McCain's friendship with Kerry sparks speculation, debate
seattletimes.nwsource.com
By Mark Z. Barabak
Los Angeles Times
John McCain won't talk about John Kerry.
One of the last times McCain spoke publicly about his friend and Senate colleague, he said he might become Kerry's vice presidential running mate, if the opportunity arose. Never mind the implausibility of the two — a Southwestern moderate conservative and Northeastern moderate liberal — comfortably coexisting in the White House. The sheer audacity of such a blending was enough to electrify insiders for a few hours last month, until McCain pulled the plug with a bland statement ruling it out.
Days later, though, McCain popped up on another of the morning chat shows, this time disputing the notion that Kerry was some kind of national-security wimp, as suggested in President Bush's campaign ads. "No, I do not believe he is, quote, 'weak on defense,' " McCain said of the presumptive Democratic nominee. "I don't agree with him on some issues, clearly, but I decry the negativism that's going on on both sides."
That one stoked flame-throwers on the right — many of whom loathe McCain — who tore into the Arizona Republican for not only failing to toe the party line but also trampling all over it.
And so McCain won't discuss Kerry, D-Mass., these days.
"Appearing in a piece like this just adds fuel to the speculation fire," McCain spokesman Marshall Wittmann said, explaining the senator's refusal to be interviewed.
Leaving one to ask: What motivates McCain, who continues to beguile and irritate four years after a rollicking and, ultimately, losing bid for the Republican presidential nomination?
Is it the bond he and Kerry forged as Vietnam War vets — a former prisoner of war and former protester — who came together to help a nation bind its wounds over the bitter conflict?
Is it McCain's long-standing distaste for the grubbier side of politics, the mudslinging and mooching off donors, which resulted in the campaign-finance overhaul bill that bears his name?
Or is it McCain's way of needling Bush and the people who put him in the White House, after a brutal primary fight that left hard feelings on both sides?
"He's not the kind of person who goes around screaming about past injustices," one veteran said of the 2000 campaign. "But John McCain knows how to get under George Bush's skin, and he enjoys doing it."
As far back as 2002, at a dinner in South Carolina, Kerry referenced that state's fierce 2000 primary between Bush and McCain.
"I know we all have great admiration for the way John McCain courageously endured years of unbelievable psychological torture by ideological fanatics," Kerry said. "And that's just in the Republican caucus."
One thing is clear: McCain remains a political force, and not because he tries to please people. "There are two types of guys in this town: those that get ulcers and those that give ulcers," said Scott Reed, a Washington lobbyist and Republican strategist. "John McCain is clearly the latter."
And although some Republicans — the Bush team among them — "roll their eyes ... , at the end of the day they take McCain seriously," Reed said.
Given his widespread popularity, they have little choice.
Kerry and McCain haven't always been friendly. McCain spent 5-½ years as a prisoner of war in Hanoi, learning of the growing anti-war movement back home from fellow POWs, who tapped out messages on his cell wall. In 1984, McCain opposed Kerry in his first race for Senate, denouncing him for tossing away his ribbons during a protest at the Capitol.
Their relationship thawed a few years later when McCain and Kerry were together on a flight to Kuwait for an inspection tour after the first Gulf War. The two began talking about their shared Vietnam experience, and by "daybreak we shared a new understanding — and a new friendship," Kerry wrote in "Call to Service," his campaign book.
Their friendship grew during a Senate investigation that settled the touchy question of whether American prisoners were still being held in Vietnam. The work — steeped in grief, anger and wild conspiracy theories — was a nightmare, said Frances Zwenig, who directed the committee staff. During one venomous hearing, when an activist accused McCain of betraying his country and fellow veterans, Kerry laid a calming hand on his colleague's arm.
In 1995, McCain and Kerry stood together in the White House, symbols of reconciliation, as President Clinton announced the normalization of diplomatic ties to Vietnam.
For all of that, the two are leagues apart on most issues, making their political pairing seem more workable in the abstract than it probably would be in reality. As McCain said, "It's impossible to imagine the Democratic Party seeking a pro-life, free-trading, nonprotectionist, deficit hawk." Privately, McCain has groused that Kerry is making more of their friendship, for political sake, than he would like.
"The bottom line is that, while Senator Kerry is a friend, Senator McCain supports President Bush for re-election," said Wittmann, McCain's spokesman.
McCain easily is the most popular politician in Arizona, polls show, and liked much more than Bush. But his greatest strength is his national appeal to Democrats and independents, those very people Bush needs to woo and win in November.
McCain last week criticized Bush's conduct of the war in Iraq, as well as Republicans' stand on the environment and minority issues. "From a partisan standpoint, I wish he wouldn't say some of what he says," said Mike Hellon, who serves on the Republican National Committee. "On the other hand, and I've told him this, the single most important element of his overwhelming popularity is his candor. People know when he speaks that he's telling what he thinks without any varnish or veneer. ... " |
