Reply #4: McCain Endorses Kerry, Actually [View All]

[DrFunkenstein]

WASHINGTON - GOP maverick Sen. John McCain, whose breezy straight-talking style ignited the 2000 White House race, predicts Sen. John Kerry could rekindle the same campaign magic this time around.

``He certainly can,'' McCain (R-Ariz.) said in a telephone interview with the Herald from Arizona.

``He's smart, he's tough and he's experienced. He has the capability.''

McCain, meanwhile, was skeptical that upstart Democrat Howard Dean, who considers himself the McCain of the 2004 race, could ultimately show wide political appeal.

``He is coming out of a kind of antiestablishment role that clearly resonates with some voters,'' said McCain. ``But I don't know if that can play with the broader electorate, the American public.''

Kerry and McCain, both decorated Vietnam veterans, forged a friendship working on the POW-MIA issue several years ago.

McCain said he would not be surprised if political foes and the press try to pick apart or distort Kerry's combat record.

McCain was victimized by a vicious whispering campaign during the 2000 South Carolina primary alleging he was brainwashed as a POW.

McCain also recalled a Senate hearing on POW-MIAs where a man accused him of being a ``Manchurian Candidate'' manipulated by his Viet Cong captors.

``I was about to lose my temper,'' McCain recalled. ``I felt (Kerry's) hand on my shoulder, and he said, `John, don't dignify it with a response.' He had a cool head.' ''

Kerry calls McCain ``one of the joys of my service in the Senate.''