McCain 'sick and tired of re-fighting' Vietnam War
By Jill Lawrence, USA TODAY
Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) argued Wednesday that Americans need to get past Vietnam, spreading blame for the bitter political debate among both presidential candidates, a federal agency and a veterans group attacking Sen. John Kerry's combat record.
"I'm sick and tired of re-fighting the Vietnam War. And most importantly, I'm sick and tired of opening the wounds of the Vietnam War, which I've spent the last 30 years trying to heal," the Arizona Republican said at a lunch with USA TODAY and Gannett News Service. "It's offensive to me, and it's angering to me that we're doing this. It's time to move on." (Related story: Newsmaker lunch with John McCain)
A former Navy flier, McCain spent more than five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. His remarks came on a day in which a resignation, a new TV ad and a pilgrimage to Crawford, Texas, kept the old war alive in the current campaign.
McCain will address the Republican convention in New York on Monday night and says he will talk about Iraq. "I will say ... that we have had ups and downs and mistakes have been made. But the theme of my speech will be to affirm my strong support for winning in Iraq," he said.
Five young U.S. soldiers died Tuesday in Iraq, McCain said at the lunch. He said the country should be "trying to work together to win" there, not rehashing Vietnam.
Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee, has showcased his military service in his campaign and convention. He was awarded three Purple Hearts, a Silver Star and a Bronze Star for his service as a swift boat commander in Vietnam's Mekong Delta.
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group with Republican ties, has accused him of lying about his record. Bush has denounced all ads run by groups spending millions on behalf of candidates independently of their campaigns. He refused to single out the Swift Boat group. "Would I like to see a more specific condemnation?" McCain asked. "Probably, because of the sensitivity of the war issue to me."
But McCain also said Bush is right to criticize the overall system. He said the groups spending huge amounts of money are violating election laws, "aided and abetted by a corrupt Federal Election Commission."
McCain called chairman Bradley Smith "a right-wing ideologue" and vice chair Ellen Weintraub "a political apparatchik." He said he and his allies would go to court to force the FEC to enforce the law.
Smith rejected the criticism, saying the FEC is "the nearest scapegoat." Weintraub said McCain disagrees "with our interpretation of the law, but that doesn't make me corrupt, or the agency corrupt."
McCain said Kerry may have opened himself to criticism by focusing on Vietnam. In his own primary campaign in 2000, McCain said, he didn't have to because everyone knew he'd been there. For Kerry, "it's clearly a tactical or strategic move" to shield him against "charges of being too liberal and soft on defense."
He said it's appropriate to debate whether Kerry was right to oppose the war when he got home, but not appropriate to accuse someone of lying about a situation in which "bullets are flying and people are dying" because "there are always different versions about what happens in combat."
He said it's pointless to argue over whether Kerry was right or wrong to say he and his crew crossed into Cambodia on a certain night 35 years ago. The Kerry campaign said that he was probably not in Cambodia on Chistmas Eve, 1968, as Kerry had previously claimed. "So what if he wasn't over the border or he thought he was over the border?" McCain said. "I don't know exactly where I was flying over North Vietnam all the time."
McCain, a Kerry friend, is the focal point of a new Kerry ad running in three states and on national cable to counteract the Swift Boat ads. It shows McCain excoriating Bush in a primary debate in 2000 for failing to condemn veterans who had accused McCain of being anti-veteran.
McCain is not happy about the ad. "I regret ... that the Kerry campaign is using what happened in the 2000 campaign as a way to attack President Bush," he said. "What happened to me in the year 2000 is over. I have put it behind me."
Past tensions aside, McCain disagrees with Bush on issues ranging from tax cuts to global warming. But he campaigned for Bush in 2000 and started campaigning for him this year in January. He is scheduled to appear with Bush in Tennessee and Iowa on Tuesday.
Is he laying groundwork for a 2008 presidential campaign? "Idle conjecture," McCain responded.
By Jill Lawrence, USA TODAY
Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) argued Wednesday that Americans need to get past Vietnam, spreading blame for the bitter political debate among both presidential candidates, a federal agency and a veterans group attacking Sen. John Kerry's combat record.
"I'm sick and tired of re-fighting the Vietnam War. And most importantly, I'm sick and tired of opening the wounds of the Vietnam War, which I've spent the last 30 years trying to heal," the Arizona Republican said at a lunch with USA TODAY and Gannett News Service. "It's offensive to me, and it's angering to me that we're doing this. It's time to move on." (Related story: Newsmaker lunch with John McCain)
A former Navy flier, McCain spent more than five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. His remarks came on a day in which a resignation, a new TV ad and a pilgrimage to Crawford, Texas, kept the old war alive in the current campaign.
McCain will address the Republican convention in New York on Monday night and says he will talk about Iraq. "I will say ... that we have had ups and downs and mistakes have been made. But the theme of my speech will be to affirm my strong support for winning in Iraq," he said.
Five young U.S. soldiers died Tuesday in Iraq, McCain said at the lunch. He said the country should be "trying to work together to win" there, not rehashing Vietnam.
Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee, has showcased his military service in his campaign and convention. He was awarded three Purple Hearts, a Silver Star and a Bronze Star for his service as a swift boat commander in Vietnam's Mekong Delta.
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group with Republican ties, has accused him of lying about his record. Bush has denounced all ads run by groups spending millions on behalf of candidates independently of their campaigns. He refused to single out the Swift Boat group. "Would I like to see a more specific condemnation?" McCain asked. "Probably, because of the sensitivity of the war issue to me."
But McCain also said Bush is right to criticize the overall system. He said the groups spending huge amounts of money are violating election laws, "aided and abetted by a corrupt Federal Election Commission."
McCain called chairman Bradley Smith "a right-wing ideologue" and vice chair Ellen Weintraub "a political apparatchik." He said he and his allies would go to court to force the FEC to enforce the law.
Smith rejected the criticism, saying the FEC is "the nearest scapegoat." Weintraub said McCain disagrees "with our interpretation of the law, but that doesn't make me corrupt, or the agency corrupt."
McCain said Kerry may have opened himself to criticism by focusing on Vietnam. In his own primary campaign in 2000, McCain said, he didn't have to because everyone knew he'd been there. For Kerry, "it's clearly a tactical or strategic move" to shield him against "charges of being too liberal and soft on defense."
He said it's appropriate to debate whether Kerry was right to oppose the war when he got home, but not appropriate to accuse someone of lying about a situation in which "bullets are flying and people are dying" because "there are always different versions about what happens in combat."
He said it's pointless to argue over whether Kerry was right or wrong to say he and his crew crossed into Cambodia on a certain night 35 years ago. The Kerry campaign said that he was probably not in Cambodia on Chistmas Eve, 1968, as Kerry had previously claimed. "So what if he wasn't over the border or he thought he was over the border?" McCain said. "I don't know exactly where I was flying over North Vietnam all the time."
McCain, a Kerry friend, is the focal point of a new Kerry ad running in three states and on national cable to counteract the Swift Boat ads. It shows McCain excoriating Bush in a primary debate in 2000 for failing to condemn veterans who had accused McCain of being anti-veteran.
McCain is not happy about the ad. "I regret ... that the Kerry campaign is using what happened in the 2000 campaign as a way to attack President Bush," he said. "What happened to me in the year 2000 is over. I have put it behind me."
Past tensions aside, McCain disagrees with Bush on issues ranging from tax cuts to global warming. But he campaigned for Bush in 2000 and started campaigning for him this year in January. He is scheduled to appear with Bush in Tennessee and Iowa on Tuesday.
Is he laying groundwork for a 2008 presidential campaign? "Idle conjecture," McCain responded.
