On Politics
McCain a loyal soldier for GOP

By David Postman
Seattle Times chief political reporter

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If yesterday was the first time you'd seen George Bush and John McCain together, it'd be hard to believe they've had such a troubled relationship. You'd almost think they were running mates.

They were once bitter rivals, McCain a sometimes critic of Bush, and until days ago McCain's (Republican) name kept surfacing as a possible running mate for Democrat John Kerry.

At his surprise appearance with Bush at Fort Lewis, McCain seemed to effortlessly slide into the role of a loyal No. 2. You could see why Kerry was coveting the Arizonan: a Navy veteran, former prisoner of war, a straight talker from a town of mumble and mush mouths, who with a few words lays out the rationale for the Iraq war in a way that all but dares anyone to question him.

The war's about nothing more complicated than good versus evil, McCain said. Now, choose sides.

He bolstered Bush, too, telling thousands of soldiers that the president has led with "moral clarity" and resolute determination.

McCain appeared on stage at Fort Lewis to introduce Bush to the crowd. He went with the president to meet with wounded soldiers and the families of those killed in action.

He was at the president's left hand when Bush sat yesterday for an interview with three local reporters. He offered his own answers to questions, elaborated on Bush's responses and made it clear he's on board for the year.

Bush told reporters that it was not the first time he and McCain had campaigned together.

"Nor the last," McCain said.

"Nor the last. Thanks," Bush said.
 
They campaigned together for Bush's father in 1988 and later for Phil Gramm's failed run for the presidency.

Four years ago, they competed for the Republican nomination with some particularly nasty exchanges about negative campaign tactics. McCain later joined Bush on the general-election campaign trail.

When Bush was defending his belief that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, he said lots of people agreed at the time, including Democrats.

McCain all but whispered, so did "every nation in the world."

"And every nation in the world thought he had weapons of mass destruction," Bush said.

McCain stepped in to back up Bush on several questions, at one point apologizing for the interruption and telling reporters, "I know you are here to talk to the president."

"Don't apologize. Stand your ground," Bush told him with a chuckle.

In recent years McCain has criticized Bush on several issues, including the president's tax cuts. And McCain has defended Kerry, a fellow Vietnam vet he describes as a friend, against Republican attacks on his record on national security.

Bush didn't appear to hold any grudge. In talking about how some foreign leaders wanted the United States to back down in Iraq, the president made it sound like the Bush-McCain administration was the one that opposed any sign of appeasement or weakness.

"They're not going to find a friend for that idea in me or John McCain," Bush said. "We're not going to surrender to them."