:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:
:spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray:
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
I mean really John McCain, " looking bad " even in GW's laughable book of all places?... :rofl: :rofl:
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" Sen. John McCain never asked then-President George W. Bush to campaign for him in 2008, though Bush thinks he could have helped the Arizona senator.
In his forthcoming memoir, “Decision Points,” Bush explores his “complex relationship” with McCain.
“I understood he had to establish his independence,” Bush wrote. “I thought it looked defensive for John to distance himself from me. I was confident I could have helped him make his case. But the decision was his. I was disappointed I couldn’t do more to help him.”
The 43rd president suggests his opponent for the Republican nomination in 2000 blew an opportunity to capitalize politically on the financial crisis eight years later. Without saying it explicitly, Bush portrays then-Sen. Barack Obama as more presidential than McCain in his handling of the financial crisis.
Bush’s approval rating bottomed out at 25 percent the week before the 2008 election. While he left office as one of the most unpopular presidents ever, Bush remained relatively popular with some elements of the GOP’s conservative base. It was partly a need to shore up this right flank that pushed McCain toward elevating Sarah Palin from obscure Alaska governor to his running mate.
After Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in September 2008, with the global economy on the verge of a meltdown, Bush thought McCain could turn the rotten economy to his advantage.
“Our party controlled the White House, so we were the natural target for the finger-pointing,” he wrote. “Yet, I thought the financial crisis gave John his best chance to mount a comeback. In periods of crisis, voters value experience and judgment over youth and charisma. By handling the challenge in a statesmanlike way, John could make the case that he was the better candidate for the times.”
He didn’t.
Instead, McCain called Bush on Sept. 24, a few hours before the president would deliver his nationally televised speech on the necessity of the TARP bailouts, to demand he convene a White House meeting on the rescue package.
“I asked John how he was feeling about the campaign, but he went directly to the reason for his call,” Bush said.
Bush asked him to hold off. He was worried that such a meeting would undercut Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s negotiations with congressional leaders. Indeed, none of Bush’s top advisers were keen on calling a meeting.
McCain disregarded Bush’s plea. He issued a statement calling for a meeting, went on TV just “minutes” after his call to Bush and “suspended” his campaign so he could work on the bill.
It proved a pivotal moment that allowed Obama to paint McCain as “erratic in crisis.” It also forced Bush’s hand, who felt like he didn’t have a choice after McCain went public.
“I could see the headlines: ‘Even Bush Thinks McCain’s Idea Is a Bad One'," he writes.
Meanwhile, Bush describes Obama as gracious.
cont'
<http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/44781.html>
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