John McCain seems to be re-establishing himself as Obama's rival this week, criticizing the new president on multiple fronts.
During an appearance today on Fox News, McCain adamantly defended conservative talk host Rush Limbaugh when asked about an alleged statement by President Obama telling congressional Republicans that "you can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done."
McCain described Limbaugh as a bastion of conservatism and free speech, and seemed to lament Obama's choice to jump down into the trenches. But, as Think Progress points out, this isn't a fair portrayal considering that Limbaugh's statements are on air and directed towards an audience of over 20 million listeners while Obama's alleged remark was "made in a private meeting with Republicans and then leaked to the press."
[WATCH:]
On top of McCain's Limbaughphile position, he also criticized Obama today on what he describes as the new administration's unwillingness to negotiate with congressional Republicans over the stimulus bill. Via Reuters:
"A group of us Republican senators are working on coming up with an alternative package that I would hope would have some elements to it that Americans would support," said McCain, who lost the November 4 U.S. election to Obama, a Democrat.
"One, we have to have an alternative and two, we still hope that the administration -- although time is running out -- that the administration will sit down and do some serious negotiating, which they have not done," he said.