 Senator John McCain (left) talked yesterday with Bob Schieffer, host of ‘‘Face the Nation,’’ from the Republican convention site in New York. (Reuters Photo) |
McCain to embrace Bush tonight, but it wasn't always soPage 2 of 2 -- "They found speakers who are those rare nonpartisan figures in a deeply polarized electorate," Schneider said.
McCain's journey to the convention podium is marked not only by a reconciliation with Bush, but also with Kerry. Neither Kerry nor McCain responded to requests to be interviewed for this article. The 68-year-old son and grandson of former Navy admirals graduated fifth from the bottom of his class at the US Naval Academy and then spent more than five years as a prisoner of war after his jet was shot down in October 1967. He earned the admiration of his fellow prisoners when he refused offers of release, saying he wanted to stay with his men. After two terms in the House and 14 years in the Senate, he launched a campaign for the presidency in 2000 with a strategy to undercut the better-financed Bush: He focused on New Hampshire, believing the nation's first primary voters could be won over with his blunt talk. He beat Bush by 18 percentage points. Both candidates converged on South Carolina, home to numerous veterans, where Bush unleashed a withering assault that won him that state's primary. On Feb. 3, 2000, Bush said of McCain: "There is a big difference between being somebody who had a distinguished military record and being someone who's trying to lead the country," and "For somebody who's talking about campaign funding reform . . . I'm going to let him explain how . . . his receiving people in front of his committee who have been contributing to his campaign is consistent." He also stood that day on the steps of the Sumter, S.C., courthouse as Thomas Burch Jr., chairman of the National Vietnam and Gulf War Veterans Coalition, said of McCain: "He came home and forgot us." While McCain was still imprisoned in the so-called Hanoi Hilton, he heard about Kerry's antiwar leadership in the United States. "John's antiwar activities hadn't exactly endeared him to me," McCain would later write in "Worth the Fighting For." When Kerry first ran for the Senate, in 1984, McCain campaigned against him. The two reconciled in 1991, when they discussed their Vietnam experiences during an overnight flight to Kuwait following the Persian Gulf War. They investigated whether there were still missing prisoners of war in Vietnam, a journey that led them to visit McCain's cell at the Hao Lo Prison in 1993. In 1995, satisfied there were no more POWs in Vietnam, they persuaded President Clinton to normalize relations. When Bush attacked McCain during the 2000 South Carolina primary, Kerry ran around the Capitol, getting fellow Vietnam veterans in Congress to sign a letter urging Bush to stop his criticism of McCain. When the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth began criticizing Kerry this month, McCain demanded they be stopped. Tonight, though, he takes the stage on behalf of Bush. Some see it as a wily political move, aimed at inoculating McCain against charges of disloyalty to the party. Others see it in military terms, an old soldier doing his duty. McCain insists it is nothing more than a chance to vouch for the person he considers the better candidate. In lauding Bush at Fort Lewis, McCain focused on the president's response to the defining moment of his first term, the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. "He has led this country with moral clarity about the stakes involved and with firm resolve to achieve unconditional victory," the senator told 6,000 soldiers. He is expected to repeat that theme tonight. Hours after the visit to Fort Lewis, Bush and McCain traveled to Nevada, another battleground state. "Both candidates in this race are honored to be the friend of John McCain," Bush said in Reno. "Only one of us gets his vote, and I am proud that it is me."
Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com. © Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
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