This should prove to people that McCain and Hagel are different. McCain verbally supports Bush, has campaigned with him, gone to bat for him on TV, and he still cannot make some people here happy.
Mother Sheehan aside, McCain is still saying that things are not going well in Iraq. In that respect he is just like Hagel.
McCain and Hagel are different. McCain is supportive of the war but undermines Bush on just about every other issue (campaign finance reform, judges, and global warming just to name a few) whereas Hagel is critical about war but supports Bush on most things. Hagel is pretty reliably conservative with respect to most issues whereas McCain is not.
It is because he is a happless jerk with no common sense. And he has sand-bagged W's policies.
Speaking at a breakfast meeting of the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, McCain said Sheehan was "probably" being used by organizations opposed to the U.S. mission in Iraq.
Even though we have tons of evidence that she IS being used, he has to place the relunctant "probably". can't be too bold or he'll make his friends on the other aisle unhappy and ruin his reputation as a Maverick.
But the four-term Republican defended her right to protest and said the vigil she has maintained outside of Bush's Texas ranch was "a symptom, not a cause" of growing public discontent with the war.
Yep. So supportive right here. Supports her right to keep on talking down that morale and encourage discontent. Doesn't say a word here of how she is wrong and cite examples.
"Things are not good in Iraq," he said. "We take one step forward and two steps back."
And the Maverick continues his little dance. Is the news they just crafted a Constitution worth a mention? Perfect opportunity to make note of it and he passes.
McCain accused Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld of badly handling the war but said it was up to Bush to decide whether he should be replaced.
Questioning the President's judgment and leading his own little petty insurgency to Rummy, our SofDef through back channels of the press, is not what most would call supportive.
You are right that Hagel and McCain are not alike entirely. Hagel has chosen to make a stand of resistance publically on the war, while Mccain is more subtle and saves most of his public venom for Rummy only. But then hagel saves most of his resistance to domestic policy for quiet back channels while McCain sabotages conservative achievements left and right such as with the filibuster.
You are correct he won't make some people happy, but in truth he makes the vast majority of conservatives unhappy because he is out for McCain. We know better than to trust him.
And BTW, it is no great achievement he 'campaigned for' Bush. It's expected Republicans campaign for their nominee. The fact mcCain kept people on the fence for weeks while he allowed the press to flirt with the idea of him being Kerry's VP is NOT indicative of any great character credentials in his favor.