A Scarred Campaign Veteran, Caught in a New Crossfire (McCain)

[kskiska]

When a group calling itself Republicans for Clean Air attacked Senator John McCain's environmental record during the 2000 presidential primaries, Mr. McCain lashed out at his opponent, George W. Bush, urging Mr. Bush to "tell his sleazy Texas buddies to stop these negative ads.''

Now, Texas supporters of Mr. Bush are behind the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the group attacking the Vietnam War record of Senator John Kerry, one of Mr. McCain's closest friends in the Senate. But this time, Mr. McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam who says he is furious over the latest advertisements, is campaigning vigorously to re-elect the president, which puts him in a difficult spot.

"It's personal to me because of my efforts to heal the wounds of the Vietnam War,'' Mr. McCain said in an interview on Wednesday, referring to the Swift boat advertisements. But, he added: "It's not personal to me because of anything that happened in the 2000 campaign because I must and have put anything disagreeable concerning the 2000 campaign behind me. Americans don't like a sore loser.''

But Mr. McCain cannot entirely put 2000 behind him because Mr. Kerry will not let him. On Wednesday, the Kerry camp began broadcasting commercials featuring Mr. McCain at a 2000 debate, rebuking Mr. Bush for going "over the line'' by standing alongside veterans who had complained that Mr. McCain abandoned them.

In the interview, Mr. McCain of Arizona said he wished Mr. Kerry "would not use my campaign for the Republican nomination against President Bush.''

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/26/politics/campaign/26mccain.html

[JI7]

1. then he should tell Bush to condemn the attacks on Kerry

and to STOP campaigning for bush until the attacks on kerry stop. until then, too bad.

[kskiska]

2. Kick

:kick: