Posted on 02/11/2008 7:30:24 AM PST by truthkeeper
WASHINGTON -- President Bush pledged Sunday to assist Sen. John McCain's campaign for the presidency assuming he wins the Republican Party nomination -- but acknowledged that the Arizona senator has "got some convincing to do" among the party's conservatives.
In an interview with "Fox News Sunday" at his retreat at Camp David, Md., Bush was careful to note that two Republicans are still competing for the nomination, and he did not express a preference.
But Bush made clear that he was willing to set aside the tensions he has had with McCain in the past, and he praised the front-runner as "a true conservative."
"I think that if John's the nominee, he has got some convincing to do to convince people that he is a solid conservative. And I'll be glad to help him if he is the nominee, because he is a conservative," Bush said.
"Look, he's very strong on national defense. He's tough fiscally. He believes that tax cuts ought to be permanent. He's pro-life. . . . His principles are sound and solid as far as I'm concerned," Bush said.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I would be shocked if he didn’t. Bush created this mess. Well, Bush and Karl Rove.
Bush still has to prove to us that he himself is a conservative. How is he going to convince the rest of us that McCain is a conservative?
Since when do we take lessons from W on who is and who isn’t “a true conservative”?
He’s qualified to tell us who’s a “compassionate conservative,” but the two have very little to do with each other.
LOL! Man, this is going to be one bizarro election.
Both Bush and McCain helped my former RINO congressman. Fortunately it didn’t do any good.
Powell’s always been a leftist tool himself. But he’s the right color to make our party look inclusive. Time to put an “Closed due to Remodeling” sign on the GOP.
Powell has given money to only to the McCain campaign.
“Bush still has to prove to us that he himself is a conservative. How is he going to convince the rest of us that McCain is a conservative?”
I was thinking the same thing.
Yep. Bush will sure bring the conservatives to McCain. The two amigos.
I saw Bush at a campaign appearance in Allentown, PA back in 2004. McCain was by his side and gave a rousing speech.
The Dem strategy will be to say that McCain is just 4 more years of Bush. Not sure McCain benefits from full bore campaigning by Bush.
I think Powell is right. The time of the Ayatollahs is over in Iran. If we quit being the reason for their existance, they will fade away. Talking to the government will not make the religious leaders happy.
Is anybody surprised that he's "open" to voting for a Democrat? Yes, he's a leftist tool of Democrats and liberal Republicans who are all "open" to voting for the most liberal candidate they can find who can be elected.
I have no trouble believing that Jorge the Mexican will support Juan McAmnestia.
I’ve suspected for about 2 years that an inside deal was made that if McLame supported the war, Bush would push McLame. No suprises here.
He’s give $2,3000 to McCain. He hasn’t given any money to any othe candidate.
more conspiracy theories.
I went to a rally for McCain during the 2000 run-up. He has a ton of charisma. McCain loves the townhall type of appearance because it gives him a chance to be informal and it works like a charm. His shift to the left during the last eight yrs. is because he felt that he was wrongly denied the nomination the first time around, IMHO. This time, all that matters to me is that HClinton/Clinton or Barry or even HClinton/Clinton/Barry loses. They must not be allowed to seize power and gut our military like they did last time. All this nonsense about “true conservative” happened to Reagan, so the crybabies in our party are going to stay home and pout? We owe our military better than that.
“Powell has given money to only to the McCain campaign.”
It would not surprise me if McCain chooses Powell as his VP.
That’d certainly make a bad situation worse. But I could believe it. McCain feels conservatives own him, and he’d believe the NYT if they urged him to reach out to the left.
What you refer to as a mess is nothing compared to what would have happened if Gore or Kerry had been in charge for the last 8 or 4 years.
Powell says he is not interested in running for elected office.
Beat me to it.
President Bush pledged Sunday to assist Sen. John McCain’s campaign for the presidency assuming he wins the Republican Party nomination — but acknowledged that the Arizona senator has “got some convincing to do” among the party’s conservatives.
Jeez!.....that’s a good one Jorge!...you’ve already crossed that stream, right?
It won’t help. Powell’s brand has faded a bit.
“Is anybody surprised that he’s “open” to voting for a Democrat?”
Ann Coulter is.
Aren’t half the vocal Freepers here ready to vote for a democrat such their despise for rinos?
Powell is no longer trusted, but some people here seem to think it’s a good idea too for different reasons.
Whatever lemons we are tossed, I will just have to make lemonade and hope for the best.
WOW! With that type of attitude you’ll end up with about four people in the entire party. If you have not already noticed, it’s people such as yourself that is the minority in the party. Look at all the endorsements from long time Republicans. This party is not yours to play with.
You are correct, the party is not mine.
LOL... Oh, please. The President, as the head of the party would be supporting the Republican nominee anyway: any of them. You'd expect him to come out in favor of Hillary? Don't think so...
BTTT!
I don’t think Powell would do it, but it’s a good idea.
Naturally, a sitting President will campaign for the nominee of the party to which he belongs. Why would this even be news?
Bush campaigning for McCain would probably hurt McCain at this point. Conservatives no longer trust Bush (at least on some issues) and the left still ferociously hates Bush, so I don’t see any benefits for McCain if Bush is out there fighting for him.
I'm not one of them. I won't vote for McCain, Hillary or Obama for the simple reason that voting for any of them is a vote for Soros' agenda. I just think it's interesting that Powell, who would be a retired nobody had the Republicans not shoved him forward during his entire career, is nearly as loyal as McCain to the party. Maybe he'll be McCain's VP since he's a "maverick" too.
You call us crybabies for not liking McCain, yet you assert that his shift to the left was because he was peeved over not getting the GOP nomination in 2000. So because he lost the primaries to Bush, he contemplated switching parties, and teamed up with leftists to undermine the GOP for eight years, but it’s the people angry about that who are the crybabies? I don’t understand your reasoning here.
Unfortunately for McCain and very much unlike Reagan, it's well hidden in the day of TV campaigning.
His speeches are about on a par with Bushes' - nothing to brag about. When speaking off the cuff or answering questions, McCain has trouble keeping his arrogance and smirk in control. Shouldn't be difficult for the Democrats to goad him into a public tantrum. He's been good at keeping a lid on it so far, but those were only Republicans and extremely friendly press needling him very lightly. I'll be very surprised if he can make it to Nov. without exposing the fact that he has anything but the right temperament to be President.
Not sure of the exact numbers here, but when Clinton took office, he gutted the armed forces by somewhere near 8 divisions. He slashed the funding for day-to-day and special programs, and he allowed the White House staff to abuse and insult military officers. General Barry McCaffery was one of them. Now more than ever, we need someone who is going to keep the terrorists in their rat holes. I believe McCain will do this.
Don’t ask me about anything else, this is my only reason now.
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