McCain a 'true conservative,' Bush says

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - John McCain is a "true conservative," President Bush says, although the presumptive Republican presidential nominee may have to work harder to convince other conservatives that he is one of their own.

McCain "is very strong on national defense," Bush said in an interview taped for airing on "Fox News Sunday." "He is tough fiscally. He believes the tax cuts ought to be permanent. He is pro-life. His principles are sound and solid as far as I'm concerned."

But when asked about criticism of McCain by conservative commentators Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, the president said, "I think that if John is the nominee, he has got some convincing to do to convince people that he is a solid conservative and I'll be glad to help him if he is the nominee."

Bush said some of the criticism of the Arizona senator was the result of "probably, some personal animosity toward me. You can't please all the people all the time."

Asked during the interview about GOP candidate Mike Huckabee's criticism of his foreign policy, Bush said: "I'm sure that you can find quotes from people running for office that sound like they're at odds with me. But the point — what really matters in a campaign what are the basic beliefs."

Regarding attacks on his performance from Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, Bush said, "If the Democrat party feels like they can win an election by focusing on me, I think they'll be making a huge tactical mistake."

Of Obama, the president said, "I certainly don't know what he believes in."

Bush said he disagrees with those who have accused former President Clinton of racism for his attacks on Obama and said he can understand why his predecessor "wants to campaign hard for his wife."

The president dealt with a number of other topics during his conversation with moderator Chris Wallace. The interview was taped Saturday at the Camp David presidential retreat and Fox released a transcript in advance of the broadcast.

_On the economy: "I think the experts would tell you we are not in recession. ... But I will tell you that the signs are troubling enough that we all came together and got a robust (economic stimulus) package out." Bush is scheduled to sign the legislation Wednesday.

Beyond that, he said, "We just have to play it by ear."

_On the legality of waterboarding and other techniques used to interrogate suspected terrorists: "Whatever we have done was legal, and whatever decision I will make will be reviewed by the Justice Department to determine whether or not the legality is there."

_On the long-term U.S. relationship with Iraq: "We will be there at the invitation of the Iraqi government. ... We won't have permanent bases. I do believe it is in our interests and the interests of the Iraqi people that we do enter into an agreement on how we are going to conduct ourselves over the next years."

_On Iran: "I feel pretty good about making sure that we keep the pressure on Iran. To pressure them so that they understand they're isolated. To pressure them to affect their economy. To pressure them to the point where we hope somebody rational shows up and says, OK, it's not worth it anymore."

? On targeting suspected terrorists by allowing surveillance of phone calls and e-mails of people inside the U.S.: "It's been a difficult issue for me because I am — listen, I no more want to trample the civil liberties of the American people than anybody else does. On the other hand, I understand the nature of these people. And I understand the complexities of trying to protect the American people."

_On speculation about his relationship with his father, the first President Bush, and its possible impact on his own presidency: "It's shallow. Shallow psychobabble. ... A bunch of people obviously got too much time on their hands."

? On his legacy: "As far as history goes and all of these quotes about people trying to guess what the history of the Bush administration is going to be, you know, I take great comfort in knowing that they don't know what they are talking about, because history takes a long time for us to reach."

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080210/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush [link]

[jimeigh]

John McCain is a "true conservative," President Bush says

[Ardentfrost]

[motivez]

It's like I've said in several threads, they've come to define what it means to be a conservative these days.. the fiscal conservatives and people like Ron Paul are outsiders in the party now because they don't go along with many of the social policies (gay marriage, abortion, illegal immigration), or the hawkish foreign policy

[kinggovernor]

bush isn't a strong conservative

[motivez]

Originally Posted by kinggovernor

bush isn't a strong conservative

Neither is McCain, but conservatives generally really like Bush still.. so his endorsement of his conservatism makes sense

[thomez]

Originally Posted by motivez

Neither is McCain, but conservatives generally really like Bush still.. so his endorsement of his conservatism makes sense

I would maybe say pseudo-conservatives still like Bush, but not conservatives.

[motivez]

Originally Posted by thomez

I would maybe say pseudo-conservatives still like Bush, but not conservatives.

Your definition of conservative is different from the rest of the country though, when I say conservative I'm talking about what the rest of the country feels is the definition

But I think we agree on the point you're making.

[thomez]

Well if you want to talk about the definition based on ignorance of such, I guess that might be the case

[motivez]

The truth is, most people think Bush is a conservative because he's Republican. When people (in general) talk about someone being a conservative these days, they don't really spend much time talking about the beliefs that someone like Ron Paul has.

It's defined by conservative and often backwards (IMO) social policies, the desire to legislate Christian morality, hawkish foreign policy, etc..

[thomez]

Maybe I don't watch enough news or something but I really don't see the term "conservative" thrown around like that very often. I do understand that there are folks with those beliefs that think they are conservatives (b2w, for example) but that doesn't make them a majority or make them anywhere near correct.

[motivez]

I'm not saying they're correct, just that mainstream conservatism doesn't stand (up) for what you're really talking about anymore

[6SpeedTA95]

Because Bush is a true conservative?

Bush not only isn't a true conservative but he's anti conservative in many of the areas that ALL conservatives find critical...mostly those of police the world foreign policy and domestic spending issues. Bush is the last person this country needs telling us who is or isn't a true conservative.

[RMNIXON]

Originally Posted by jimeigh

John McCain is a "true conservative," President Bush says

OK, even I must

[RMNIXON]

Originally Posted by motivez

Neither is McCain, but conservatives generally really like Bush still.. so his endorsement of his conservatism makes sense

He is the President. What does anybody expect him to say? As somebody who actually saw the interview (which repeats at 3PM Pacific FOX NEWS SUNDAY) it was Bush who also brought up Huckabee and had nice things to say about him also. He has not endorsed anybody in particular and was very humble about his role in the process.

His strong points were about his role in history and his observation that it takes time for anything objective to be writen. He is not even out of office yet.

[thewise1]

You know how liberalism came to have a negative connotation instead of a good one?

The same is happening to conservatism.

[motivez]

Originally Posted by thewise1

You know how liberalism came to have a negative connotation instead of a good one?

The same is happening to conservatism.

Rightly so considering who's represented it for the last decade.

[thewise1]

Originally Posted by motivez

Rightly so considering who's represented it for the last decade.

I certainly agree with you there, sir.

[garbagemanlb]

YouTube - john.he.is

[A_C_E]

I don't mean to be redundant...

But the ironing is strong with this one