John McCain Hints At Possible Retirement At End Of Current Term

Could we be nearing the end of John McCain’s time in the Senate?

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) hinted that he may be serving his last term in office, admitting that he does not want to become “one of these old guys that should’ve shoved off.”

McCain, a 27-year veteran of the senate and former presidential candidate, made the admission while speaking about his relationship with President Obama.

“The president and I, he’s in his last term, I’m probably in mine, the relationship we have had over the past three years is quite good,” McCain told The Wrap in an interview. “Quite good.”

The 77-year-old McCain’s current term is up in 2016. When asked if this would really be his last term, McCain backtracked a bit.

“Nah, I don’t know,” McCain said. “I was trying to make a point. I have to decide in about two years so I don’t have to make a decision. I don’t want to be one of these old guys that should’ve shoved off.”

McCain is currently on his fifth term in the Senate, and spent four years in the House of Representatives before that, so it wouldn’t be all that surprising if he retires when this one is up. After all he may want to spend more time with family and concentrate on his second career of appearing on Sunday morning talk shows.

FILED UNDER: 2016 Election, Congress, US Politics, ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. michael reynolds says:

    But who is going to speak out in favor of every single war?

  2. edmondo says:

    @michael reynolds:

    But who is going to speak out in favor of every single war?

    Hillary Clinton will still be around.

  3. wr says:

    If McCain retires, the Sunday shows are going to have to start programming extra episodes on weekdays to fit in all his appearances…

  4. Grumpy says:

    If he keeps going overseas for photo ops known with terrorists.. If he keeps demanding we got to war in support of Al Qaeda and their affiliates.. If he keeps quoting fake PHDs who happen to be paid lobbyists for Al Qaeda affiliated organizations to get us to go to on the side of our enemies .. If he continues to do that, he might wish he’d retired a lot sooner

    You can fool all the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all of the time.. Americans aren’t that stupid, sooner or later they catch on.. Historically we’ve taken a dim view of treason..

    Unlike most offenses, Senators and Congressmen are not shielded by the Constitution when they commit treason..

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  5. al-Ameda says:

    @michael reynolds:

    But who is going to speak out in favor of every single war?

    Lindsay Graham will just have to go it alone (at least until Rand Paul changes medications.)

  6. wr says:

    @Grumpy: “Americans aren’t that stupid, sooner or later they catch on.”

    Or they join the Tea Party.

  7. legion says:

    He might retire from Congress, but I wager you’ll have to pry his cold, dead, arse out of that monogrammed chair on the Fox News set…

  8. @michael reynolds:

    But who is going to speak out in favor of every single war?

    Lindsey Graham?

  9. Jenos Idanian #13 says:

    Poor McCain. He took the adulation of the media and the left (but I repeat myself) every single time he lashed out against his fellow Republicans. Poor old fool didn’t understand that they didn’t love him for himself, and as soon as he stopped being a useful tool against the GOP, they stopped loving him…

    Example #1: In 2008, the New York Times endorsed him. And THEN ran a totally made-up story about him having an affair with a lobbyist. You see, John, once you clinched the nomination, you weren’t fighting against Republicans, but the Democratic nominee — and that ended your usefulness.

  10. Davenport says:

    I’d say I was fine with him flying off into the sunset but I’d be concerned for those innocents on the ground in his path.

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  11. greg says:

    “Nah, I don’t know,” McCain said. “I was trying to make a point. I have to decide in about two years so I don’t have to make a decision. I don’t want to be one of these old guys that should’ve shoved off.”

    Old man yelling at clouds!
    He should have ‘shoved off’ years ago.

  12. wr says:

    @Jenos Idanian #13: “(but I repeat myself)”

    Over and over and over and over and over again.

    And yet you never actually say anything.

  13. wr says:

    @Jenos Idanian #13: “Example #1: In 2008, the New York Times endorsed him. And THEN ran a totally made-up story about him having an affair with a lobbyist”

    Thank you for the insight into how you believe the press should operate. Apparently once the editorial department has decided to endorse a candidate, the news departments should stop reporting negative news about the chosen one.

  14. Jenos Idanian #13 says:

    @wr: Every now and then you just have to prove how stupid you are, don’t you?

    The Times endorsed McCain on January 25. They ran their utterly factless story on McCain and the lobbyist was published on February 21. McCain’s contacts with the lobbyist in question dated back to 1999. Now you might be stupid enough to think that the Times editors were completely unaware of the brewing story less than a month in the future, but fortunately the vast majority of people are smarter than you.

    And speaking of never saying anything of substance… when was the last time you did that? I sometimes wonder if someone’s paying you and Cliffy to hang around here and do nothing but wait for me to say something, and then say something incredibly stupid. But then I can’t think of anyone who would find you two worth paying for… well, anything.

  15. anjin-san says:

    Little Jenos is outraged, outraged I say, about the NT Times printing questionable facts about McCain. Yet he is silent about Bush smearing him with BS about having an illegitimate black child.

    I know I am shocked.

  16. wr says:

    @Jenos Idanian #13: “I sometimes wonder if someone’s paying you and Cliffy to hang around here and do nothing but wait for me to say something”

    Yes, it’s true. Because your opinions are so valuable, the lies you cut and paste from Red State so uniquely important, your impact on the world at large potentially so tremendous that powerful people are willing to pay us lots of money to make sure your truth doesn’t spread.

    BWAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!!!!

    Man, for a minute I think Jenos was getting a little stirring deep in his Star Wars footie pajamas.

  17. cleverboots says:

    He already is one of those guys that should have shoved off several years ago.

  18. Jenos Idanian #13 says:

    @anjin-san: annie, if you couldn’t say “Bush” and “Iraq,” you’d never have anything to say.

    But just for the hell of it, I did a quick looking around on that story. It seems that the main sources saying that it was definitely Rove are hard-left sources that are traditionally fact-challenged anyway (Mother Jones, Crooks and Liars, and the Nation, just to name a couple). Others say that it was believed to be Rove, but he’s issued absolute denials. The one confirmed source is a professor from Bob Jones University.

    But even more interesting, you’re equating Karl Rove, political operative, with the reputedly neutral, fair New York Times — which shows my point even better.

    Thanks, annie.

  19. merl says:

    @Grumpy: Apparently you’re that stupid.

  20. TheoNott says:

    I’d say odds are better than 50 percent he will retire. I doubt he wants to hang around past 2016, given his age. He’s past the point where he can ever again be considered for President. If he does retire, then Arizona, I think, becomes a serious Democratic pickup opportunity…McCain is personally popular but that state is fast trending blue.

  21. fred says:

    Happy riddance. The sooner he goes the better. We need new and younger responsible thinkers in our government today. McCain has lost touch with current worldview and thinking. Elizabeth Warren is a great model for what our country needs in leaders today.

  22. al-Ameda says:

    @Jenos Idanian #13:

    Poor McCain. He took the adulation of the media and the left

    I guarantee you that Democrats, “the media,” and comedians everywhere absolutely love John for selecting Sarah Palin to be his running mate.