Perino: McCain 'worked his tail off' for Bush 
Claims press ignoring Iraq, but Raw correspondent asked three questions on it recently
"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated," Mark Twain once famously said about erroneous obituaries. And according to the White House press secretary, the same kind of exaggeration has been employed by the press when it comes to her boss's relationship with Senator John McCain.
Fox's Brian Kilmeade asked "our" White House Press Secretary Dana Perino if Bush and McCain had been "enemies, long time rivals."
"Absolutely not," Perino responded. "While I think that might be a good story line for some people to say, to try, it's simply not true. I would say that hasn't been true ever. But certainly after they were competitors, then, in 2000 and 2004, Senator McCain went on to work his tail off to help this president."
In addition, the White House spokeswoman also maintained that the press have been ignoring Iraq while in the briefing room.
"I don't remember having sustained questions about Iraq really probably since early December," Perino said. "I think that's as a result of General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker in conjunction with the Iraqis making progress on the ground."
However, RAW STORY's White House correspondent Eric Brewer has actually asked three questions about Iraq since January. Two of the questions were even fielded by Perino last week.
A week ago, Brewer asked Perino, "The U.S. military conducted 19 focus groups throughout Iraq last November, and its report on those focus groups stated that Iraqis from every ethnic and sectarian group are united in the belief that the U.S. invasion is the root cause of the sectarian violence in Iraq, and that the departure of the U.S. military is the key to national reconciliation. And I wondered, has the President seen the military's report on those focus groups?"
The White House press secretary offered only this brief response to Brewer: "I don't know if he has. I haven't either, and I'd refer you to DOD because I don't know the accuracy of that."
In addition, on February 26, Perino fielded multiple questions by longtime correspondent Helen Thomas on Iraq, and, just the other day on Wednesday, she was asked about the veracity of reports that the US was to meet with Iran about Iraq on Thursday and whether or not the "United States is dropping security guarantees from the long-term strategic relationship between the United States and Iraq." Perino had little to say in regards to yesterday's Iraq questions, other than "we'll check on it."
Before last week, Brewer went nearly a month without having his questions answered and wondered if "someone in the White House didn't like" his January 17 question regarding "the huge discrepancy between President Bush's year-ago description of the Iraqi government's domestic security 'plan,' and Iraqi officals' recent statements about that 'plan.'"
"If the President is going to talk about what the Iraqi people are thinking, he should have to answer questions about what the Iraqi people are thinking," Brewer complained.
Brewer is also a contributor at BTC News, and his RAW STORY White House briefing reports can be read here, here and here.
This video is from Fox's Fox & Friends, broadcast March 6, 2008.
Transcript via closed captions
:: it is, today. brian: what was it like? the president waiting for john mccain who is a little tardy decides to dance a little. some of those african moves he brought back with him.
:: yesterday might have been better than the african moves. brian: actually this is an irish jig. the president having a good time with the press. seemed relaxed. could you bring us behind the scenes.
:: wonderful atmosphere. great morning yesterday. a great day and the sun came out and we were excited in the white house to have senator mccain there. significant and symbolic moment for us. right before they went out to do their statements, i had a chance to talk to them a little bit. and they were having a chat about old times. and in 2000, how they worked together and went on the campaign bus together and senator mccain said i remember when we were on that bus in central florida and the rain was coming down and people were lining the street and jumping up and down and that's when i knew that you would be president. brian: listen to this. everyone likes to write enemies, long time rivals, true?
:: absolutely not. while i think that might be a good story line for some people to say, to try, it's simply not true. i would say that hasn't been true ever. but certainly after they were competitors, then, in 2000 and 2004, senator mccain went on to work his tail off to help this president. brian: you can make a strong argue. the president doesn't win if john mccain doesn't help him.
:: he was crucial to the president winning. brian: dana perino, stay right here. you are crucial to our story. a -- u.s. betrayed. leaking classified information putting one of his crewmates in danger.
:: dana perino is still with us. our white house press secretary. when is the last time you got a question about iraq when you were in the press briefing.
:: i don't remember having sustained questions about iraq. really probably since early december. i think that's as a result of general petraeus and ambassador crocker in conjunction with the iraqis making progress on the ground. do you think because there is progress in iraq or is it because the election is taken over? do people not want to report good news?
:: it could be a little bit of both. i do think the good news out there. reporters on the ground in iraq who are seeing for themselves what is happening. they are able to get that news out. so but there has not been a lot of controversy. we are heading into a conversation with capitol hill on funding for the troops. and we're going -- we need $108 billion that they have been waiting to act on. we are going to need that money fairly soon. i expect that battle to start. brian: john mccain made a statement, we expect to be there, have a relationship with iraq for 100 years. they say the war is going to continue for 100 years. people looking for a quick headline. do you want a long-term relationship. what is the president put in front of congress now?
:: what i would encourage people to think about is the long-term relationship we have with countries like japan and germany and south carolina. places -- and south korea. places where we used to be at war. these countries have blossomed after we had been there for a while. that's the point of having a long-term agreement. the negotiations on it have just started. in fact, there was a hearing on capitol hill yesterday. members will be fully briefed. we don't know if this is going to result in something that congress will need to approve or not. they will be fully consulted along the way. brian: my hunch is dana perino as the president's time comes to a close you will be moving more towards my chair after the white house chair.
:: i will be moving to yoga class. i need to relax. brian: you can exercise and can be in news.
 
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