Fox's Cameron said McCain "often breaks with the GOP," but McCain has cited his record of agreeing with Bush

Summary: On Special Report, after playing part of an ad from Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign that calls Sen. John McCain "Washington's biggest celebrity" and shows McCain embracing President Bush, Carl Cameron asserted that "[w]hat the Obama attack ad does not say is that much of McCain's celebrity over the last decade or so is attributed to a liberal media love affair, fond of McCain because he so often breaks with the GOP." Yet the nonpartisan publication Congressional Quarterly and McCain himself have cited McCain's record of agreeing with Bush.

On the August 11 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume, after playing part of an ad from Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign that calls Sen. John McCain "Washington's biggest celebrity" and shows McCain embracing President Bush, Carl Cameron asserted that "[w]hat the Obama attack ad does not say is that much of McCain's celebrity over the last decade or so is attributed to a liberal media love affair, fond of McCain because he so often breaks with the GOP." Yet the nonpartisan publication Congressional Quarterly and McCain himself have cited McCain's record of agreeing with Bush.

In May 2003, Fox News host Neil Cavuto asked McCain whether "all things being equal right now and given the fact that you differ with the president so strongly on this tax cut and on some of these spending issues, would you ever consider challenging him for the Republican nomination next year?" McCain responded, "No, no. But, look, the president and I agree on most issues. There was a recent study that showed that I voted with the president over 90 percent of the time, higher than a lot of my even Republican colleagues." Further, a CQ analysis of legislators' votes found that McCain voted in support of the Bush administration's position 95 percent of the time in 2007, making McCain the administration's most reliable supporter in the Senate that year. Moreover, CQ also found that McCain has voted with Bush 90 percent of the time over the seven-and-a-half years of Bush's presidency.

From the May 22, 2003, edition of Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto (retrieved from the Nexis database):

CAVUTO: Let me ask you, Senator, all things being equal right now and given the fact that you differ with the president so strongly on this tax cut and on some of these spending issues, would you ever consider challenging him for the Republican nomination next year?

MCCAIN: No, no. But, look, the president and I agree on most issues. There was a recent study that showed that I voted with the president over 90 percent of the time, higher than a lot of my even Republican colleagues.

But this is an open -- this is an honest difference of opinion, but it's also what I campaigned on. I campaigned on a tax package that had to do with a balanced budget, not to do with massive deficits, and I'm sticking with the principles and the philosophy that I campaigned for president on, albeit I lost.

From the August 11 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume:

CAMERON: McCain says the U.S. should offer security help to Georgia for its fuel pipelines and to Ukraine, which Russia has also been at odds with for leaning west rather than toward Moscow.

Obama may be off the trail, but he's on the air with a new attack ad responding to McCain's claims that Obama is a celebrity, long on glamour but short on substance, and that McCain's the maverick in the race.

NARRATOR [video clip of Obama campaign ad]: For decades he's been Washington's biggest celebrity. And as Washington embraced him, John McCain hugged right back. A Washington celebrity playing the same old Washington games.

CAMERON: What the Obama attack ad does not say is that much of McCain's celebrity over the last decade or so is attributed to a liberal media love affair, fond of McCain because he so often breaks with the GOP.

Late this afternoon, Barack Obama did issue a statement on the Russia-Georgia war saying that he welcomes visits to Georgia by both French and Finnish officials to begin mediation and quote, "There should also be a United Nations mediator to address this crisis, and the United States should fully support this effort. We should also convene another international forums to condemn this aggression, to call for an immediate halt to the violence, and to review multilateral and bilateral arrangements with Russia, including Russia's interest in joining the World Trade Organization."

—R.S.K.