Don't Bush it, buddy.

Ariana Huffington recently reported John McCain told her that he did not vote for Bush in the 2000 election and that he only nominally supported his run out of obligation to the GOP.

While McCain quickly denied the story, it was confirmed by several sources at the party, including, get this: two cast members from the presidential drama The West Wing. Jed Bartlet for president!

Even without confirmation, I don't know that I would've denied the story so quickly. Bush's campaign made some shockingly nasty attacks on McCain and his family in the run-up to that election including accusing him of being crazy and fathering an illegitimate black child. Talk about putting swiftboaters into context!

With Bush's approval ratings falling to historic lows, rejecting the current administration may be McCain's only chance.

There's a lot of talk lately that Clinton's supporters will shun the polls if she doesn't get the nomination and vice versa. Can John "McGain" from the animosity?

Let's say Clinton is Democratic nominee. How can McCain capture disaffected black voters? Well, his association with Bush isn't going to help.

"You would have to get a really finely tuned GPS to find any African Americans who approve of Bush," David Bositis, a senior research associate at the Joint Center for Economic Studies, told me.

In fact, the headline of a recent Gallup poll says it all: "Bush May Be as Harmful to McCain as Wright is to Obama."

And what about the more likely alternative of Obama being the blue candidate?

Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization of Women wrote in a recent "Below the Belt" column:
"What if we end up with a Bush sequel that looks frighteningly like the last eight years? If Sen. John McCain becomes the next president of the United States, he will carry on Bush's tradition."

Considering she refers to the Bush administration as the "Conservative Misinformation Network," it's safe to say she'll make it to the polls for the Dems even if Clinton isn't the nominee.

It may turn out to be impossible for McCain to remove himself from the Bush hook.

"The Democrats have no intention of letting him put any distance between himself and Bush," said Bositis. Not only that, Bush lovers may be McCain's only chance. "If he doesn't have their support, he doesn't have any at all."

However, this alliance may a "what have you done for me lately?" case.

As I've written previously, the "campaign finance candidate" is in a fair amount of campaign finance trouble. Not the Clinton kind of trouble, mind you. Quite the opposite, McCain might have too much money. The FEC is due to rule on whether McCain can eschew the public funds he asked for when his campaign was desperate for money.
The FEC hasn't been able to rule on it, however, because they didn't have enough members to reach a quorum. McCain appealed to Bush to restock the FEC so that the matter can be resolved. Bush complied, with a cherry on top: he dumped chairman David Mason, who had indicated he didn't see things the way McCain would like.

If Bush can't get McCain any votes in the electoral college, perhaps the FEC is the next best thing?

Well, let's just say the FEC is no Florida.

"This election is going to be about a referendum on George Bush and Bushism," said Bositis. "And it's going to be a negative verdict."