only three years before. Still, I will be very impressed if you pull it off, which I'm sure you will.:D
 
CONGRESSMAN TRENT FRANKS ANNOUNCES CANDIDACY FOR REPUBLICAN NOMINATION FOR ARIZONA SENATE SEAT.

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PRESIDENT BUSH’S RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN UNDERWAY.

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NATIONAL POLLING SHOWS PRESIDENT BUSH BEATING OUT THE COMPETITION BY A LARGE MARGIN.

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TIME IS RUNNING OUT FOR POTENTIAL DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES. WHOEVER WANTS TO RUN NEEDS TO JUMP IN SOON.

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RUSSELL PEARCE JUMPS INTO REPUBLICAN PRIMARIES FOR ARIZONA SENATE RACE.

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DEMOCRATIC DONORS MEET WITH SENATOR MCCAIN FOR LUNCH AT HIS HOUSE IN SEDONA.

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POLLS SHOW DEMOCRATIC VOTERS DISAPPOINTED WITH CURRENT CROP OF CANDIDATES.

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PRESIDENT BUSH REMAINS UNCHALLENGED FOR THE GOP NOMINATION. NO OTHER CANDIDATES APPEAR TO BE FORTHCOMING.

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SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN ANNOUNCES CANDIDACY FOR THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION FOR PRESIDENT IN 2004.

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In a move that shocked many in the political world, Senator John McCain of Arizona held a rally in Phoenix today where he officially announced his intention to jump into the Democratic race for the 2004 presidential nomination. At his announcement ceremony, he assaulted President Bush for “incompetent leadership” and “making disastrous decisions that have put America on a dangerous course.” McCain claimed that he was running for president because he felt that he was the only one strong enough to unite the party lead the Democrats back into the White House in 2004, playing off the dissatisfaction within the ranks of Democratic voters that were looking for an alternative to the current crop of lackluster politicians. Senator McCain’s decision to enter the 2004 race was regarded by many news outlets as a curiosity, considering that he was a Republican for his entire political career up until he broke with the GOP after reportedly engaging in a heated shouting match with President Bush during a meeting about the Bush Tax Cuts that involved plenty of cursing and hurtful personal remarks. Ultimately, he looked good as a candidate on paper, closing the gap between him and the current frontrunner, Vermont Governor Howard Dean, almost as soon as he announced. He even beat out Richard Gephardt, who had been polling very close to Dean ever since the beginning, taking Gephardt’s place as the man in second place. However, McCain had quite a bit going against him. For one thing, he was conservative as far as Democrats went, which made the liberal faction of the party nervous about him; although some speculated that his conservatism might work to his advantage if he won the nomination; allowing him to appeal to independents and moderate Republicans that might otherwise have gone to President Bush. Another strike against him that would come up during the primary season and, more notably, in the debates, was that McCain had never been elected to office as a Democrat. As stated before, McCain had been a Republican for most of his political life, having only joined the Democratic Party in 2001. Yet another strike against him was that he had run for the Republican nomination for President in 2000, losing in the primary to none other than George Bush, which made voters even more nervous about a potential McCain campaign for their party; the mentality being that if he couldn’t defeat Bush when he was just a Governor, then how could he be expected to defeat him as a President? But, the biggest strike against McCain was that he was pulling double duty in 2004. Not only would he be running for the Democratic nomination for President, but he was also running for the Arizona State Democratic Party’s nomination for the United States Senate in their election that year. There was concern over whether or not he could pull double duty, especially with the Republican field growing in the Arizona Senate race.
 
FORMER ARIZONA GOVERNOR JANE DEE HULL ANNOUNCES BID FOR REPUBLICAN NOMINATION IN ARIZONA SENATE RACE.

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GEPHARDT RECLAIMS SECOND PLACE FROM MCCAIN TWO WEEKS AFTER THE SENATOR’S ANNOUCEMENT.

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PRIMARY SEASON COMING UP. DEMOCRATS PREPARE TO PUT UP THEIR DUKES AHEAD OF COVETED IOWA CAUCUS.

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DEAN AND GEPHARDT LEADING IN IOWA PREPOLLING. KERRY, MCCAIN, AND EDWARDS FIGHT FOR THIRD PLACE.

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What made McCain switch to the Democrats besides the tax cuts?

According to wikipedia, McCain was becoming very disillusioned with the GOP after his loss in 2000 OTL, and he was still very bitter over what Bush did to him in the primary. The meeting with the tax cuts led to the release of built-up anger which finally pushed him over the edge. What the two of them said in that room damaged their relationship beyond repair, and Bush was beyond angry. That, coupled with his reputation as a maverick, his tendency to be liberally prone, and his friendship with quite a few democrats means that seeing him switch to their party isn't all that impossible if he were to ever leave the GOP. The reason for his leaving was the built-up anger and bitterness, but the cause of his leaving was the Tax Cut meeting.
 
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES HEAD TO IOWA IN ANTICIPATION OF CAUCUS.

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MCCAIN HOLDS TOWN HALL MEETINGS IN EARLY PRIMARY STATES. SPEAKS TO VOTERS ONE ON ONE.

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HOWARD DEAN AND DICK GEPHARDT SNIPE AT EACH OTHER IN IOWA. NEGATIVE ATTACK ADS NOT DOING THEM ANY FAVORS.

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JOHN KERRY AND JOHN EDWARDS CLOSING THE GAP WITH FRONTRUNNERS.

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Suppose McCain does get the Democratic nomination, what will he want to do about the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Probably try to manage them better. Claim that he will get the job done and then pull out once he has managed to stabilize the region. He might also favor of putting more focus on afghanistan and capturing bin laden, claiming that Bush has put finding the terrorist on the backburner when he was supposedly the entire reason we went into the middle east in the first place.
 
SENATOR MCCAIN CURRENTLY RUNNING UNOPPOSED IN ARIZONA DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY.


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PEARCE EMERGES AS FRONTRUNNER FOR ARIZONA GOP SENATE NOMINATION.


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SENATOR MCCAIN OUTLINES PLATFORM AT TOWN HALL EVENT.


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Today at one of McCain’s town hall meetings in Des Moines, Iowa the Senator outlined his stances on a few issues. His positions on these issues were revealed through answers given to questions asked by voters. Many of his stances on the issues outlined in his 2004 platform are curiously similar to the ones he used in the previous Republican primary in 2000, although he appears to have moved more to the left on some of them, which reflects his status as a Democrat. On the issue of the Bush Tax Cuts, McCain claimed that while he was initially opposed to the very idea of the cuts in the beginning, he now supports them for the middle class and poor only, and favors repealing the tax cuts for the wealthy. When asked about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, McCain essentially said that President Bush had no idea what he was doing and was botching the missions. McCain vowed that if he were elected president, he would work with the Iraqis to establish a new democratic government and then shift focus to Afghanistan, where he promised to place renewed emphasis on the mission to locate and either capture or kill Osama Bin Laden. McCain is currently embarking on a bus tour of Iowa and New Hampshire, travelling to small town communities via his campaign bus, which he has named the “Straight-Talk Express” and holding town hall meetings where he can get up close and personal with voters; speaking to them directly instead of reciting a tired and boring speech up on a podium.
 
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