Bush doesn’t take McCain jabs personally

The White House said Thursday that President Bush understands that GOP presidential nominee John McCain has to distance himself from Bush's low approval ratings, but she said the president nonetheless stands by his policies. 

McCain in recent days has blasted Bush as Democrats have continued efforts to tie the Arizona senator to the historically unpopular president.

{mosads}White House press secretary Dana Perino said Bush does not take McCain’s criticisms personally.

“I’m not going to comment on the words that our candidate chooses to use,” Perino told reporters. “All I’ll say is that the president stands by his policies. He also stands by John McCain.”

McCain, in an interview with The Washington Times, blasted Bush for what he sees as runaway spending, a botched Medicare expansion and an abuse of executive powers.

“We just let things get completely out of hand,” McCain said in the interview.

Perino stated “the president believes that Republican Congresses got a lot more done than the current Democrat-led Congress."

“He supports John McCain, and he still believes that he can and should win,” Perino added. “And he’ll continue to support him until Election Day.”

Perino said the president has not voted yet, and she is unsure whether he’ll return to Crawford, Texas, to do so.