Article published Mar 6, 2008
McCain helped Bush see the light
March 6, 2008
By Stephen Dinan - Analysis: Democrats argue that Sen. John McCain is just a continuation of President Bush's time in office, but if so, that's mostly because Mr. Bush has moved toward Mr. McCain on issues, not the other way around.
As one of the dominant legislators of the past decade, Mr. McCain staked out positions on liberalizing immigration laws, overhauling campaign-finance rules, increasing troops in Iraq, addressing global warming and even cutting pork-barrel spending — only to see Mr. Bush tack toward him on each issue.
Mr. Bush yesterday endorsed Mr. McCain in a brief press conference in the White House Rose Garden, praising the senator's "determination to defeat an enemy and a heart big enough to love those who hurt."
Mr. McCain, who secured the delegates necessary to clinch Republicans' presidential nomination Tuesday night, has had a back-and-forth relationship with Mr. Bush. The two men fought strenuously for the 2000 nomination but patched their relationship enough so that Mr. McCain was a key campaigner in the president's 2004 re-election.
Throughout, the two clashed. But they also found common ground on issue after issue on which Mr. McCain was the beacon.
Sometimes it was reluctantly, as in the case of campaign finance; sometimes enthusiastically, as with the president's recent focus on spending cuts; and sometimes he's only taken small steps, as with the administration's recent movement on climate change.
Perhaps the best example is the 2005 Senate battle over torture. Mr. McCain almost single-handedly stood up to the White House and won Mr. Bush's backing for a bill to explicitly prohibit U.S. military personnel from engaging in torture.
Democrats say Mr. McCain no longer deserves his reputation as a maverick.
"All he offers is four more years of the failed Bush economy, an endless war in Iraq, and shameless hypocrisy on ethics reform. The fact is, the American people want change, not another out-of-touch Bush Republican," Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said yesterday.
And a liberal advocacy group announced a $1 million television ad campaign featuring a hand that repeatedly cuts out Mr. McCain's head and pastes in Mr. Bush's head, underscoring their similarities.
And Mr. McCain has embraced Mr. Bush's stance on tax cuts — he opposed both 2001 and 2003 packages, only to promise to fight for them during his current campaign.
But even when Mr. Bush and Mr. McCain disagreed, Mr. McCain often was driving Congress' agenda anyway. Issues that had Mr. McCain's stamp on them saw action — so much so that he essentially was the de facto majority leader.
Among other things, that included teaming up with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and Sen. John Edwards in 2001 to sponsor a patients' bill of rights. And four years later, Mr. McCain helped strike the "Gang of 14" deal on judicial nominations that appeared to undercut Mr. Bush and then-Majority Leader Bill Frist but also served to get many of the administration's conservative judges confirmed.
"He triangulated on the Republicans in the Senate, just like he's going to do when he's the president, except obviously as president he'd have a much better microphone from which to do it," said Michael McKenna, a Republican strategist and lobbyist.
"But it doesn't change the fundamental strategy of the last 15 years of his career, which is: Find out where the Republicans are, find out where the Democrats are, and stake yourself somewhere in between," Mr. McKenna said.
Using that strategy has put the Arizona senator at the center of the biggest congressional fights. Immigration, campaign-finance reform and global warming might never have made it to the Senate floor were it not for Mr. McCain's support.
Mr. Bush understands that he might be a drag on Mr. McCain.
"If my showing up and endorsing him helps him, or if I'm against him and it helps him — either way, I want him to win," the president said.
Those who have watched Mr. Bush up close say they do see the "third-term" similarities.
"It's as close as it could be. At least on the war, on immigration, on tax cuts supposedly," said a source with ties to the White House, who asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on its behalf. "They do tend to agree on a lot of big issues. And he will enthusiastically support the nominee."