Bush gives McCain a starting block boost (Roundup)

US News

Mar 5, 2008, 19:42 GMT

Washington - US President George W Bush Wednesday gave a spirited endorsement to Republican presidential nominee John McCain, citing his commitment to keeping the country safe. 'He's going to be the president who will bring determination to defeat the enemy,' Bush told reporters at the White House after the two men had lunch with their wives. Senator McCain, 71, sealed his hold on the Republican Party nomination Tuesday night in party primary voting in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont. Despite past differences between the two men, Bush's approval gave McCain a head start off the starting block in campaigning for the November 4 presidential election, while Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama continue their tense tug-of-war over the Democratic nomination. In recent weeks, Clinton has emphasized national security in her campaign, saying the Democrats need a candidate who can go 'toe to toe' with McCain, the Vietnam War hero and one-time prisoner of war. McCain understands 'this is a dangerous world' and the country needs 'someone in the Oval Office who understands the stakes,' Bush said, playing on the national security theme. Bush said he planned to retire in 2009 to his Crawford, Texas ranch with full confidence the country was in McCain's hands. 'He's going to be in the Oval Office making decisions about war and peace. I'm going to be in Crawford with my feet up,' Bush quipped. Bush laughed at questions about whether his declining popularity over the war in Iraq could have a back-lash effect on his endorsement of McCain. 'If he wants me to show up, I will. If he wants me to say I'm not for him, I will,' Bush retorted. Bush and McCain duelled bitterly for the 2000 Republican presidential nomination, and McCain - a party maverick who is a hawk on security issues but more liberal on domestic themes - has challenged Bush on the conduct of the war in Iraq. McCain said he hoped Bush would 'find time from his busy schedule to be out on the campaign trail with me.' 'I will be very privileged to have the opportunity being again on the campaign trail with him, only slightly different roles,' he said. McCain straggled last year among the 13 men who started the race for the Republican nomination, being forced to operate on a shoe- string budget and cut staff, and Bush's power as a fund raiser will help boost his coffers. 'A while back, I don't think many people would have thought that John would be here as nominee of the Republican Party,' Bush said. From the beginning of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, McCain called for a much greater troop strength than Bush had approved, and saw his stance confirmed as the Iraqi insurgency and chaos grew out of control. But he has remained committed to the war, saying it is vital for US security, and at one point in the campaign even said the US role in Iraq could last 100 years. With Clinton and Obama running on an end-the-war platform, McCain had altered his stance somewhat by the time he gave his victory speech Tuesday night in Dallas. 'The next president must explain how he or she intends to bring that war to the swiftest possible conclusion without exacerbating a sectarian conflict that could quickly descend into genocide, destabilizing the entire Middle East,' McCain said. Although Obama and Clinton have drawn the media spotlight at home and abroad, McCain's independent streak could resonate well enough with centrist and independent voters to make him a formidable candidate on November 4.

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''It'sMar 6th, 2008 - 05:08:08

all about the war I started'', says dummy...er Bush. ''My very close and good dear friend John says it's OK to keep it going for a hunert years so I here-by give him my royal blessing''.

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Bush gives McCain a starting block boost (Roundup)

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