maybe this'll put a stop to speculation about McCain as Kerry's VP. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5240396/ -- McCain gives Bush a strong endorsement FORT LEWIS, Wash. - For years they have been bitter rivals, but on Friday Senator John McCain agreed to campaign for President Bush and gave him a big bear hug in front of thousands of troops at Fort Lewis. advertisement "He has led this country with moral clarity," McCain said of Bush in praising his stewardship of the war on terror as commander-in-chief. "There have been ups and downs as there have been in any war, but like you, he has not wavered in his determination to protect this country, and to make the world a better, safer and freer place. You will not yield, nor will he,” the Arizona senator said. In a sign of how unusual the event was, McCain delivered a full speech even before the president spoke. The president's advisors usually instruct people who introduce Bush to keep it very short, but not McCain. When Bush stepped to the podium, he told troops packed into a hanger that it was a "privilege" to be introduced by McCain. "When he speaks of service and sacrifice, he speaks from experience," said Bush of McCain who spent 5 years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. "The United States military has no better friend than United States Senator John McCain." McCain visited families of fallen soldiers with Bush and later campaigned with him in Reno, Nev., at a Republican rally. Love fest in wake of Kerry VP rumblings The very public love fest between McCain and Bush comes just one week after the Arizona Republican reportedly rejected offers by Democratic presidential challenge John Kerry to consider the No. 2 spot on the Democratic ticket. One top advisor to McCain said the invitation from the White House to campaign with Bush came in "the same time frame" as leaked reports that McCain had rebuffed Kerry. In the past, McCain has publicly disagreed with Bush on several key issues — including tax cuts, the environment and Medicare — and has said more troops are needed in Iraq. And while McCain may have definitely shut down overtures from Kerry to join his campaign, he has not joined the fray among with Senate Republicans in criticizing Kerry, who he considers a friend. He has defended Kerry in the past after GOP criticism about his defense record. The joint appearances, however, grew out of an earlier meeting this spring between White House senior advisor Karl Rove and John Weaver, a top advisor to McCain, who became a Democratic consultant after the bitter campaign between Bush and McCain. The president's media advisor, Mark McKinnon, a former Democrat, also attend the meeting at a coffee shop close to the White House. Efforts to settle the rivalry has failed in the past. Asked what has changed, a top McCain political advisor said, "It is time to move on." Another advisor said it doesn't take a "rocket scientist" to figure out why the president's campaign was courting McCain's support. The Republican maverick is popular with independents in key swing states like Washington, Oregon, New Mexico and Nevada. Still, it appears there is not a plan yet for more appearances. They are still in the feeling out stage. "We are not going to go throwing ourselves at them,” said one of McCain’s advisors. Norah O'Donnell is an NBC News White House Correspondent.
For some reason I thought McCain had already done that. What a strange world it is these days when one Republican endorsing a Republican President becomes a news story.
apparently Kerry has requested tax returns from gephardt and edwards. i had a weird feeling watching Bush and McCain on stage together, like maybe that's the republican's dream ticket. makes some sense, mccain has suggested he wants to run in '08. he'd be much stronger running as a sitting VP. bush probably wouldn't ask, but that would certainly turn the campaign upside down!
Politics. Strange, strange, strange. Bush's buddies in SC conduct push-polls in 2000, calling up hick racists....er, sorry, average Joes....and saying, If you knew John McCain had fathered a half-black b*stard child, would you be more or less likely to vote for him? Uh, less likely, said most of those polled. And McCain's lead in the primaries evaporated. At their next public forum, a microphone caught McCain and Monkey-Boy's conversation as they stood onstage together: "George, George..." (in a "I can't believe you would stoop so low" tone) "John, it's politics." They deserve each other.
Not a chance. And, incidentally, McCain has ruled out running for VP on either ticket with equal vigor. The only news here is that McCain went out of his way to give a strong endorsement to Iraq policy. He's been saying for months he supported the re-election effort -- he's the campaign chair in Arizona, so this is hardly surprising. We'll never know for sure, but I still say when the cameras are off and he's in the booth, he's voting Kerry. He won't cross party lines publically, as he's a true Republican, but he loathes Bush personally and has been probably his biggest Republican critic (along with Hagel). Meanwhile, he's close personal friends with Kerry and aside from the abortion issue, they're closer on foreign policy than he is to Bush.
That confirms it. McCain is a weasel, just like everyone else in that party. To think I was just 30 miles from two of the greatest bastards in American history.
Everybody, from either side of the aisle, who follows politics knows this. It's not a secret and it's not an assumption. It's conventional wisdom. And it's well founded. Vegan - you usually seem pretty well informed but you apparently haven't been watching McCain either. No way in hell he works in a Bush White House. First of all, he's not suited to work in any White House if he's not president. Second, Bush is about the last president he'd ever work for.
John McCain is a nutless coward. Giving Bush a public endorsement after that grotesque smear campaign in 2000. What a loser.
Call it a hunch. I see McCain as Bush's wild card -- if Bush gets REALLY behind, he can turn to McCain to reverse his fortunes. It would be that easy. If he gets McCain, the election is over, and both sides know it. There are reports that the prison abuse scandal will soon turn much darker and uglier, so at least one cabinet member will be turned loose. Enter McCain and a Bush landslide. Again, no evidence or proof. I'm probably completely wrong. Just a hunch.
Vegan: The idea that he might contribute to a Bush win is the best argument for why he wouldn't join the cabinet. Everyone knows how distasteful McCain finds the Bush presidency. The GOP leadership even started accusing him of not being a real Republican. I think it was Hastert who started responding to questions about McCain by saying "Who? Never heard of him" or something to that effect. Take this latest endorsement with a mountain of salt. He was starting to take some serious lumps from the GOP. He had to say something to counter the idea that he'd prefer Kerry. I'll bet you a hundred bucks he doesn't join the cabinet. Faos: Bush certainly never expressed regret for the 2000 campaign (not for suggesting McCain's time as a POW had made him too unstable to be president nor for his campaign's push polls that suggested McCain fathered a black baby out of wedlock - both of which McCain has never forgiven) and McCain only expressed regret for failing to condemn Bob Jones U's racist dating policy and for failing to condemn the Confederate flag, so I'm not sure what you're talking about. You're right that it takes a man to admit a mistake, but Bush hasn't done that since he gave up drinking. In fact, he recently said he couldn't think of a single mistake he'd made in his presidency. By your standard here, Bush is anything but a man.
Yawn. This just in - sun expected to rise in East tomorrow. NPR and NYT report women and children hardest hit.
I take it you don't listen much to NPR. You might want to check out the story of positive effects our U.S. troops is having on Iraqis. It originated from NPR. As have many other interviews from Iraqis both praising and condemning U.S. actions in Iraq. I have yet to find more balanced coverage of the situation elsewhere.
