Kerry rejected
The week's news at a glance.
Washington, D.C.
Democratic presidential contender John Kerry has repeatedly and personally asked Sen. John McCain, a maverick Republican, to be his running mate, newspapers reported this week. “It was always artfully phrased,” a source who talked to Kerry said. “He’d say, ‘I don’t want to formally ask because I don’t want to be formally rejected, but having said that, would you do it?’” McCain flatly refused. A recent CBS News poll gave a Kerry-McCain ticket a 14 percent lead over Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. McCain is friends with Kerry, a fellow Vietnam veteran, and he has a testy relationship with President Bush. But McCain has said repeatedly that he has no desire to be vice president, and that he plans to vote for Bush.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
How ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ has brought out the worst in its fans
In the Spotlight Amazon’s love-triangle hit ‘driving some of the most bonkers and unhinged online energy in the history of the internet’
-
Human evolution may be responsible for autism rates
Under the radar Neurodiversity and a complex brain may go hand in hand
-
Crossword: September 17, 2025
The Week's daily crossword