The other day I posted a diary with links to some of the speculation I'd seen re: Bush choosing McCain as a VP candidate after dumping Cheney.
According to yesterday's Joe Conason column in Salon (premium copy, and well worth going to Salon.com for a day pass), Sen. Kerry is a "close friend" of Sen. McCain.
http://tinyurl.com/2dn9t
In "The Vietnam smear -- from McCain to Kerry," Conason also reports that the senators share a common "smearer" -- a man named Ted Sampley who runs the "Vietnam Veterans Against Kerry" site.
Sampley was, Conason says, "critical to efforts to similarly smear Sen. John McCain, another war hero, when he ran for president against George W. Bush in 2000."
Kerry, Conason says, defended McCain against Sampley at the time, calling Sampley a "stupid ass" in print.
This seems to me to further undermine any speculation re: Sen. McCain joining a Bush ticket. Thanks, Joe C.
Those who dismiss the "Dump Cheney" idea altogether should read Jim Lobe on the subject first. Here's his latest: "The day Cheney was rocked to the core":
http://tinyurl.com/33xjr