McCain's disdain for Obama is real (and mutual)

[BeyondGeography]

McCain and Obama Take Their Senatorial Rivalry Into the Presidential Race

By JEFF ZELENY
New York Times
Published: February 14, 2008

WAUKESHA, Wis. — Their tempest began well before their bids for a presidential nomination. When Senator John McCain claimed victory for a round of primaries on Tuesday, it was little surprise that he skipped over criticism of Senator Barack Obama’s policies. There will be plenty of time for that. Instead, Mr. McCain zeroed in on another long-held annoyance, a perception that Mr. Obama wears a political halo. “I don’t seek the presidency on the presumption that I am blessed with such personal greatness,” Mr. McCain said. “That history has anointed me to save my country in its hour of need.”

A contentious relationship between Mr. McCain, Republican of Arizona, and Mr. Obama, Democrat of Illinois, has been percolating on Capitol Hill for more than two years. Now it is being thrust to the forefront as Mr. Obama spends as much time taking on Mr. McCain as he does Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, telling voters here on Wednesday that “somewhere along the line he traded principles for his party’s nomination.”

...The exchanges, hardly uncommon in the throes of a biting race, carry residue of a dust-up they had two years ago and provide a window into how they view, and may approach, each other should they battle in a general election. In a debate in 2006 on ethics in the Senate, which Mr. McCain regarded as a signature issue, he dressed down Mr. Obama and accused the freshman senator of disingenuousness. Mr. Obama called Mr. McCain cranky.

In public, that dispute melted away when the two cocked their fists at each other and hugged for a mutually beneficial photo opportunity. Their rapport has not advanced, and the two have a distant relationship....

...As Mr. Obama seeks to paint Mr. McCain as an extension of the current White House, Mr. McCain is seeking to raise questions about Mr. Obama’s readiness for the presidency. His critique carries a familiar frequency to questions that Mrs. Clinton raises. He said Wednesday: “I’ve not observed every speech that he’s given, obviously. But they are singularly lacking in specifics.”

Before an audience of Republicans on Tuesday, Mr. McCain was far more animated. “I have seen men’s hopes tested in hard and cruel ways that few will ever experience,” Mr. McCain said.

The exchanges recall the feuding on the ethics bill, which lingered for days and drew considerable notice, given Mr. McCain’s tone to a colleague. “I understand how important the opportunity to lead your party’s effort to exploit this issue must seem to a freshman senator,” Mr. McCain wrote in a letter to Mr. Obama that he sent to every news outlet on Capitol Hill. “And I hold no hard feelings over your earlier disingenuousness.”

For his part, Mr. Obama has tended to highlight the generational differences, saying he represents the future and Mr. McCain represents the past. Mr. Obama’s advisers said although they have not determined how to deal with Mr. McCain, they intend to keep their criticism focused on differences over issues. And no, they said, do not expect Mr. Obama to dust off the lyrics to a song he performed on March 11, 2006, when he appeared as a keynote speaker at the Gridiron Dinner in Washington. His words were written to the tune of “If I Only Had a Brain.”

“When a wide-eyed young idealist, confronts a seasoned realist, there’s bound to be some strain,” Mr. Obama sang perfectly on pitch. “With the game barely started, I’d be feeling less downhearted, if I only had McCain.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/us/politics/14senators.html

[comradebillyboy]

1. The averate Republican senator has more contempt for

McCain than does Obama. His party and his colleagues despise him.

[beachmom]

2. Excellent point. McCain's temper and nastiness is well documented.

I still remember that letter McCain sent Obama. He came across as an arrogant ass.

[ZinZen]

3. Seems like McCain does not get along with anybody

Cranky is too nice of a word for Grandpa Strangelove.

[Diane R]

4. McCain wanted to run against Hillary, and they have Vodka-drinking contests? Spare me.

"And, associates said, Mr. McCain had always hoped to take on Mrs. Clinton.

Although Mrs. Clinton has been in the Senate just four more years than Mr. Obama, she has been on the Armed Services Committee and traveled around the world with Mr. McCain.

Examples of their mutual respect typically include a tale of holding a vodka-drinking contest in Estonia. Such a celebration may have been unlikely to happen with Mr. Obama, who on a trip to Russia in 2005 asked that his shot glass be filled with water."

[BeyondGeography]

5. It's like high school for overgrown children

and heaven forbid the new kid should try to rock the boat.