McCain should be on Kerry's mind
WASHINGTON
IN BETWEEN ski runs and naps in Idaho, John Kerry needs to think seriously about John McCain and what he represents.
If he does, he knows he will get some slack from his Democratic supporters, but also some impassioned flack. He really ought to take advantage of the former in order to ride out the latter and give the notion of an alliance with an independent Republican the consideration the country's condition deserves.
Forget every bit of conventional political babble about this seeming improbability that has been uttered to date, including McCain's seemingly dismissive comments. To think seriously about McCain, it is not so much essential that Kerry think outside the box as that he think as if the box did not exist.
The part of Kerry that I have always liked the best and been most intrigued by over 35 years is the part that resists party and ideological dogmas. As he prepares to resume campaigning, it will be hard for him not to think some about a country that is dangerously isolated in an increasingly connected and dangerous world and perilously close to ruining its public finances and choking the chance at sustainable growth.
Internationally as well as domestically, it is difficult to imagine major leaps forward that come with the sharp edges of partisanship. The engine of change will need to be consensus, as broad as possible, not more political conflict.
In the present environment, it may be necessary for the nonincumbent to spell it all out in his general election campaign in order to have a chance at successful governance. The hangover from a successful Democratic campaign to defeat President Bush might be too severe.
Politically, it might also be his judgment that a traditional Democratic campaign is not strong enough by itself to propel a challenger past an incumbent. In my lifetime, it is interesting that the so-called "big" choices of running mate have tended to work the best. John Kennedy picked a virtual enemy in Lyndon Johnson 44 years ago, Ronald Reagan chose his strongest opponent in George H.W. Bush 24 years ago, and Bill Clinton cloned himself with Al Gore 12 years ago to make clear that New Democrats were prepared to try to govern.
At his best, McCain represents both independent thinking and commitment to a national interest that recognizes President Kennedy's observation that simple party loyalty sometimes asks too much. McCain is a real conservative, including on most social issues. However, what made his campaign for president so compelling four years ago was his conveyance of a clear willingness to work through disagreements.
Campaign finance reform is but the tip of this iceberg. He has also toiled for people screwed by health maintenance organizations and insurance companies; he has recognized that greenhouse gases really threaten the world; and he opposes waste and debt.
Just this month, what is significant to me is not that he briefly let slip he might "entertain" a vice presidential offer or that he tried to ruin a 10-day Bush campaign barrage by stating flatly that his friend is not "weak" on national defense issues. To me, what was notable was his joining three other Republican senators (Lincoln Chaffee of Rhode Island and Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine) in helping to pass a Senate budget amendment that would force any extension of any tax cuts as well as any new spending to be balanced by new revenue or spending cuts so that the ridiculous deficit is not increased.
More broadly, the United States needs real partners in the world not only to crush terrorism and stabilize a democratic Iraq but also to make open markets function fairly and to keep the growth of India and China and ravenous US consumption from really ruining the environment. In this country there is no such thing as a Democrats- or Republicans-only solution to a financial mess that will eventually stunt the economy.
A grand alliance cannot tempt Kerry to compromise the powers of the office he seeks, but it could produce the politics that might not only win but govern. It is easy to list their issue disagreements and miss the larger point; it is more revealing to recall them spending years together figuring out how to stitch America and Vietnam back together.
The Kerry selection process to date has yet to produce a Democratic name that comes within a country mile of John Edwards's hard-won, abundantly proven stature. He is anything but a typical Democrat, which is why voters who are not that partisan are so attracted to him. On his own best days, Edward shows clear symptoms of the McCain germ.
At a minimum, thinking about McCain could help Kerry realize that it is essential that he point expansively and in detail to the future from now on; a purely party campaign, even an astonishingly unified one, is not adequate.
Thinking about McCain for real would be a huge deal, but a worthy one. Kerry shouldn't be bashful.
Thomas Oliphant's e-mail address is oliphant@globe.com.
