Posted on 06/19/2008 3:48:53 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Rumsfeld repays McCain; declines to back candidate By Roxana Tiron Posted: 06/18/08 08:00 PM [ET]
Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld recently declined to answer whether he will support Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for president.
McCain, the GOP presidential standard-bearer, has been one of Rumsfeld’s harshest critics.
McCain has said that Rumsfeld will “go down as one of the worst secretaries of defense in history.”
The Hill talked to Rumsfeld earlier this month near his downtown D.C. office.
Rumsfeld told The Hill that he has not followed the presidential elections, but instead has been focused on work for his private foundation.
Asked whether that meant he wasn’t going to support McCain, Rumsfeld answered: “I have not been involved at all.”
Rumsfeld declined to comment any further. He also declined a follow-up request for comment on the issue to his personal office.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
Hands down Rumsfeld, not Iraq, was Bush’s biggest mistake.
He’s a private citizen, he has every right to not comment. Good for Rumsfeld. I hope he can get back to enjoying his life after the crap he had to put up with as SECDEF.
Rumsfeld, not Iraq, was Bush’s biggest mistake.I'm no expert, and I don't pretend to know all the facts, but I do tend to agree with you on this.
The way I see it, the improvement began with Rumsfeld gone.
The irritating thing is, Bush waiting until AFTER the 2006 election to get rid of him. That was a typical Bush blunder. Bush can be great, but he also can blunder.
I see this as a good thing. I also remember reading last week that J.C. Watts is not supporting McCain. In my opinion the only way for true conservatism to dominate the political thought is for the GOP to self distruct. The biggest obstacle for conservatives since Reagan has been the GOP.
How so?
Question: How many voters determine their vote by who Rumsfeld was going to endorse?
Answer: Both of them.
Rummy said we went to war with the army we had. Thanks to the cutbacks by the toon in the 90’s, the military did not have the numbers really needed. Rummy is the one who worked to rebuild the military, and thanks to him, we had the numbers needed for the surge.
It's a good move.
Rumsfeld is a gentleman. Unlike John McCain.
Hardly. Cheney, Powell, Miers, Tenet, Bremer, shamnesty, signing McCain Feingold, throwing Scooter Libby to the wolves, Scott McClellan, getting in bed with Kennedy, Ramos/Compean, failing to secure the borders, the Chinese/EP-3 fiasco, trusting Putin, refusing to aggressively confront those lying about Iraq, etc., were all far bigger pooch screws.
That's because he's going to support fellow black guy Obama for the election.
Hardly due to his strong conservative reaction against McCain.
The lack of an endorsement from Rumsfeld should be considered a positive asset.
Frankly, it doesn’t matter who he supports. The fact is though that prominent Republicans are not supporting McCain. Had the GOP run a true conservative the party faithful would be rallying to his support. Sadly though there are few, if any, true conservatives in the forefront of the party.
Rumsfeld is the classic Rockefeller republican, He may be “conservative” on foreign policy, but he is a big govt domestic “neocon”.
Rumsfeld lack of public support for McCain is a big game that is played in DC that everyone pretends isn’t played.
Rummy is smart to not comment; his no comment however is not a non-endorsement, it is just silence on the issue at hand. Typical media spin.
Rummy is a giant and will always be one. The one thing that irks me to no end about McCain is his constant criticism of Rummy. If you ask me, it was the terrorists who created the havoc in Iraq, not Rummy.
Rummy fan then, Rummy fan now.
The looting of the National Museum in Iraq and Rummy's reaction, for example, was typical of the serious problems the man had with actually taking responsibility for anything. The man had no concept of anything beyond the movement of troops and seemed to think that war started and ended with purely military operations.
The man was a fool in terms of what it takes to occupy and pacify a nation. He certainly did not understand the elements of success of previous occupations.
Occupied peoples never love or trust men with guns. And you only achieve a situation where soldiers can walk around without guns when you have enough soldiers.
A small light force is sufficient to win the war, but never the peace.
Rumsfeld is the reason the US is still in Iraq. A better strategy would have seen a complete victory by now.
A somewhat less combative character might also have encouraged more allies to carry some weight.
I agree with you 100%.
LLS
It would seem that Rumsfeld is not going to be Secy. of Defense or Secy. of State in a McCain administration......
I was hoping McCain would appoint him as US Ambassador to the UN!!
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