First I want to say I love John McCain since Jeffords switched parties in 2001 McCain has been my favorite Republican. I disagree with him on alot of issues but he strikes me as an honest man who honestly wants to help people! He always puts his Arizona constituents first, and he never backs down.
In fact it was McCains personality that originally drew me to Howard Deans campaign. Dean reminded me of McCain, that alone got me interested and it just got better from there. But alas there are a few problems I have with McCain being on the ticket.
First off obviously he'd have to switch parties. I wouldn't be comfortable with a Republican being a heartbeat away from the Presidency. The GOP would have Kerry assasinated just so they could be back in power. And even the best case scenario is we have another Republican President in 8 years!
Then again a D next to his name wouldn't stop them either, McCain is closer to their ideals than Kerry. He has always been their guy and will always be their guy. They know what makes him tick they know how he responds to pressure and even if they couldn't control him they'd be happier with McCain in charge than Kerry!
And nothing could stop him from switching back to a Repubican after Kerry is gone!
Second, the GOP is going to call him a "traitor" for switching parties and basically ruin his good name amongst Republicans, meaning we lose most of the swing votes we could hope to gain with McCain on the ticket. We all know Republicans walk lock-step with the party line.
Third he'd have to pull a Lieberman and do a complete 180 on alot of his views or at least make some sort of speech at the convention that makes it appear he's keeping an open mind in regard to Democratic issues such as a Womans Right to Choose.
But even then I can't trust McCain not to tell his Republican cronies sensative information they can use against Kerry while he's trying to run a goddamn country. You saw what they did to Bill Clinton imagine if they had a high level mole!
Then there is the final reason. It would be like admitting Democrats can't win on their own. During Kerrys terms the Republicans will claim Kerry would have never won without McCain. And that it proves the country is more conservative. That Democrats are out of step with Americans, their ideas are unpopular and without a Republican on the ticket they don't stand a chance!
Then in 8 years when Kerrys term limited and the we try to run a candidate against Incumbent Republican Vice President John McCain, the Republicans will question why we voted for him twice as VP but won't vote for him as President. And the media will say "The Democrats haven't won an election on their own since 1996 with Bill Clinton. Do they even stand a chance?"
I just don't know if its worth it. Bush is a threat but I don't think our party is so desperate we need to depend on a Republican to win.