McCaskill says McCain undercut Bush on Georgia

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) on Sunday accused Republican presidential candidate John McCain of undermining the Bush administration with his tough talk on Russia.

{mosads}“I think John McCain’s reaction to what happened in Russia did not reflect well on the position he should have taken, and that is one of understanding we have one president in this country, and that Secretary of State Rice and President Bush need the support of both presidential candidates in a very tricky time as it relates to Russia and the neighboring states that are trying to establish democracies,” McCaskill said of the Arizona senator’s reaction to the conflict between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia.

McCaskill, who is one of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama’s (Ill.) top surrogates, also said some of McCain’s responses to the crisis appeared to be aimed at the general election and not helping the situation in Georgia.

“I think him doing press releases and sending some of his political allies to Georgia — I think some of it began to ring like a political campaign instead of principled and strong diplomacy,” McCaskill said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“They accused Barack Obama of being presumptuous for going to Europe and meeting with our allies,” McCaskill added. “What is presumptuous is to try to undercut in any way the very difficult and tricky work that President Bush and Secretary Rice are trying to do right now.”

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, who appeared on the same program said he agreed with McCaskill that bipartisanship is needed at home to address the crisis abroad, but he strongly objected to the Missouri senator’s accusations.

“I disagree with you in every way to suggest that John McCain's response to the aggression in Russia was anything other than appropriate,” Ridge stated. “He called for an international peacekeeping force. He called for humanitarian aid. He called it exactly what it is — unprovoked aggression.”