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He'll be back
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March 10, 2000 | SEDONA, Ariz. -- And that won't be coming any time soon. "I'm suspending my campaign so that Cindy and I can take some time to reflect on our recent experiences, and determine how we can best continue to serve the country, and help bring about the changes to the practices and institutions of our great democracy that are the purpose of our campaign," said a somber McCain against a gorgeous backdrop of a valley and mountain vista. "I am no longer an active candidate for my party's nomination."
Just the night before, at a cookout at McCain's nearby mountain home, there was still plenty of talk among the campaign staff about what would come next. One option, of course, was to quickly bow out and endorse Bush. But McCain and his aides, still angry about the ugly race Bush has run, are convinced voters will agree, and that Vice President Al Gore will demolish him in the general election. Instead they decided on another option. Suspending his campaign rather than ending it will allow McCain to not only garner federal matching campaign funds to retire any debt, but also to retain control of his delegates -- thus ensuring a presence at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia this summer, and an ability to force a vote on platform issues. He could opt out without losing his voice. Additionally, McCain will hold on to his campaign's grass-roots tools -- a considerable fund-raising network, and an e-mail list of 200,000 supporters -- to continue to advance the cause of governmental reform, be it by railing against pork-barrel spending, or the unlimited unregulated campaign cash known as "soft money." The plan took form after a restless, sleepless Tuesday night. McCain and his senior advisors -- campaign manager Rick Davis, political director "Sunny" John Weaver, Senate chief of staff Mark Salter, media strategist Mike Murphy, ad man Greg Stevens and pollster Bill McInturff, among others -- spent the next day at McCain's Arizona compound sitting and talking about what to do next. They joked about names for a possible third party, considering "M&M" (for McCain majority) or the ghetto-fab "Peeps," for people. McCain ultimately decided against a third-party run -- at least for now -- because he doesn't want to seem like a sore loser. He always said he would support the Republican nominee. Now that Bush has won that position, McCain will almost assuredly support him. But that endorsement will take a while. McCain and his senior staffers resent the campaign Bush waged -- the attacks by Bush surrogates on his personal life and his wife Cindy's past addiction to pain killers, and the racist allusions to his adopted 8-year-old daughter Bridget, who is from Bangladesh. They think Bush conducted himself dishonorably time and again, refusing to call off attacks; allowing (at the very least) close allies to wage misleading ad attacks slamming him as an anti-environmentalist and painting him as being indifferent to breast cancer; and making callous remarks after learning McCain's sister is herself a breast cancer survivor. McCain aides feel strongly that history will judge Bush's campaign as one of the nastiest and ugliest ever waged. After seeing his campaign hobbled by a number of egregious campaign-finance abuses -- most glaringly, a last-minute sham TV ad arranged and paid for by a number of Bush allies -- McCain remains committed to trying to clean up the political system. And if he so chooses, he can use the delegates of the seven states he's won to push for a GOP platform vote on whatever issue he sees fit. "I love my party," McCain said in front of the cameras Thursday. "It is my home ... But I'm also dedicated to the necessary cause of reform. And I will never walk away from a fight for what I know is right and just for our country. As I said throughout the campaign, what is good for my country is good for my party. Should our party ever abandon this principle, the American people will rightly abandon us, and we will surely slip into the mists of history, deserving the allegiance of none."
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