posted on February 23, 2007 01:13:34 PM new
By PATRICK HEALY and JIM RUTENBERG
Published: February 22, 2007
The Democrats were not the only ones dealing with intramural warfare. On the Republican side, Vice President Dick Cheney struck back at criticism leveled against him and former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld by Senator John McCain of Arizona, underscoring the often tense relationship between the White House and Mr. McCain.
The presidential campaign has been a relatively polite affair in its early stages, and the day marked an abrupt change of tone that exposed the intensity of the bad feeling bubbling just below the surface in both parties. None of the players showed much inclination to back off.
In an interview with ABC News in which Mr. Cheney was asked about Mr. McCain’s criticism of Mr. Rumsfeld, the vice president responded by bringing up other McCain comments critical of Mr. Cheney’s role in managing the war in Iraq, and said Mr. McCain had subsequently said he was sorry.
“John said some nasty things about me the other day,” Mr. Cheney added, “and then the next time he saw me, ran over to me and apologized. Maybe he’ll apologize to Rumsfeld.”
In response, Mr. McCain seemed to go out of his way to re-emphasize his assertion that Mr. Rumsfeld would be remembered as one of the worst defense secretaries in history, and to criticize the Bush administration more generally when he appeared at a news conference in Los Angeles to discuss initiatives to deal with global warming.
When asked about the administration’s environmental record, Mr. McCain said, “I would assess this administration’s record on global warming as terrible.”
Asked by a reporter about his comments about Mr. Rumsfeld, Mr. McCain said, “The criticism of the conduct of the war I have voiced for more than three years when I saw that this train wreck was taking place.”
Some minutes later, after the news conference had ended, Mr. McCain, unbidden, said to the reporter, “Sir, I stand by my comments about Secretary Rumsfeld, by the way.”
