Martinez: McCain Was a <em>'Thorn in Bush's Side'</em>

Matt Lewis | November 02, 2008 2:27 PM

On a conference call today with Rudy Giuliani and Sen. Mel Martinez, Martinez said that, having served in the Bush Admin., as well as with McCain in the Senate, he is "incredulous" over the notion that McCain is a continuation of the Bush presidency. He described this as a "terribly unfair" charge which is "too often repeated," and compared it to negative campaigning.

Martinez went on to say that McCain was, "a thorn in Bush's side," and specifically cited McCain's opposition to Rumsfeld's strategy, and his early support for the surge.

I asked Martinez a follow-up question regarding why McCain has failed to make this same point, and he implied that McCain wanted to be respectful of the President of the United States. Martinez followed-up by adding climate change and immigration into the mix as examples of McCain's independence from Bush. In addition, Martinez used these examples as further evidence that McCain is the one most likely to bring Republicans and Democrats together.