Before the roll was called today, Arizona Sen. McCain dined in Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell's office. When the series of votes were called, McCain did not acknowledge Obama as he passed by.
David Nather's Beyond the Dome blog at Congressional Quarterly details the meeting between McCain and Obama today on the Senate floor. I'm dying to get the video. Will post as soon as available.
http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/...
He walked over to where McCain was chatting with Republican Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida and Independent Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut. And he stretched out his arm and offered his hand to McCain.
McCain shook it, but with a "go away" look that no one could miss. He tried his best not to even look at Obama.
Finally, with a tight smile, McCain managed a greeting: "Good to see you."
Obama got the message. He shook hands with Martinez and Lieberman -- both of whom greeted him more warmly -- and quickly beat a retreat back to the Democratic side.
Some say Sen. McCain's treatment of Sen. Obama should come as no surprise if looked at from a biological view of primate behavior.
Sen. McCain is behaving much like Pres. Clinton did towards Sen. Obama. Both are older alpha males who have dominated the political field for 20 years. They both treat Obama as older alpha males do when younger alpha males challenge them for power over the pack. "Beat it!" behavior is normal. Or could it be something more sinister?
From the New York Times:
"WASHINGTON — It was Senator Barack Obama who crossed the aisle.
On Wednesday evening, as the senators gathered to vote on the $700 billion financial rescue package, Mr. Obama, Democrat of Illinois, walked over to the Republican side of the chamber to extend a greeting to Senator John McCain of Arizona.
While it took Mr. Obama several seconds to make his way over to Mr. McCain, the actual handshake lasted barely a second, as Mr. McCain responded with a chilly look, a turn of his head and a brief return handshake."