There’s an interesting dynamic in play if Barack Obama becomes the Democratic nominee this summer. John McCain has been lying for several years about negotiations he held early in this decade over leaving the Republican party and either joining the Democratic party or, probably more likely, becoming an independent and caucusing with the Democrats as Sen. Jeffords (I-VT) was then doing.
The person who knows most about those discussions is former Sen. Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD). And Daschle is not only a supporter of Obama. He’s played a key role in putting together the team of staffers and campaign operatives who make up Obama’s inner circle.
Daschle has touched on this in the past but pretty lightly. And of course it wasn’t until recently that McCain was running again as Mr. Republican. But I would think that at some point — should Obama become the nominee, and possibly even if Clinton does — Daschle’s role in the campaign and what he knows about McCain will come into some tension.
