John McCain considering seeking reelection in 2016

Here’s the audio:

The Story:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Tuesday that he is considering running for another term in 2016, when he would be 80 years old.
“I’m seriously thinking about maybe giving another opportunity for you to vote for or against me in a few years from now,” McCain said on KFYI-AM in Phoenix. “I’m seriously giving that a lot of thought.”
Asked by host Barry Young to clarify if he was saying he might run again, McCain said: “That would not be wrong.”
The New York Times’s Mark Leibovich, who is in Arizona following McCain, first tweeted the news.
McCain, the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, is in his fifth term. He has never taken less than 56 percent of the vote and easily dispatched a primary challenge in 2010 from former congressman J.D. Hayworth.
If he runs again, McCain will likely find himself targeted by tea party groups.
via McCain considering seeking reelection in 2016.

I really do not know much about Arizona politics and so, I cannot comment on whether John McCain would win or not in a primary. So, I will refrain from commenting on that one. However, I do believe that this might be an indication of the panic of the Republican Party establishment towards the Tea Party House members like Ted Cruz. As it is right now, we have the chamber of commerce and business groups wanting them out. This might be an extension of that.

As Ron Paul pointed out, when it came to America’s occupation of foreign lands; there is a simple thing called “Blowback.” Which is a negative reaction to someone’s actions. In this case here; the Tea Party House members overreached and had a horrible strategic plan. Ted Cruz, and House members shut down the Government. However, they did not have a plan; and they played the wrong game. Which, of course, put the establishment Republicans in a dire panic; not to mention the rest of the House.

So, now, you have establishment moderate Republican types, like John McCain; who put in a good lifetime of service and was ready to call it a good run and shuffle off to retirement —- actually rethinking that a bit, and wondering if he should stick around least the Tea Party crazies try and strike again.

This is why, if you are going to try and play a political game like the one Ted Cruz did; you need to have a real game plan in place and it is quite obvious to this writer and many others; that Ted Cruz simply did not have that sort of a game plan in place. It was massive overreach and screw up on his part. Furthermore, it very much could have hurt his standing for the 2016 election.

One of the best things written about the Tea Party yet.

What was I just saying about being a Paleoconservative? Confused Thinking I dont know

Well, here I go again, screwing up those credentials! Surprise

Peter Wehner writing over at, yes, Commentary Magazine (!) about those in the Tea Party that are feeling like the world is coming to end; in like the next few weeks:

This is not, from my vantage point, a particularly healthy approach to politics or one moored to reality. You can believe, as I do, that President Obama is doing great harm to America, that his agenda is having an enervating effect and that we face deep and serious challenges.
But some perspective is also in order. We are actually not on the verge of collapse and ruin. This period is not comparable to the Great Depression or the period leading up to the Civil War or the collapse of Ancient Rome. And tyranny is not just around the corner.
This is, rather, a difficult time in some important respects – one that requires sobriety and wisdom, public officials of courage and good judgment who are willing to act boldly but not recklessly. The truth is that our afflictions are not beyond our ability to address them, that our society is a complicated mosaic that eludes simple, sweeping characterizations, and America’s capacity for self-renewal is quite extraordinary.
Beyond that is the importance of understanding that the life of a nation, like the life of an individual, includes ebbs and flows; that almost every generation feels as though the problems it faces are among the worst any generation has ever faced; and that setbacks are inevitable and that progress is often incremental.
A final thought: There is no question that a great deal of repair work needs to be done. But the growing sense among some on the right that a curtain of darkness is descending on America is both unwarranted and can lead people to act in ways that are self-destructive.
Without understating our challenges for a moment, I rather hope a figure will emerge from within the conservative ranks who is not only principled but also winsome, who possesses an open and flexible mind and has not learned the art of being discontent. A person who doesn’t find fulfillment in amplifying anxiety and anger. Who doesn’t dwell in the lowlands because he’s too busy aiming for the uplands. And who knows that this fallen world is not a world without hope.

You see up there, where I underlined, that is important. We can be fiscal conservatives, but we do not have to be reckless about it. We want to slow down socialism, but we don’t want this to happen:

The biggest mistake the house Tea Party Conservatives made, was picking this fight so close to a debt ceiling deadline. Wrong battle, wrong strategy, wrong methods. This is why it failed. I wrote this before, but it does bear repeating again.