Bush not hurt by McCain attacks

ASHINGTON: US President George W. Bush does not take it personally when fellow Republican and White House hopeful John McCain levels increasingly fierce attacks on his policies, Bush's spokeswoman said Thursday.

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

Asked whether Bush, the target of tough criticisms from his chosen successor in a newly published interview, takes such broadsides personally, Perino replied: "No,
he doesn't."

McCain blasted the vastly unpopular president in an interview for piling up trillions of dollars in national debt, abusing executive powers, and the early conduct of the war in Iraq.

"We just let things get completely out of hand," McCain said of his own Republican party's rule in the past eight years.

"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. And he'll continue to support him until election day," said Perino.