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Houston, TX — Calling any criticism of his conservative credentials “absurd,” former President George H.W. Bush endorsed Sen. John McCain Monday.

“The indisputable fact that unites the greatest number of Republicans, most independents and many good Democrats is the fact that no one is better prepared to lead our nation at these trying times than Senator John McCain,” the former President said at a press conference at a Hobby Airport hangar. “Few men walking among us have sacrificed so much in the cause of human freedom, and I am happy to help this remarkable patriot carry our Party’s banner forward.”

Bush also came to McCain’s defense when asked about some of the incoming fire the presumptive GOP nominee has been taking from critics on his right.

“If you’ve been around the track, you hear these criticisms and I think they are grossly unfair. He’s got a record that everybody can analyze in the Senate–a sound, conservative record. And yet he is not above reaching out to the other side,” Bush said, after reading entries he pulled from President Ronald Reagan’s diary–who also faced attacks from his right flank. “So I hear these criticisms….(and) I get a little bit annoyed about them frankly.”

For his part, McCain said his latest endorsement will be key in helping to bring together the GOP after a contentious primary.
“I think that President Bush’s endorsement today honors me. I believe it will help us enormously in that that process of uniting our party and moving forward,” McCain said. “As a party, (we) must unite and move forward and attract, not only members of our own party, but independents and the so-called Reagan Democrats.”

Houston, TX — One day ahead of receiving the endorsement of former President George H.W. Bush, Sen. John McCain issued the same tax pledge that made “41″ famous.

“No new taxes,” McCain told George Stephenopoulos on ABC’s “This Week”on Sunday, when asked if he was a “‘read my lips’ candidate.” Bush Sr. uttered the famous phrase, “Read my lips, no new taxes,” at the 1988 Republican National Convention, but was forced to raise taxes during his term as part of a budget compromise with Democrats.

McCain’s latest statement comes after the Arizona Senator spent months refusing to sign a similar pledge distributed by Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform. McCain voted against the current President Bush’s 2001 and 2003 tax cuts but now wants to make the cuts permanent and is seeking to mollify conservatives who distrust him because of his previous votes.

The “This Week: Transcript:

• STEPHANOPOULOS: So on taxes, are you a “read my lips” candidate, no new taxes, no matter what?
• MCCAIN: No new taxes I do not — in fact, I could see an argument if our economy continues to deteriorate for lower interest rates, lower tax rates and certainly decreasing corporate tax rates, which are the second-highest in the world, giving people the ability to write off depreciation in a year, elimination of the AMT. There’s a lot of things that I would think we should to relieve that burden, including, obviously, as we all know, simplification of the tax code.
• STEPHANOPOULOS: But under no circumstances would you increase taxes?
• MCCAIN: No.

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McCain said something similar to Fox News Sunday in April but would not take a “pledge:”

• CHRIS WALLACE: So…
• J. MCCAIN: So.
• WALLACE: … President McCain, no new taxes.
• J. MCCAIN: Of course not. I’ve never supported tax increases. I don’t support them now.
• WALLACE: And that’s a pledge that you would make over your four years.
• J. MCCAIN: I don’t take pledges. The fact is my record is very clear of opposition to tax increases. I oppose tax increases. I don’t take pledges.

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Oshkosh, WI — Set to pick up the endorsement of former President George H. W. Bush Monday, Sen. John McCain said today that he is pleased to gain the support of a “great man, great American hero.”

“I have always respected enormously–the former President of the United States. I had the pleasure of knowing and working for him as President for many years,” McCain said at a press conference Friday, adding that he hopes that the elder Bush’s support signals that the GOP establishment is lining up behind his nomination.

President Clinton says one of his wife’s first acts once she’s elected president will be to send him and President George H. W. Bush on a diplomatic mission around the world — only the former President Bush isn’t exactly on board with the idea.

President Clinton told the crowd at a campaign event in South Carolina on Monday that “the first thing she intends to do is to send me and former President Bush and a number of other people around the world to tell them that America is open for business and cooperation again.” Sen Clinton repeats a generic version of this promise at nearly every stop — saying she’ll send prominent Americans of both parties around the world as soon as she’s elected to deliver the message that “the era of cowboy diplomacy is over.” She has also mentioned the elder President Bush as one Republican she’d consider for that assignment.

But President Bush’s office released a statement today saying “he has never discussed an ‘around-the world mission’ with either former President Bill Clinton or Senator Clinton, nor does he think such a mission is warranted since he is proud of the role America continues to play around the world as the beacon of hope for freedom and democracy.” A Clinton campaign spokesman says the senator has not asked the ex-president to play a role in a possible Clinton administration, but is merely using him as an example of the type of person she’d attempt to employ to restore America’s standing in the world.