Asked about the scathing remarks he has made on the administration's conduct of the war, McCain said his criticism started three years ago "when I saw that this train wreck was taking place, and that we needed more troops, and we needed a different strategy."
As the campaign has heated up in recent weeks, McCain has repeatedly criticized the administration.
In South Carolina on Monday, McCain said former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld would "go down in history as one of the worst secretaries of Defense in history." ("I stand by my comment about Secretary Rumsfeld," he responded to a question on that topic in San Pedro.) In an interview last month with a politico.com columnist, McCain said that Bush had been "very badly served" by Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney, who shot back Wednesday.
"I just fundamentally disagree with John," Cheney told ABC News. "John said some nasty things about me the other day, and then next time he saw me, ran over to me and apologized. Maybe he'll apologize to Rumsfeld."
Cheney praised Rumsfeld for doing a "superb job."
"He and John McCain had a number of dust-ups over policy," Cheney said. "Didn't have anything to do with Iraq -- other issues that were involved. John's entitled to his opinion. I just think he's wrong."
McCain, whose campaign spokesman, Danny Diaz, declined to respond to Cheney's comments, was not entirely acidic toward the Bush White House at his harbor stop with Schwarzenegger. He said he was still "strongly supporting" Bush's plan to add 21,500 troops to U.S. forces in Iraq, a stand that could cost McCain support among the independents and moderates who are crucial parts of his political base.
As for the fight against global warming, an effort that Schwarzenegger made a centerpiece of his reelection campaign, McCain portrayed California as a model for Congress to take action. He voiced support for the kind of mandatory reductions in carbon emissions that California enacted last year.
"I'm here," he said, "because I think that California leads the nation, and we all know that in many respects -- much to the dismay sometimes of us in Arizona, particularly when it comes to the theft of Arizona's water."
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michael.finnegan@latimes.com
