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McCain seeks distance from Bush
01/04/2008 21:06 - (SA)
Virginia - John McCain on Tuesday struck away from the political legacy of President George W Bush, as he sought to plot an obstacle-strewn course back to the White House for the Republicans.
The party's presidential pick also mused on the lessons of his rebellious youth, as he sought to frame his life story as one of self-sacrifice and military service, the culmination of which would be the presidency.
"The point is, I'm not running on the Bush presidency, I'm running on my own service to the country, my own record in the House of Representatives and the US Senate and my vision for the future," McCain told ABC television.
McCain, 71, has been a fierce supporter of the Iraq war. But he has challenged the Bush administration's management of the conflict, and admits his fortunes could be tied to the war's success or failure over the coming months.
Despite popular fatigue with the war, and worrying signs for the US economy, the Arizona senator is attempting to provide a new rationale for electing Republicans.
Last week, in a major foreign policy address, McCain laid out a robust national security policy, but offered olive branches to US allies alienated by the Bush administration's go-it-alone approach.
McCain on Tuesday stopped at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, from which he graduated in 1954, as he reintroduced himself to voters at a time when the Democratic race is raging on between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
"As a young man, I would respond aggressively and sometimes irresponsibly to anyone whom I perceived to have questioned my sense of honour and self-respect," said McCain, who has also alluded to his heroism as a Vietnam war prisoner.
The Republican nominee-elect acknowledged perceptions that he has a smouldering temper beneath his urbane exterior.
"In all candour, as an adult I've been known to forget occasionally the discretion expected of a person of my years and station, when I believe I've been accorded a lack of respect I did not deserve," McCain said.
"But I believe if my detractors had known me at Episcopal they might marvel at the self-restraint and mellowness I developed as an adult," he joked.
On Monday McCain got into a slanging match over Iraq with Obama, arguing the Illinois senator "does not understand the fundamental elements of national security and warfare".
Obama retorted that McCain wanted a "permanent occupation in Iraq" and that like Bush, he had "no clear definition of success" there.
- AFP
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US Elections Special Report
