Calling on Republicans to unite behind Senator John McCain's bid for the presidency, former president George H.W. Bush endorsed the Arizona Republican at a news conference in Houston, Texas, on Monday.
"His character was forged in the crucible of war," Bush said as he stood at the podium in an aircraft hangar with McCain. "He has the right values and experience to guide our nation forward at this historic moment."
McCain has fought a running battle in the race with critics who say that he cannot appeal to conservative Republicans. McCain has been criticized by some on the right for his opposition to the tax cuts pushed by the current US President George W. Bush, his backing of changes to campaign finances rules and his position on immigration. At the news conference, the former president said the criticism was "absurd" and noted that both he and former president Ronald Reagan faced similar jabs during their terms in office.
Calling the attacks "grossly unfair," Bush said that McCain has "a solid conservative record yet he is not above reaching out to the other side."
"He will do just fine with the base of the Republican party," he said.
Bush also broadly hinted that it was time for contenders for the Republican nomination to drop out and unite behind a candidate. As McCain has drawn farther ahead of his chief rival, Mike Huckabee, McCain has made it clear that he would like the former Arkansas governor to drop out of the race.
The former president added to the pressure on Monday.
Although he did not mention Huckabee by name -- and said "I have not come here to tell any other candidate what to do" -- Bush said that acknowledging his own defeat in the 1980 Republican presidential race "was very tough for me," even after it was apparent to his own supporters.
"It can take a while for any candidate to read the writing on the wall," he said.
McCain, noting that both he and Bush were former naval aviators who had been shot down in combat, said he was "very honored" to receive his endorsement. He echoed Bush's call for party unity.
"He has made it very clear that we as a party must unite and move forward and attract not only members of our own party but independents and so-called Reagan Democrats," McCain said.
Democrats have repeatedly charged that McCain's term would be a repeat of the current President Bush's term. Responding to a question regarding that on Monday, McCain said he would be honored to have Bush's endorsement "and I would be honored to be anywhere with him under any circumstances."
He did note however that there are issues that he would differ with the current president on certain issues. McCain did not list those issues, instead turning his focus to the war in Iraq.
He said the president's strategy there was working, and asserted that if the country had followed the Democrats' plan for the war, "we would have had al-Qaeda succeed in Iraq."
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