John McCain Gets Implicit Support From Bush

With the race to succeed him reaching a critical juncture, President Bush this morning began rallying the Republican base around its presumptive nominee, John McCain, and in the process tried to define his own legacy for the general election campaign to come.

In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, Bush offered an implicit endorsement of McCain's bona fides as a true conservative in the face of deep skepticism on the right. Although he did not mention McCain by name, the president said whoever ends up being the Republican nominee will represent conservative values.

Keep reading.

Read more about the events yesterday at the CPAC conference.

Comments

[VivaZapata]

The picture is priceless; these guys really need to get a room, but the hotel is full. In Room 101 there's larry craig. In Room 102 there's ted stevens. In Room 103, there's .... and the beat goes on.

[pjwertz]

For fun, maybe the HuffPost could start a caption writing contest using the Bush/McCain hug shot. Here are a couple of entries to get it going.

1. The man the Republican Party hope will be president for the next four years gets hug from silver-haired admirer.

2. Presumed republican presidential nominee John McCain promised George Bush today that he would guarantee more tax cuts for the rich if Bush would consider not funding phone calls alleging McCain fathered a black child out of wedlock.

[repugssuck]

We can only hope this moron jumps in, with his 30% rating it bodes well for the Repugs, maybe we can get Bush Sr to help out and see if he can pull Jr's ass out of the fire as he has done multiple times before!

[HuffingPuffing]

The PNAC crazies have nowhere left to turn and are now reduced to this... and I'm enjoying every last delicious minute of the implosion of the Republican Party. For those with shorter memories, here's what Bush thought of him in 2000.
http://www.bartcopnation.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=8&topic_id=522

[randyw]

Sure Mr.30% approval ratings step right up and give old insane Mccaine the kiss of death !

[sebocd]

Surely this can't be a real photo of Bush and McCain. Even the background looks synthetic.
It looks like it was modeled on the famous picture of John Paul II embracing the aged Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski.
This image is sure to win the conservative vote. I think that Senator Larry "Toes Keep a'Tappin" Craig could do better.

[2FedUp]

Maybe Bush will proclaim McCain as another "Mission Accomplished".

[waynesmyer]

GOP* MEDICAL ALERT: "It has come to our attention that severe cases of Anal poisoning have become epidemic among persons' having recent physical contact with Baby Bush or Rush Limpbag! Any fellow GOPer who has had such contact is urged to seek immediate medical consultation for treatmet!
Jeffy "HotStud" Gannon, White House Social Director

[waynesmyer]

But! But! Did anyone contact Johnny "Ride The Bomb" McCain?? Be Afraid! Be very afraid!

[2FedUp]

I think it's a given that anybody Bush supports will hurt their candidacy. That's been demonstrated by the shunning of him by republican office-seekers.

[quintus]

McCain is Bush's "made man" who has TOTALLY sold out. He will most likely pick a neocon VP.

McCain will do Bush's bidding and keep the war in Iraq (as well as our presence there and in the region) going for years and years.

McCain has lost what independence he once possessed and has become a neocon puppet.

Furthermore, Iraq is too important to simply "hand over" to a Democratic President who promises to close it all down.

A "way" will therefore be found to win it for McCain. Believe it.

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

Not if he has one of his 72 year old tantrums or if he drops off the perch before November. There's two more than likely scenarios that will stuff up the Neocon plan.

By the way I agree with you on the fact that he sold out to Bush when he supported him in 2004. That's something we never seem to hear about in the MSM. The talking heads keep proclaiming that McInsane is a man of integrity, honesty and principals! It's laughable considering he swallowed .... er... his pride, to support Bush and Cheney's war crimes, after being rolled by Rove in the run up to 2000.

[optiquest]

perhaps it was the democrats that stole the election of 06? they act as if they did because what has congress done?

[optiquest]

stealing elections? why is it when a liberal loses its because someone stole the election? Can't you just accept the loss and "MOVE ON"?

[shockmagog]

Perhaps you should ask Mike Huckabee. He may differ now that the cross is nailed to the other foot:

"The Huckabee campaign is deeply disturbed by the obvious irregularities in the Washington State Republican precinct caucuses. It is very unfortunate that the Washington State Party Chairman, Luke Esser, chose to call the race for John McCain after only 87 percent of the vote was counted. According to CNN, the difference between Senator McCain and Governor Huckabee is a mere 242 votes, out of more than 12,000 votes counted-with another 1500 or so votes, apparently, not counted. That is an outrage."

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/

The Republicans continue to eat their own. Bon appetit.

[wndrwrthg]

Caption for the picture,
"There, there little johnny, don't cry, uncle georgie will make it all better".

[sebocd]

Or: "I wonder what they see in other?"

[dutchess2]

THAN YOU GEORGE BUSH AND JOHN MCCAIN!


http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/02/08/iraq.women/index.html

[eddieinc97]

This country is in this situation because of Republican Senators like John McCain. He's right to tell conservatives that he has very few differences in their philosophy.

This is just as much McCain's failed war as George Bush.

This is just as much McCain's budget deficit as George Bush.

This is just as much McCain's recession as George Bush.

This is just as much McCain's violation of our privacy as George Bush.

This is just as much McCain's fault that we don't have health care especially for lower income children as George Bush.

This is just as much McCain's willingness to make oil companies richer and more powerful than it is George Bush.

Yes Mr. McCain you are just like George Bush.

[dolphy]

Please don't be deceived. Only one presidential candidate voted against the war from the get go with his ass on the line. Dennis Kucinich. Obama had virtually nothing to lose when he said he was against the war.

[libertyreturns]

OK. People, please.
Ron Paul has been against the war from the beginning; Him and Kucinich. As a matter of fact, if you look in to their voting records, you will find that alot of the times they are the only two standing against the rest of Congress. Although they come from different sides of the isle, they are both believers in the Constitution.
I'm hoping for a Paul/Kucinich independent ticket.
I'd vote for that!

[dolphy]

Maybe, I'll vote for them too. But they're not in the race anymore. Just too bad.

[richardsgirl]

At least he said it, along with Dennis Kucinich and the other 23 Democratic senators who had the judgment and courage to vote against the resolution. Senator Obama, who was in the early years of his politcial career had everything to lose in speaking out against a war that was then popular among many Americans, but he spoke his convictions anyway. What Hillary had to lose was her future hopes for the presidency, and by voting for the resolution, her ambition was more consequential to her than the potential for war. What she didn't know then was that her vote would one day become an albatross around her neck.

[dolphy]

Too much triangulation. No conviction. No moral. Just save your ass attitude.