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Fri 19 Mar, 2004 10:28 am
McCain Says Kerry Not Weak on Defense
Thu Mar 18,11:28 AM ET
WASHINGTON - Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Thursday he did not believe Democratic candidate John Kerry, a friend and Senate colleague, was weak on defense or would compromise national security if elected president.
"This kind of rhetoric, I think, is not helpful in educating and helping the American people make a choice," McCain said on "The Early Show" on CBS. "You know, it's the most bitter and partisan campaign that I've ever observed. I think it's because both parties are going to their bases rather than going to the middle. I regret it."
Republicans, including President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites), have sharply criticized Kerry on a range of defense and security issues, including not supporting the war in Iraq, voting against a measure to provide the war effort $87 billion, and voting against weapons systems critical to waging war.
"The senator from Massachusetts has given us ample doubts about his judgment and the attitude he brings to bear on vital issues of national security," Cheney said in a speech Wednesday.
Asked on NBC's "Today" if he thought Kerry was weak on defense, McCain said: "No, I do not believe that he is, quote, weak on defense. He's responsible for his voting record, as we are all responsible for our records, and he'll have to explain it. But, no, I do not believe that he is necessarily weak on defense. I don't agree with him on some issues, clearly. But I decry this negativism that's going on on both sides. The American people don't need it."
When asked on "The Early Show" if Kerry's election would compromise national security, McCain responded: "I don't think that ?- I think that John Kerry is a good and decent man. I think he has served his country."
McCain, Bush's rival for the Republican nomination in 2000, said he believes Bush has led the nation with clarity since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and that he supports Bush's re-election. "But I would certainly hope that we could raise the level of this debate. Otherwise, we're going to have very low voter turnouts in November," he told CBS.
McCain and Kerry, both decorated Navy veterans of the Vietnam War, have worked together on veterans issues in the Senate. Although McCain said last week he would consider an offer from Kerry to be his running mate, McCain's office later issued a statement saying he would not run with Kerry.
"I don't want to be vice president of the United States. I do not want to leave the Republican Party. I would not be vice president of the United States on either ticket," McCain told CBS on Thursday.
Kerry Gets Some Help From GOP Senator Hagel
Kerry Gets Some Help From GOP Senator
From a Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
March 22, 2004
WASHINGTON ?- Sen. Charles Hagel of Nebraska on Sunday became the second Republican senator to break ranks with the Bush-Cheney campaign's characterization of John F. Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee, as soft on defense issues.
Hagel joined fellow Vietnam veteran Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in criticizing ads sponsored by the Bush campaign that call Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts who also is a Vietnam veteran, "weak on defense."
"The facts just don't measure [up to]the rhetoric," Hagel said on ABC's "This Week."
One ad includes video footage of Kerry in West Virginia last week, responding to a charge that he had failed to support U.S. troops in Iraq by opposing the $87-billion military funding bill last fall. "I actually did vote for the $87 billion, before I voted against it," he said ?- a phrase the Bush campaign seized upon as showing the Massachusetts senator flip-flopping on issues.
"You can take a guy like John Kerry, who's been in the Senate for 19 years, and go through that voting record," Hagel said. "You can take it with
any of us, and pick out different votes, and then try to manufacture something around that."
Kerry's staff said he was trying to indicate his support for an amendment funding the appropriation from increased taxes on the wealthiest Americans. When that amendment failed, he voted against the bill.
Discussing the Bush campaign charges, McCain told the "Today" show on Thursday, "I do not believe that he is, quote, weak on defense. He's responsible for his voting record, as we are all responsible for our records, and he'll have to explain it. But, no, I do not believe that he is necessarily weak on defense."
That show of support added to earlier speculation that McCain might bolt the GOP to join the Democratic ticket ?- an idea he emphatically shot down Sunday by saying: "I will not leave the Republican Party ?- end of story."
Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," McCain was joined by Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) in decrying what Lieberman called the "tit-for-tat partisan attack" coming from each campaign last week. In sharp comments from both sides Thursday, Vice President Dick Cheney questioned Kerry's fitness to serve as commander in chief, while Kerry accused President Bush of overextending U.S. troops overseas and alienating U.S. allies.
"If it stays with this tone ?- and it is the tone of the campaigns as much as it is specific words ?- [if] the tone doesn't change, you're going to see low voter turnout, particularly amongst young Americans, and that's not healthy," said McCain, a primary challenger in 2000.
"Let's keep it civil, so we don't get so nasty that we discourage people from coming out and voting in a very important election," said Lieberman, who sought the Democratic presidential nomination this year. "Don't say that the opposition is evil. They may be wrong, but they're not evil."
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