McCain Embraces Bush, Democrats Rejoice?

John McCain visited the White House today to receive the endorsement of President Bush. It does not push McCain to the nomination--the Arizona Senator wrapped that up on his own, finally dispatching the pesky Mike Huckabee with wins in Ohio and Texas yesterday. Nor was it particularly surprising--the Republican president was certainly going to give the blessing to his apparent heir. The event was monumental nonetheless.

His appearance with Bush today, months after his campaign was declared dead and eight years after his bitter primary battle with the then-Texas Governor ended in stinging defeat, caps a roller coaster ride for John McCain. In 2000, it was clear the two men shared distaste for one another, culminating with Bush's primary win in South Carolina. Rumors of dirty politics and a smear campaign left McCain resentful. McCain only begrudgingly endorsed Bush after conceding that race and was a thorn in his side for much of his presidency. After flirting with the possibility of a unity ticket with Democrat John Kerry in 2004, John McCain again embraced Bush in hopes of winning favor with the Republican base for his second presidential bid.

His past inextricably tied to Bush, John McCain's prospects of victory in 2008 are certainly intertwined with the President as well. Though often a voice of dissent during Bush's first term, McCain has been one of his strongest advocates during the second term on issues ranging immigration reform to the surge policy. While McCain believes he can turn what once looked like a foreign policy burden into his greatest strength in the general election, there is no doubt that he will face an electorate eager to put the past eight years behind them.

Democrats certainly hope voters remember today's embrace, believing that Bush's unpopularity is their ticket to success in the fall. Though McCain readily accepted Bush's endorsement, it's unlikely he will play a major role on the campaign trail. More than likely, McCain will rely on Bush to raise money--a task that has thus far proved difficult for the nominee.

"They're not going to be voting for me," Bush said. "I've had my time in the Oval Office." While it is true that his name will not be on the ballot this year, the perception of his presidency will likely determine John McCain's fate come November.

Cross-posted at Political Realm.

President uses a blow torch to light fire under Congress

President Bush took the opportunity to wear out Congress yesterday morning. There was no sign that there should be any compromise. It should be his way. If you aren't doing it his way, he will veto it. He named a number of things that Congress isn't doing - Alternative minimum tax (which the Republican's had 6 years to do something on but didn't), His War Funding request and other spending bills.

I find it odd that this man was labeled as the compassionate conservative. I hadn't seen one bit of compassion for the American people. I haven't seen the president compromise on any major piece of legislation. He has pushed, prodded, punched and run over anyone in his way.

From WaPo:

With his approval ratings stubbornly low, President Bush is trying to gain political traction by spoiling for fights with an institution the public appears to hold in even lower esteem: Congress.

Bush held his 18th event of the year yesterday focused on his disputes with Capitol Hill, blasting Democratic lawmakers for not completing annual spending bills, or sending him war funding legislation, or finalizing a measure that would permanently legalize his administration's warrantless wiretapping program. The 19th event is to come this morning in a presidential news conference at the White House.

Thankfully, Harry Reid, Democratic Senate Majority Leader, countered. "The surge hasn't accomplished its goals," Reid said. "... We're involved, still, in an intractable civil war." In a wishy-washy piece in Politico.com, the author paints the Democrats has waffling on the Surge. Stating that some Democrats are saying that the Surge is in fact working. Any Democrats who have said that the Surge is working are either being quoted out of context (John Murtha) or have their heads in the sand. Right wing bloggers like Hot Air have missed the point. The point of the Surge was to decrease violence so that there could be political reconciliation. This is what President Bush said back in January. As I mentioned before, our military if given the right resources can control any space in the world. This is clear. No Democrat or Republican would argue this point. Our military has been proving that they can clear and hold territory ever since the war began. The problem was that our military would then have to leave that area and move to somewhere else that was out of control. When they left a power vacuum was filled with para-military Sunni's and Shiite's. Again, I would point out that the goal that President Bush set, not Congressional Democrats or Belt Way pundits. The President set the goal. The goal was to decrease the violence so that there can be a political power sharing agreement.

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President talks about WW III

First of all, I appreciate the invitation to post on Mirror on America

There are times when the White House press corps simply gives me chest pain. When President Bush mentioned that “if Iran would get plans for nuclear technology”, someone should’ve asked the following question — “Mr. President, didn’t we give Iran nuclear blueprints?”

“Didn’t we give technical designs to a TBA 480 Russian reactor? ” “Wasn’t the operation to give ‘phony plans’ to the Iranians code-named, MERLIN?” “Wasn’t the whole operation delineated in James Risen’s book, State of War?”

I hate it when the press corp is stupid. I also hate it when the President thinks that we are stupid. I mean this is readily available knowledge. It is in a book about the CIA. The book sold well. Didn’t they read it or get the Cliff Notes?

To sum up, we, the United States, gave the “altered” plans for a nuclear reactor to the Iranians.

The thought was that if we gave them plans then we would know where they were in development of nuclear technology. It was a stupid plan but that’s what happened. This happened in late 2000 or 2001. I’m not blaming the President for the CIA’s thoughtlessness. I’m blaming the president for thinking that we are stupid. Developing plans is not that hard any more. We did it 60 years ago. With modern technology it has to be easier. Getting the materials is the problem.

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