The Telegraph newspaper is reporting in its Sunday edition that if elected president, Barack Obama is prepared to offer John McCain a job in an Obama administration. The paper also notes the hate speech spewing from the McCain campaign, saying that "a friend of Mr McCain revealed that the Republican candidate is concerned that the ugly rhetoric of the last week will damage his reputation."
Details below the fold:
An un-named source from the Democratic transition team tells the newspaper that although Obama will not be offering McCain a Cabinet position, it will be an attempt to reach across party lines "and also help rehabilitate Mr McCain, who many Democrats believe has been pushed by hardline advisers into making increasingly desperate attacks on his rival."
Mr McCain will not be offered a cabinet job, but Mr Obama may ask him to spearhead a bipartisan overhaul of veteran's affairs, an issue close to Mr McCain's heart.
Update: If this report is true, I think it would be a very clever strategy on the part of Obama to offer his opponent an appointment in a Democratic administration. Lincoln did likewise in 1861.
The Telegraph, a conservative paper that routinely thrashes Labour policies and politicians and its Democratic compatriots across the pond, doesn't shy away from giving its British readers details on the "febrile atmosphere" of the presidential campaign.
The paper quotes a 33-year-old mother at a GOP rally, who said Obama's election would be a "travesty."
"If he's in charge, I'll be concerned about where our tax dollars are going. He could send it to terrorists for all we know. It truly would be frightening. He's pro-communist and pro-socialism. It's not the kind of society I want my kids to grow up in."
McCain's friends find Obama presumptuous and just plain "annoying":
Republican sources say that this attitude, conveying the expectation of victory, has infuriated Mr McCain, who believes that Mr Obama is presumptuous and has not shown him enough respect for his decade of military service and his three decades of bipartisan work in Washington.
The McCain friend said: "John is infuriated by him, just like Bill Clinton was during the primaries. They both think Obama never gives them credit for the difficult decisions they made. He is so consumed by now that he doesn't give credit for things in the past. It's very annoying."