HeraldNet: McGavick criticizes Bush over Iraq war

HeraldNet: McGavick criticizes Bush over Iraq war: "Washington state's Republican U.S. Senate candidate, Mike McGavick, stepped up efforts to distance himself from President Bush by accusing the president of failing to understand voter frustrations about the Iraq war.

'President Bush isn't getting our frustrations. It's time to be decisive - beat the terrorists,' McGavick says in a new TV ad running this week. 'Partition the country if we have to and get our troops home in victory.'

The new ad, which is running statewide, follows recent comments by McGavick that he would have voted against the Iraq invasion if he'd known there were no weapons of mass destruction. McGavick also urged Bush to fire Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

The president on Wednesday repeated his support for Rumsfeld, saying he was doing a 'fantastic' job.

The new ad is the strongest yet, and takes on Bush directly. McGavick praises two other Senate candidates - Libertarian Bruce Guthrie and Aaron Dixon of the Green Party - for having 'the guts to say what they think' about the war. Both Guthrie and Dixon oppose the war and have called for immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops.

McGavick's spokesman, Elliott Bundy, said the Iraq ad was not intended to boost Guthrie or Dixon - although it is highly unusual in political advertising to favorably cite an opponent.

'We're simply making the point that of the major candidates in this race, the only one with a position that is vague is the incumbent,' Bundy said, referring to freshman Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell.

In the ad, McGavick says Cantwell is 'vague' about the war and notes that she voted to authorize the use of force in 2002 and generally supported the war for three years after that.

'And now suddenly, she's become vague?' McGavick asked."