Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush said Republican presidential front-runner John McCain is a ``true conservative'' and vowed to help him gain the support of skeptics if he wins the nomination.
``If John's the nominee, he's got some convincing to do'' among conservative Republicans, Bush said on today's ``Fox News Sunday.'' He added,
``I'd be glad to help him if he's the
nominee -- he is very strong on national defense, he is tough fiscally, he is
pro-life. His principles are sound and solid.''
The drive by McCain, an Arizona senator, to seal up the Republican nomination was slowed yesterday by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee's victories in contests in Kansas and Louisiana. McCain has drawn criticism from some conservative leaders for his support of legislation, such as an immigration law overhaul, that drew opposition from most Republican lawmakers.
Bush said he isn't endorsing McCain because Huckabee is still in the race, though his former top political adviser, Karl Rove, said on CBS's ``Face the Nation'' that it's ``completely implausible'' that Huckabee could win the 83 percent of the delegates needed in the remaining contests to beat McCain.
Rove said McCain ``has a lot of work to do'' to get conservatives ``energetic and passionate and committed to doing what needs to be done to win the election in the fall.'' He said he has already contributed money to McCain's campaign because he views him as the presumptive Republican nominee.
Bush dismissed opposition to McCain as ``probably some personal animosity toward me.'' He said Huckabee is also a conservative and complimented him as ``disciplined'' because of his success at losing weight.
``You're not going to find perfection,'' Bush said, referring to conservative criticism.
Bush also said the Democrats had made a ``tactical mistake'' by focusing their attacks on him. He criticized Illinois Senator Barack Obama's views on foreign policy, saying, ``I certainly don't know what he believes in.''
No comments:
Post a Comment