McCain denounces Zell Miller
By Janet Hook Tribune Newspapers: Los Angeles Times
Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) (R-Ariz.), who has pushed for more civility in this year's presidential race, is warning that the biting, angry attack on Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) by a fellow Democrat at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night might harm President Bush (news - web sites)'s efforts to woo swing voters.
McCain said the keynote address by Sen. Zell Miller (news, bio, voting record) (D-Ga.) could prove as controversial as a speech by Patrick Buchanan (news - web sites) at the 1992 GOP convention in Houston.
"I think it backfires," McCain said of Miller's rhetorical assault on Kerry. He added that it "makes Buchanan's speech look milquetoast."
McCain made his comments to reporters at a party he held after the convention's Wednesday session ended.
Buchanan's speech, in which he declared a "culture war" was under way in America, was thought by many Republicans to have hurt the re-election bid of Bush's father, then-President George H.W. Bush. The elder Bush lost the November vote to Democrat Bill Clinton (news - web sites).
Miller's keynote address was laced with harsh criticism of Kerry's legislative record on military issues. Marshall Wittmann, McCain's spokesman, said the senator favors a less divisive approach to political debate and admires Senator Kerry.
"This is not his style," Wittmann said. "He would prefer to see Democrats not as our enemies, but rather as honest Americans who have good intentions but policy differences" with some Republicans.
McCain has campaigned for the younger Bush's re-election and continues that effort in coming days, appearing on the president's behalf in New Mexico and Wisconsin.
But he also has denounced ads by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth as being dishonest and dishonorable, criticizing Kerry's military service in Vietnam and his protests against that war. McCain has urged the White House to condemn the ads but President Bush has not done so. |
