I think we can finally put this one to rest. From yesterday’s Meet the Press:
Tim Russert: Would you under any circumstances run as John Kerry’s vice president?
John McCain: When my kids were smaller, my wife used to wear a T-shirt that said, “What part of no don’t you understand?” I’d like to start wearing that T-shirt myself. No, no and no. I will not leave the Republican Party. I cherish the ideals and principles of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. I will not be vice president of the United States under any circumstances. I feel I can be far more effective in helping shape policy in the future of this country as a United States senator, and I will not, I will not, stand for vice president of the United States.
Russert: What if you could stay as a Republican?
McCain: It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. I will not. I will not change.
Russert: And you’ll vote for George W. Bush?
McCain: I am supporting President Bush. I have already campaigned for him. I am his co- chairman with Senator Jon Kyl in Arizona for his re-election. I believe that President Bush deserves re- election. Have we agreed on every issue? Of course not. We didn’t agree on every issue when we ran against each other in the primary.
Russert: Well, you disagree with him on tax cuts, global warming, Medicare reform, gay marriage, energy bill. The list is long.
McCain: I agree with him on Iraq, on national security policy, on a broad variety of domestic issues that I think are important to the future of the country. And, yes, we have disagreement, but we have a cordial relationship. By the way, I’d like to mention that. And I think that he deserves re-election to be president of the United States.
And I will never mention it again.