McCain’s 10-second flip on whether he voted for Bush: ‘Of course not,’ ‘Of course.’
McCain’s 10-second flip on whether he voted for Bush: ‘Of course not,’ ‘Of course.’
This week, Arianna Huffington said that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and his wife, Cindy, told her at a Los Angeles dinner party not long after the 2000 election that neither of them voted for George Bush. A McCain spokesman insisted “it’s not true,” and told reporters to “consider the source.” Appearing on Fox News’s O’Reilly Factor last night, McCain tried to clarify:
O’REILLY: Did you vote for President Bush?
MCCAIN: Of course not. I campaigned all over this country for him.
O’REILLY: So you voted for President Bush.
MCCAIN: Of course. I mean, that’s a ridiculous question.
Watch it:
Today, the New York Times reports that two other attendees at that Los Angeles dinner, “West Wing” actors Bradley Whitford and Richard Schiff, say they, too, heard McCain say he had not voted for Bush.
Get Your Facts Right, Karl Rove
During today’s Washington Post online chat, Karl Rove chastised a questioner who brought up his infamous prediction that Bush’s poll numbers would rebound:
Columbus, Ohio: You boldy predicted that Bush’s approval ratings would rebound — instead he is, according to Gallup, the most unpopular presdient [sic] in history. Will you finally admit that your vision for this nation has been overwhelmingly rejected by the majority of the people?
Karl Rove: Get your facts right — there are at least three president who had worse approval ratings, Truman, Johnson and Nixon. I’m absolutely positive history will be kind to this president, who made the right decisions in a difficult time for this nation.
Rove needs to get his facts straight. The questioner is right. While Bush’s approval rating is not the lowest in history (but still near the bottom), his disapproval rating is actually the worst. According to the recent Gallup poll referenced by the questioner, Bush is indeed the most unpopular president in history — beating Truman, Johnson, and Nixon:
A recent poll of professional historians also found that “98.2 percent assessed the presidency of Mr. Bush to be a failure while 1.8 percent classified it as a success.” More than 61 percent of the historians “concluded that the current presidency is the worst in the nation’s history.”
Rove says he is still “absolutely positive history will be kind to this president.” How positive is he? As positive as he was that Republicans would win the 2006 elections?
Graham: ‘John [McCain] Is His Own Guy. Good Luck Making Him George Bush.’
Graham: ‘John [McCain] Is His Own Guy. Good Luck Making Him George Bush.’
This morning on CNN’s Late Edition, host Wolf Blitzer asked Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), “Where would Sen. McCain change U.S. policy from what the Bush administration is doing right now?” Graham responded:
I think there are a couple areas that would be different. One global climate change. John has been talking about global climate change for many years now. I think he would help lead the world to a solution there.
On the domestic front, I don’t think you’ll have a stronger advocate for limited government than Sen. McCain. And when it comes to foreign policy, I think John can put together the alliances that we need, strengthen some alliances that have been frayed a bit that will help us confront places like Iran. John is his own guy. Good luck making him George Bush.
Watch it:
Ironically, just over a month ago on CNN, Graham refused to say there was any “difference” between the worldview of McCain and Bush.
Graham now wants to claim that McCain is different from Bush on climate change and in working with allies. In reality, McCain has begun sounding like Bush on those issues as well:
– On climate change, Bush has minimized his differences with McCain by announcing a weak plan to cap carbon emissions in 2025.
– On working with allies, McCain was forced to back down from a proposal to establish a League of Democracies after experts warned it “could damage U.S. interests” by alienating allies. Furthermore, his plan to kick Russia out of the G8 has elicited concern among European allies.
As President Bush has said, McCain “is not going to change” his key policies. Good luck running for a third Bush term.
Bush loyalist Fran Townsend joining CNN.
Last month, President Bush appointed his former Homeland Security Adviser Fran Townsend to the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. Now, Townsend is picking up another job. Politico’s Mike Allen reports today that Townsend will be joining for Bush Press Secretary Tony Snow as a CNN contributor.
McCain’s staff and Bush’s staff talk ‘everyday.’
McCain’s staff and Bush’s staff talk ‘everyday.’
At a lunch hosted today by the Christian Science Monitor, former uber-lobbyist Charlie Black, who is a senior adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), said that McCain’s staff talks to the President Bush’s staff “everyday.” Black also said that before McCain offered harsh words last week about Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina, the campaign gave the White House a “head’s up.”
Emanuel: On baseball and Iraq, Bush is ‘0 for 2.’
Emanuel: On baseball and Iraq, Bush is ‘0 for 2.’
Today, Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) took to the House floor to mark the fifth anniversary of President Bush’s infamous “Mission Accomplished” speech. In both baseball and the war, Bush has said, “History will prove me right.” But as Emanuel pointed out, history has proven Bush wrong on both. Watch it:
Transcript: Read the rest of this entry »
The most unpopular president in modern history.
A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll finds that 71 percent of the American public disapproves of the job President Bush is doing:
“No president has ever had a higher disapproval rating in any CNN or Gallup poll; in fact, this is the first time that any president’s disapproval rating has cracked the 70 percent mark,” said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
“Bush’s approval rating, which stands at 28 percent in our new poll, remains better than the all-time lows set by Harry Truman and Richard Nixon (22 percent and 24 percent, respectively) but even those two presidents never got a disapproval rating in the 70s,” Holland added. “The previous all-time record in CNN or Gallup polling was set by Truman, 67 percent disapproval in January 1952.”
Public support for the Iraq war has also dropped to 30 percent, an all-time low.
Bush hits all-time low on handling of the economy.
Bush hits all-time low on handling of the economy.
In a NBC/WSJ poll to be released tomorrow, “only 21% approve of President Bush’s job in handling the economy — his lowest number ever as president on that question.” Additionally, the poll found that 81% of Americans “believe the US is currently in a recession.”
Bush Ignores His Own Administration’s Guidelines, Refers To Terrorists As ‘Jihadists’
Bush Ignores His Own Administration’s Guidelines, Refers To Terrorists As ‘Jihadists’
In his Rose Garden press conference today, an exasperated President Bush lashed out at critics who question whether he is presenting too rosy of an assessment when he says that the U.S. is making progress in Afghanistan. “The notion that somehow we can let these people just kind of have their way,” said Bush. “Let’s don’t stir them up, is naive or disingenuous.”
“So, in Afghanistan, yeah, we’re making progress,” added Bush. “Does that mean, you know that we’re — it’s over? No, it doesn’t mean it’s over.”
Bush then, using language that his own administration says is counterproductive, described how he believes “the ideological struggle” against “thugs and killers” and “jihadists” can be won:
We’re in a long struggle as I have told you many a time against these jihadists. You defeat them ultimately by the advance of democracy. See, this is an idealogical struggle. These aren’t isolated, kind of law enforcement moments. We’re dealing with a group of ideaologes who use asymmetrical warfare to try to achieve their objective and one objective is to drive us out of Afghanistan, Iraq, the Middle East or anywhere else we try to confront them.
Watch it:
Earlier this month, the Associated Press reported that “federal agencies, including the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the National Counter Terrorism Center, are telling their people not to describe Islamic extremists as ‘jihadists.’”
According to documents obtained by the AP, even if used accurately, the Department of Homeland Security believes that the use of the word “jihad” “glamorizes terrorism”:
U.S. officials may be “unintentionally portraying terrorists, who lack moral and religious legitimacy, as brave fighters, legitimate soldiers or spokesmen for ordinary Muslims,” says a Homeland Security report. It’s entitled “Terminology to Define the Terrorists: Recommendations from American Muslims.”
“Regarding ‘jihad,’ even if it is accurate to reference the term, it may not be strategic because it glamorizes terrorism, imbues terrorists with religious authority they do not have and damages relations with Muslims around the world,” the report says.
The AP says that the report “appears to have made an impact” at the top level of the Bush administration because Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice “does not appear to have used the word, except when talking about the name of a specific terrorist group, since last September.”
Apparently, the report hasn’t “made an impact” at the highest level.
Transcript: Read the rest of this entry »
Brownie: I hate the phrase ‘heckuva job.’
Brownie: I hate the phrase ‘heckuva job.’
Paul Bedard at U.S. News recently became Facebook friends with former FEMA director Michael Brown, who lists some of his favorite tv shows as “incessantly flipping between Fox, MSNBC, and all the talking heads.” According to Bedard, Brownie also uses his page to clear the record on his time in the Bush administration:
Fact is, his is an interesting comeback story, and his Facebook page, which you have to sign up for to see, tells it. He’s a long way from President Bush’s disaster plaudit, “Brownie, you’re doin’ a heckuva job,” but he remembers it well, dubbing it his least favorite quote. He follows that up with this advice: “Don’t always believe what you read. Ask me instead.” Apparently, many are. He had about 85 friends two weeks ago, and with some active marketing, he’s nearly topped 225.