Rumsfeld repays McCain; declines to back candidate

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld recently declined to answer whether he will support Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for president.

McCain, the GOP presidential standard-bearer, has been one of Rumsfeld’s harshest critics.

{mosads}McCain has said that Rumsfeld will “go down as one of the worst secretaries of defense in history.”  

The Hill talked to Rumsfeld earlier this month near his downtown D.C. office.

Rumsfeld told The Hill that he has not followed the presidential elections, but instead has been focused on work for his private foundation.

Asked whether that meant he wasn’t going to support McCain, Rumsfeld answered: “I have not been involved at all.”

Rumsfeld declined to comment any further. He also declined a follow-up request for comment on the issue to his personal office.

“He has focused his energy on the Rumsfeld Foundation,” said his aide, Keith Urbahn. One of the foundation’s goals is to encourage young people to participate in public service.

Rumsfeld, a staunch Republican and defense secretary under Bush and President Ford, may find himself in a hard place come Election Day.

Rumsfeld, a former four-term congressman from Illinois and a mentor to Vice President Cheney, has not completely stayed out of politics this year.

“Mr. Rumsfeld is a Republican. He has been helping Republican candidates for decades and he continues to do so this year,” said Urbahn.  

According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records, Rumsfeld and his wife Joyce contributed about $80,000 to GOP candidates in the 2008 election cycle. Of that amount, the Rumsfelds contributed $40,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Joyce Rumsfeld contributed $4,600 to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s (R) presidential campaign.

According to FEC records, the Rumsfelds have contributed to about 100 Republican lawmakers or candidates since 1997. None of those contributions went to McCain.

Among the lawmakers who received money from Rumsfeld are Republican Sens. James Inhofe (Okla.), Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and John Cornyn (Texas.)

Some of McCain’s colleagues in the Senate said they believe Rumsfeld will eventually support the GOP candidate.

{mospagebreak}“He will be for him in due time,” Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said. Based on his long experience with national security, Rumsfeld will see “a clear contrast between” McCain and Obama, Thune said.

Rumsfeld’s vote will be for McCain, Thune surmised, because “he cares about the country’s national security.”

Chambliss, who is McCain’s and Thune’s colleague on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said, “McCain would like to have every vote he can get.” Whatever differences the two had should not matter when it comes down to support on Election Day, Chambliss added.

{mosads}The Rumsfelds live in the blue state of Maryland, which Obama is heavily favored to win.

“We all have had our differences with each other,” Chambliss said. “I’ve had my differences with Rumsfeld, but we are friends. I’ve had my differences with John McCain, but we are friends.”  

McCain’s clashes with Rumsfeld over the Iraq war and military detainee policies have attracted many headlines. On several occasions, McCain was visibly hostile towards Rumsfeld during his tenure as Defense secretary. Rumsfeld is also known for his combative and dismissive style, both inside and outside the Pentagon.

McCain lambasted Rumsfeld for not sending enough troops to Iraq from the beginning of the war and grilled him during hearings on the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal. McCain was also often critical of the Pentagon’s weapons acquisition process and Rumsfeld’s outsourcing of Pentagon duties to contractors.  

McCain publicly ridiculed Rumsfeld for some of his statements. Rumsfeld blamed the Iraq problems on “pockets of dead-enders” several times, and brushed off looting in Baghdad after Saddam Hussein’s fall as “stuff happens.” McCain in 2006 faulted the Bush administration for letting the public believe that the Iraq war “would be some kind of day at the beach.”

McCain stopped short of calling for Rumsfeld’s resignation, saying it was Bush’s decision to make.

Bush replaced Rumsfeld with Robert Gates in November after Democrats captured both chambers of Congress. At the time, many Republicans believed the president should have made the change before the election.

{mospagebreak}As he was ready to announce his second run for president last winter, McCain did not mince any words when it came to Rumsfeld, assessing him “as one of the worst secretaries of defense in history.” McCain has seen Rumsfeld’s refusal to send in more troops at the beginning of the Iraq invasion as a crucial mistake.

McCain took the politically risky position at the time to call for more troops in Iraq. When Bush decided last year to send in 21,500 additional combat troops, McCain strongly endorsed the decision.

McCain’s comments about Rumsfeld did not sit well with Cheney — who himself had been the target of McCain’s criticism. Last January McCain said that the president was “ very badly served by both the vice president and, most of all, the secretary of defense.”

{mosads}“John said some nasty things about me the other day, and then next time he saw me, ran over to me and apologized,” Cheney said in an ABC News interview in February. “Maybe he’ll apologize to Rumsfeld.”

McCain’s close friend and confidant, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) acknowledged that the presidential candidate and the former defense secretary had deep differences about Iraq war policy and the handling of military detainees. But Graham made it clear that the differences will stay in the past.

“Rumsfeld is now focused on his memoir and his personal charities,” Graham said. “Sen. McCain is focused on the future.”

Rumsfeld’s book is not expected to be released before the November election. It is scheduled for publication in 2010.

Rumsfeld will not be judged solely by his tenure as Bush’s defense secretary, Graham said.

“Rumsfeld served in a variety of ways. His place in history will be judged on a lifetime of work.”

The McCain campaign did not comment.

Some Democrats noted that Rumsfeld is now a private citizen. “His support is largely irrelevant — he is in the private sector,” Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) said.

Former presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said that he has no insight into Republican politics, but when asked whether the tense history with McCain could prompt an unlikely Rumsfeld vote for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), he responded, “We’ll welcome his vote.”