Big chill at big house: Bush, McCain not on speaking terms

For the record, President Bush has endorsed Republican John McCain for president. Heck, half his political team -- led by campaign strategist Steve Schmitt -- is on the road working for McCain. And his old political guru, Karl Rove, is said to be informally advising the Arizona senator.

And within hours of today's surprise announcement by McCain that he was tapping a little-known 44-year-old governor as his running mate, the White House issued a statement of praise. "This decision [to pick Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin] is yet another example of why the American people can trust him to make wise decisions and to confidently lead this country,"  Bush said.

But it turns out that Bush himself has not spoken to McCain since May, when the two met briefly for 14 seconds on a tarmac. And before that, not since March, when the two walked out onto the colonnade of the White House to announce the president's endorsement.

That's because, according to this coming Sunday's New York Times, the two sides have "a relationship fraught with bitter resentment, grudging respect and mutual dependence." In short, the two need each other.

Bush, smarting over McCain's criticisms of his handling of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, needs a McCain victory to validate his legacy, says author Peter Baker.

And McCain, who hasn't forgotten how the Bush forces pelted him with negative ads in the South Carolina primary in 2000, needs the president's core supporters to go to the polls. Without them, the 72-year-old McCain has an uphill battle to beat a 47-year-old Democrat with lots of money and star power who is running against an unpopular president in what looks to be a Democratic year.

Of course, if McCain does pull this off, he and Bush will probably talk again. On Inauguration Day.

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Charles Dharapak / Associated Press

Comments

[dick bohanon]

well if mccain showed up with crayons and juice boxes
george would play with him.
bush isnt just a lame duck he's lame
the less he is seen with mccain the better for
the cheney/ rove party
dick and karl keep your boy on the farm
he cant be anymore useless to america or to
your ricco statute of a party

[ChitChat]

Man I'm so happy McCain made this decision. He has officially handed our lives over to a woman with no Foreign policy experience whatsoever. I mean just look at them, they do not look right at all. McCain keeps looking at her ass. Funny how the first thing she address was the Clinton woman voters. Hillary would eat this B**H for dinner.

I've never felt so much risk in my life then by the decision McCain made today. This really insults woman saying they are so naive to vote for a woman just because she's a woman.

McCain, you're a hypocrite! Don't you dare ever call Obama not ready to lead when he's been right on every issue from this war where I lost my best friend, to Afghanistan. Looks like the tables are turning fast, Obama is expected to be up 13% by weeks end and i don't think the DNC has much to do with those numbers.

[susan]

This is a Hail Mary from McCain. Now he can blame her when he loses.

[Sgt Dolores Menendez]

SARAH PALIN A HEARTBEAT AWAY FROM POTUS? LOL! The dog catcher in any large metropolis has more to worry about than this outlaw abortions of all types neocon. Mc Cain may be pandering to the base of his party and trying to reel in a couple of Hillary disappointed ladies. The Hillary supporters wanted Hillary not a vagina. OBAMA BIDEN YES WE CAN! SI SE PUEDE!

[John Peabody]

To all of you people saying Palin has no foreign policy experience, I have some very interesting news for you.

Palin is the Republican VP nominee and is a quick learner. McCain will keep her abreast on all issues. She's a strong woman and will be able to handle crisis if necessary.

Obama is the Democratic Presidential nominee and has no foreign policy experience. Get that: he's running for President; Palim is running for VP. Obama needs to be experienced NOW; he won't have time to learn on the job. He's also too arrogant to listen to advise. GOT THAT, PEOPLE?

[Geraldine Quayle]

IS MC CAIN NOT GOING TO TAKE THE MONEY THAT GEORGE W. BUSH RAISES? NO HE WILL TAKE THE MONEY FORM THE RNC AND TRY NOT TO HAVE IT ATTACHED TO GEOGE W.The Republicans know that the country is ready to throw the bums out and today they rolled the dice on pandering to women with a tactic that wont work since she is the poster child for the Right to Lifers. Good for the Republican neocon base but not going to bring many women who vote issues over to his side. He rolled the dice which he enjoys and it came up seven too bad his bet was on the pass line and six was the point. OBAMA BIDEN! YE WE CAN! SI SE PUEDE!

[Oscar]

I am amazed to see many people worry about Mrs. Palin. For sure now, Paris Hilton won't win.

[laraine]

Dr. Dave--Are you serious? Because the woman rides motorcycles and eats mooseburgers, you think she can bring down Joe Biden? In case you haven't checked her out, you should become aware that she's under an ethics investigation for firing someone who wouldn't do her dirty work. How Republican of her. And you should be aware that McCain is so anti-woman that he can't see the difference between Hillary and Palin. After all, she's a woman. Right? Any woman who doesn't see through that doesn't deserve to put on shoes and leave the kitchen. And a beauty queen to boot. Maybe he'll offer her up to a motorcycle gang, too. After all, they're just women.

[Jack]

"I just love the Dem comments--they are even nastier than this blog. Get over both Mr. Bush and Mr. McCain folks...one is our president and the other will be our president."

Wow. You're a (I'll be nice) lunatic if you really mean this.

We will get over G.W. Bush when he's out of office. Until then, we still have to worry about what else this guy is going to do to the USA. He is by far, the worst president this country will (hopefully) ever see. His legacy will be remembers as, failed to help Americans when they needed him. Hurricane Katrina. And how he failed to capture a man who sucessfully attacked America's homeland, killing thousands of Americans.

Bush if a failure and McCain has pretty much promised to continue that failed lagecy. Vote with your minds, not your radical beliefs. I am a moderate - extremism is what's wrong this this world.

[Auberon]

Rice? Give me a break, she's already shown herself to be way out of her league as SoS. She's a diplomat who has no conception of diplomacy. During her tenure the reputation of the US has plummeted overseas. It's back to the easy life at Stanford and Chevron for her.

[dave s]

I can see it now: McCain wins, has a heart attack and dies in office, and we're stuck with a beauty queen who played basketball in high school for a CIC.

Lord help us.

[Frank]

Enough- was the most powerful word Obama used in his speech.
He should have used this word against his preacher. Whenever the Minister went on an Anti-American tirade.
Obama does not fool me.

[Bill G]

After watching Obama's speech, I wouldn't have cared if McCain had picked
Mother Theresa, I am VOTING FOR OBAMA!!!

Obama is who we need in the White House. I don't care if Palin can snap buffalo bones with her teeth, neither she nor McCain together have half the brain Obama does, and that's not including the brain and a half of Biden.

[Sarah]

I'm an Alaskan, female, former oil company employee, now retired. Sarah Palin scares the hell out of me. What has that crazy old man done?

[Watergate]

Oh, cheer up guys! After putting up with Quayle, Dubya and Cheney, then McCain and Pa-what? is not that bad!

[Spencer]

Haha, that's the best you can come up with on Palin? She played baketball in high school? Guess what, so did Obama! Jimmy Carter did too. McCain wrestled. Bush 1 and Bush 2 played baseball. Clinton played the sax. Reagan played football. Somehow they all managed to overcome participating in high school activities and take higher office.

[DrJohn]

Spencer,

You might be a bit confused. When Reagan was playing at Notre Dame, he was pretending to be a football player, not a real one. You know he was acting like he was George Gipp. Ronnie wasn't really the "Gipper.".

[sandy]

I think this pick was a major screwup. He could have won. My guess is that the big boys that fund these election campaigns will stop throwing money McCain's way and put it into congressional and senate races instead so they can try and stall, thward and derail anything that Obama and the democrats attempt to pass....then they can turn around in 4 yrs and blame Obama and the democrats for a lack of progress.

Corporate types want to make money......not make Jesus come back (end of the world, doom, gloom, nukes) which is why evangelicals are thrilled with this pick....anything that's bad for the U.S. and the rest of world makes them happy because to them it means their "Lord" is coming soon. No rational person wants someone of that delusion second in command (especially with no major experience) ---

How in the hell did the republican party end up letting these lunatics run the asylum? Used to be a pretty good party. I think a lot of people out here would vote for Paris Hilton at this point before they'd vote for McCain/Palin because at least Paris loves the world and doesn't want to see it end in flames.

[Mary]

This is a convenient leak designed to make the unsuspecting reader think that a McCain presidency would not be a continuation of the Bush era. It would.

it seems that palin was picked because she's to appeal to independent voters, and to disgruntled hillary supporters, but most importantly, to somehow appease and reconcile the core republican majority that don't accept faux candidate mccain, but insist on constitutional republican RON PAUL as the legitimate candidate to represent the republican majority, and the traditional values and principles of the american republic; probably also because she's thought easy to manipulate and control, because she can grease some palms with alaskan oil, and because she's called 'sarah barracuda' - she probably values power more than integrity and principle, behind her 'maverick' republican facade, and is prone to corruption and violence. the expectation seems to be that the ex beauty queen can dupe and sway the delegates, since the ex pow can't do it on his own. but RON PAUL has already won this contest - both by default, and on his exceptional merit.

[Drew Thaler]

Not "briefly", not "less than a minute", not "for a moment", not even "15 seconds" ... it was exactly fourteen, huh?

Well, you've sure convinced me. That kind of overly specific detail only shows up in stories that are absolutely guaranteed to be true!

[j sokol]

Ugh! Karl Rove is back on the scene again working for McCain.
Who is next? Dick Cheney? Rove is one of the most unethical, people in Washington. He should be doing time for his crimes, corruption and abuses of power. Check out http://donsiegelman.com/ ... Rove put him in jail.

Palin is virulently anti-environmental, ultra conservative.
This is the so-called Maverick McCain has turned into. Another Bush clone?

[joseph marcucilli]

Palin makes much of the fact that she "chose to have my down syndrome baby" well that is the point ,you had the right to choose but you want to take that right to choose from millions of women.I call that hypocracy.

[Bill Bong]

And now we have it. McCain will cut his convention short because of the hurricane? DUH!!! All it takes is a perfectly timed natural disaster for this opportunist. It's all about winning. Period. Can't you see his people just celebrating over this disaster's timing. Think about it! Yes, we all know now,don't we.

[jane]

Alaska First - Alaska Always

Sarah Palin and her husband were members of an Alaskan Independence Party (AIP) as recently as 1994. The goal of the Alaskan Party is for Alaska to secede and become an Independent nation or join Canada. The AIP challenges the legality of the Alaskan statehood vote as illegal and in violation of United Nations charter and international law. The Party seeks the complete repatriation of the public lands that are held by the federal government, to the state and people of Alaska in conformance with Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17, of the federal constitution ... To prohibit all bureaucratic regulations and judicial rulings purporting to have the effect of law, except that which shall be approved by the elected State legislature ... To support the privatization of government services and resources...”

The party also calls for increased Alaskan control of its lands and resources, gun rights, maximize exploitation of its natural resources and increased sale of gas and oil to mainland US. The richer Alaska can become the more the power and influence it shall attain and the greater the chances of the AIP goals being achieved. Other agendas are a mixture of fiscal-social conservative with libertarian ideas. Most of Palin’s political ideology is borrowed or based on the AIP political plank. Her Mentor was Mr. Hickel, a former AIP member, Alaska Governor and U.S. Secretary of Interior under the Nixon administration.

The AIP party has been pushing its members to "infiltrate" the Republican and Democratic parties and influence the Alaska secession issue from within. Their party motto is "Alaska First -- Alaska Always. The current AIP Chairman Lynette Clark says that "Palin switched to the Republican Party in 1996 when she decided to run for Mayor of Wasilla. It is unknown whether that decision was part of the plan to infiltrate a US major party and seize an opportunity to launch her career to spearhead the AIP Agenda. If Palin becomes the VP and potentially a US President, that would be the remarkable infiltration by a small radical political party into the White House.