Bush and McCain Forging Closer Bonds

Instead of holding the president accountable, John McCain started forming closer bonds with George W. Bush back around 2003, then solidified them in the spring of 2004 by backing Bush to the hilt. The only thing interesting about John McCain is the perception that he has more integrity than most Republicans but it's looks like he's forging even closer ties to President Bush as he prepares to make another bid for president. Raw Story has a post on a New York Times article about the growing relationship between the two politicians:

Bush had McCain to the White House three times in one week recently to talk about how Bush should make the case for the war in Iraq and how to break the wall of conservative opposition to the immigration measures proposed by both men. McCain was back in the Oval Office again on Tuesday to talk about ways of winning approval of the line-item veto.

Behind the scenes, during a month in which he repeatedly came to Bush's public defense, McCain called the president to offer words of support, he recounted in an interview. "I said, 'Look, hang on, things are bad,"' McCain said. "I said, 'I'm proud of the job you are doing, and I wanted you to know that I will continue to do what I can to help.'

"I've tried, when his numbers went down, to be more supportive and outspoken, because I'd love to pick him up," McCain said.

Maybe John McCain means well but if he says he's 'proud' of the job Bush is doing, he hardly understands what a disaster the Bush presidency has become. It should be remembered that McCain is no Republican moderate; he's almost as right wing as the president and that's not a recommendation these days. McCain's famous independence and integrity isn't going to be worth squat if he barely understands what's going on and how badly his own party needs to be reformed.