McCain says blogger made up vote story
JERSEY CITY, N.J. - Republican John McCain yesterday disputed blogger Arianna Huffington's contention that she heard him say he voted against President Bush in 2000.
Huffington insisted she heard McCain say, at a Los Angeles dinner party after the 2000 election, that he had not voted for Bush.
Two other guests at the party, former "West Wing" actors Bradley Whitford and Richard Schiff, said they heard McCain say the same thing; they were asked by Huffington to speak Thursday to The
McCain's campaign insisted that she was making up the story to promote a book.
"I voted, campaigned for, worked as hard as I could for President Bush's election in 2000 and 2004," McCain told reporters yesterday. "I voted for President Bush, I said so at the time. I know we're already in silly season, but my record stands very clearly of campaigning all over this nation on behalf of the candidacy of President Bush.
"It's nonsense," said the presumptive GOP nominee, who lost a bitter presidential primary race in 2000 to Bush.
McCain also responded to a report published in The Washington Post that he supported a land deal in Arizona that benefited a campaign contributor.
"I worked for a long period of time with mayors, with environmental groups, with other interested individuals for a long period of time, including having town hall meetings," McCain said. "I'm very proud of my record, very proud of the work we did in that land exchange, and I'm proud of my environmental record."
And Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut defended McCain against Democratic front-runner Barack Obama's suggestion Thursday that McCain was "losing his bearings" for suggesting that the Islamic terrorist group Hamas preferred Obama for president.
"I just want to report that this morning, I personally checked John McCain's bearings. He has not lost any of them," said Lieberman, who was the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee but is now an independent campaigning for McCain.
A McCain adviser accused Obama of trying to make an issue of McCain's age, a touchy subject because McCain, who turns 72 in August, would be the oldest person to be sworn in as president if elected. Obama's campaign dismissed the accusation.
