Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton called John McCain yesterday to personally apologize and denounce comments an adviser of hers reportedly made slamming the GOP senator over his time in captivity in Vietnam.
The move from one potential 2008 presidential candidate to another was sparked by a column in The New York Times, in which Maureen Dowd quoted an anonymous adviser talking about McCain's criticism of the Clintons over their North Korea position. The adviser said Team Clinton thought McCain was doing the White House's dirty work by criticizing the Clintons and ended up "looking similar to the way he did on those captive tapes from Hanoi, where he recited the names of his crewmates."
That was a reference to an unsubstantiated rumor used to tar McCain, a Vietnam war hero, as off-kilter during the 2000 GOP presidential primary.
Aides to both senators said Clinton reached out to McCain to denounce the comments. Clinton is said to have a good relationship with McCain, and her circle clearly wasn't pleased with the remarks. Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said, "These comments are reprehensible and they in no way reflect Senator Clinton's feelings."
McCain spokesman John Weaver replied, "Senator Clinton is correct, the remark was reprehensible."
Last week, McCain took what many saw as the first shot of the 2008 race, blasting Clinton for placing blame for North Korea's recent nuclear test on President Bush - and pointed to husband Bill's policies as a "failure."
Clinton has avoided directly criticizing McCain over those comments, instead taking aim at Bush and Republicans at large. Clinton, facing token opposition in her Senate re-election bid, has said she's focused only on the 2006 mid-term elections, and has stayed mum about her future. Both senators lead several public polls for their party's nominations for the White House including a University of New Hampshire poll released last week showing voters in the country's first-in-the-nation primary state put McCain and Clinton at the top of the pack.
The comments about McCain's prisoner-of-war days put Clinton's camp in damage-control mode with five weeks left in the 2006 cycle, at a time when everyone around her has stayed on-message.
McCain's side responds - excellent snark:
Asked about the line, McCain advisor John Weaver responded:
"I never expected the Clintons or their allies to know much about Vietnam. But [it] is disappointing to see one of her spokespeople purposefully lie about John's war record and time in a Hanoi prison camp. There was no such tape recording; though he did once give up the starting lineup of the Green Bay Packers while under extreme duress. Senator Clinton's spokesperson does a disservice to all who were there and served so bravely and honorably."