McCain heads to Georgia to stump for once-'reprehensible' Chambliss Nick Cargo and David Edwards

Published: Wednesday November 12, 2008





Print This Email This Senator and recent presidential candidate John McCain (R-AZ) has changed his tune on Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) since McCain personally spoke out in condemnation of a 2002 ad against Chambliss' then-opponent, former Sen. Max Cleland.



"I'd never seen anything like that ad," said Sen. McCain, himself a Vietnam veteran and prisoner of war, in July 2003. "Putting pictures of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden next to the picture of a man who left three limbs on the battlefield. It's worse than disgraceful. It's reprehensible."



"In advance of the Georgia runoff, McCain will campaign tomorrow for Saxby Chambliss, because the word 'reprehensible' may start with the letters 'R, E, P'... but so does 'Republican,'" said MSNBC's Keith Olbermann Wednesday night.



The television spot on behalf of the Chambliss campaign accused Cleland, a triple amputee and Vietnam veteran, of lacking the "courage to lead" for not backing all of President Bush's Homeland Security amendments. It showed pictures of Cleland after those of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.



The ad, as posted to YouTube, appears below:







McCain will be in Georgia on Thursday to stump for Chambliss as he fights against Democratic contender Jim Martin for his seat in a runoff election to be decided on December 2. A web-only ad has been posted by the DSCC to remind voters of McCain's 2003 statement:







The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza opined to Olbermann on Wednesday night that McCain doesn't necessarily feel as though he owes Chambliss, who endorsed him for president in February. "My guess, Keith, is that McCain views himself, and is viewed because he was the Republican nominee for president, as a party leader."



The following video is from MSNBC's Countdown, broadcast November 12, 2008.









Download video via RawReplay.com







