Editing John McCain (section)

== Senate career (2000–2008) ==
{{Main|U.S. Senate career of John McCain (2001–2014)}}

=== Remainder of third Senate term ===

McCain began 2001 by breaking with [[Presidency of George W. Bush|the new administration]] on a number of matters, including [[HMO]] reform, climate change, and gun control legislation; [[McCain–Feingold]] was opposed by Bush as well.<ref name="m-b" /><ref name="az-gwb">Nowicki, Dan and Muller, Bill. [https://www.azcentral.com/news/specials/mccain/articles/0301mccainbio-chapter11.html "John McCain Report: The 'maverick' and President Bush"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308050638/https://azcentral.com/news/specials/mccain/articles/0301mccainbio-chapter11.html |date=March 8, 2021 }}, ''[[The Arizona Republic]]'' (March 1, 2007). Retrieved December 27, 2007.</ref> In May 2001, McCain was one of only two Senate Republicans to vote against the [[Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001|Bush tax cuts]].<ref name="az-gwb" /><ref name="pfspt">Holan, Angie. [http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/14/ "McCain switched on tax cuts"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012163246/http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/14/ |date=October 12, 2007 }}, Politifact, ''[[St. Petersburg Times]]''. Retrieved December 27, 2007.</ref> Besides the differences with Bush on ideological grounds, there was considerable antagonism between the two remaining from the previous year's campaign.<ref name="time071608">Carney, James. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080717145605/http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1823695,00.html "Frenemies: The McCain-Bush Dance"], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' (July 16, 2008). Retrieved August 11, 2008.</ref><ref>Drew, ''Citizen McCain'', 5.</ref> When a Republican senator, [[Jim Jeffords]], became an Independent, thereby throwing control of the Senate to the Democrats, McCain defended Jeffords against "self-appointed enforcers of party loyalty".<ref name="az-gwb" /> Indeed, there was speculation at the time, and in years since, about McCain himself leaving the Republican Party, but McCain had always adamantly denied that he ever considered doing so.<ref name="az-gwb" /><ref>[[Thomas B. Edsall|Edsall, Thomas]] and [[Dana Milbank|Milbank, Dana]]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080308075310/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/73520465.html?dids=73520465:73520465&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jun+2%2C+2001&author=Thomas+B.+Edsall+and+Dana+Milbank&pub=The+Washington+Post&edition=&startpage=A.01&desc=McCain+Is+Considering+Leaving+GOP "McCain Is Considering Leaving GOP: Arizona Senator Might Launch a Third-Party Challenge to Bush in 2004"], ''[[The Washington Post]]'' (June 2, 2001). Retrieved May 10, 2008.</ref><ref name="hill032807">Cusack, Bob. [http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/democrats-say-mccain-nearly-abandoned-gop-2007-03-28.html "Democrats say McCain nearly abandoned GOP"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080120110110/http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/democrats-say-mccain-nearly-abandoned-gop-2007-03-28.html |date=January 20, 2008 }}, ''[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]'' (March 28, 2007). Retrieved January 17, 2008.</ref> Beginning in 2001, McCain used [[political capital]] gained from his presidential run, as well as improved legislative skills and relationships with other members, to become one of the Senate's most influential members.<ref>Kirkpatrick, David D. [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/21/us/politics/21mccain.html "After 2000 Run, McCain Learned to Work Levers of Power"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170330000100/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/21/us/politics/21mccain.html |date=March 30, 2017 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'' (July 21, 2008). Retrieved August 11, 2008.</ref>

After the [[September 11 attacks]] in 2001, McCain supported Bush and the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|U.S.-led war in Afghanistan]].<ref name="az-gwb" /><ref>McCain, John. [http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=95001375 "No Substitute for Victory: War is hell. Let's get on with it"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080424022332/http://opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=95001375 |date=April 24, 2008 }}, ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' (October 26, 2001). Retrieved January 17, 2008.</ref> He and Democratic senator [[Joe Lieberman]] wrote the legislation that created the [[9/11 Commission]],<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/09/07/911.legislation/index.html "Senate bill would implement 9/11 panel proposals"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080325020405/http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/09/07/911.legislation/index.html |date=March 25, 2008 }}, [[CNN]] (September 8, 2004). Retrieved January 17, 2008.</ref> while he and Democratic senator [[Fritz Hollings]] co-sponsored the [[Aviation and Transportation Security Act]] that federalized [[airport security]].<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/terrorism-july-dec01-congress_10-12/ "Senate Approves Aviation Security, Anti-Terrorism Bills"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407100943/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/terrorism-july-dec01-congress_10-12/ |date=April 7, 2016 }}, [[The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer|Online NewsHour]], [[PBS]] (October 12, 2001). Retrieved January 17, 2008.</ref>

In March 2002, McCain–Feingold, officially known as the [[Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act]] of 2002, passed in both Houses of Congress and was signed into law.<ref name="m-b" /><ref name="az-gwb" /> It was McCain's greatest legislative achievement.<ref name="az-gwb" /><ref>Alexander, ''Man of the People'', p. 168</ref>

[[File:John McCain pork.png|thumb|left|alt=Red rocks landscape of Arizona with McCain image added, on uppper half; cartoon illustration of pigs inside brown barrels on lower half|McCain's Senate website from 2003 to 2006 illustrated his concern about [[pork barrel]] spending.<ref name="az-maverick" />]]

Meanwhile, in discussions over proposed U.S. action against Iraq, McCain was a strong supporter of the Bush administration's position.<ref name="az-gwb" /> He stated that Iraq was "a clear and present danger" to the U.S., and voted for the [[Iraq War Resolution]] in October 2002.<ref name="az-gwb" /> He predicted that U.S. forces would be treated as liberators by many Iraqi people.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070212233445/http://mccain.senate.gov/press_office/view_article.cfm?id=53 "Sen. McCain's Interview With Chris Matthews"], ''[[Hardball with Chris Matthews]]'', [[MSNBC]] (March 12, 2003). Via McCain's Senate website and archive.org. Retrieved April 7, 2008.</ref> In May 2003, McCain voted against the second round of Bush tax cuts, saying it was unwise at a time of war.<ref name="pfspt" /> By November 2003, after a trip to Iraq, he was publicly questioning Secretary of Defense [[Donald Rumsfeld]], saying that more U.S. troops were needed; the following year, McCain announced that he had lost confidence in Rumsfeld.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/july-dec03/mccain_11-06_a.html "Newsmaker: Sen. McCain"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140119023447/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/july-dec03/mccain_11-06_a.html |date=January 19, 2014 }}, [[PBS]], [[The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer|NewsHour]] (November 6, 2003). Retrieved January 17, 2008.</ref><ref name="az-estab">Nowicki, Dan and Muller, Bill. [https://www.azcentral.com/news/specials/mccain/articles/0301mccainbio-chapter12.html "John McCain Report: The 'maverick' goes establishment"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724130605/http://www.azcentral.com/news/specials/mccain/articles/0301mccainbio-chapter12.html |date=July 24, 2008 }}, ''[[The Arizona Republic]]'' (March 1, 2007). Retrieved December 23, 2007.</ref>

In October 2003, McCain and Lieberman co-sponsored the [[Climate Stewardship Acts|Climate Stewardship Act]] that would have introduced a [[cap and trade]] system aimed at returning [[greenhouse gas]] emissions to 2000 levels; the bill was defeated with 55&nbsp;votes to 43 in the Senate.<ref>[http://www.pewclimate.org/policy_center/analyses/s_139_summary.cfm "Summary of the Lieberman-McCain Climate Stewardship Act"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411180537/http://www.pewclimate.org/policy_center/analyses/s_139_summary.cfm |date=April 11, 2008}}, [[Pew Research Center|Pew Center on Global Climate Change]]. Retrieved April 24, 2008.</ref> They reintroduced modified versions of the Act two additional times, for the final time in January 2007 with the co-sponsorship of [[Barack Obama]], among others.<ref>[http://lieberman.senate.gov/index.cfm/news-events/news/2007/1/lieberman-mccain-reintroduce-climate-stewardship-and-innovation-act "Lieberman, McCain Reintroduce Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322173016/http://lieberman.senate.gov/index.cfm/news-events/news/2007/1/lieberman-mccain-reintroduce-climate-stewardship-and-innovation-act |date=March 22, 2012}}, Lieberman Senate website (January 12, 2007). Retrieved April 24, 2008.</ref>

[[File:George W. Bush and John McCain at the Navy goal line 2004.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7| President [[George W. Bush]] with Senator McCain, December 2004]]

In the [[2004 United States presidential election|2004 U.S. presidential election campaign]], McCain was frequently mentioned for the vice-presidential slot, only this time as part of the Democratic ticket under nominee John Kerry.<ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-03-10-mccain-vp_x.htm "McCain: I'd 'entertain' Democratic VP slot"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315153420/http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-03-10-mccain-vp_x.htm |date=March 15, 2012 }}, [[Associated Press]] for ''[[USA Today]]'' (March 10, 2004). Retrieved May 6, 2008.</ref><ref name="nyt061204">Halbfinger, David. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090411021604/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/12/politics/campaign/12MCCA.html "McCain Is Said To Tell Kerry He Won't Join"], ''[[The New York Times]]'' (June 12, 2004). Retrieved January 3, 2008.</ref><ref name="wapo061204">Balz, Dan and VandeHei, Jim. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34742-2004Jun11.html "McCain's Resistance Doesn't Stop Talk of Kerry Dream Ticket"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210103754/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34742-2004Jun11.html |date=February 10, 2017 }}, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' (June 12, 2004). Retrieved January 18, 2008.</ref> McCain said that Kerry had never formally offered him the position and that he would not have accepted it.<ref name="nyt061204" /><ref name="wapo061204" /><ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna5225039 "Kerry wants to boost child-care credit"], [[Associated Press]]. [[NBC News]] (June 16, 2004). Retrieved March 8, 2008.</ref> At the [[2004 Republican National Convention]], McCain supported Bush for re-election, praising Bush's management of the [[War on Terror]] since the [[September 11 attacks]].<ref name="cnn083004">Loughlin, Sean. [http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/30/gop.mccain/index.html "McCain praises Bush as 'tested'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224043125/http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/30/gop.mccain/index.html |date=December 24, 2007 }}, [[CNN]] (August 30, 2004). Retrieved November 14, 2007.</ref> At the same time, he defended Kerry's Vietnam War record.<ref>Coile, Zachary. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/08/06/MNGUT83SS41.DTL "Vets group attacks Kerry; McCain defends Democrat"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328140333/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2004%2F08%2F06%2FMNGUT83SS41.DTL |date=March 28, 2012 }}, ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' (August 6, 2004). Retrieved August 15, 2006.</ref> By August 2004, McCain had the best favorable-to-unfavorable rating (55&nbsp;percent to 19&nbsp;percent) of any national politician;<ref name="cnn083004" /> he campaigned for Bush much more than he had four years previously, though the two remained situational allies rather than friends.<ref name="time071608" />

McCain was also up for re-election as senator, in 2004. He defeated little-known Democratic schoolteacher Stuart Starky with his biggest margin of victory, garnering 77&nbsp;percent of the vote.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/AZ/S/01/epolls.0.html "Election 2004: U.S. Senate – Arizona – Exit Poll"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080121165231/http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/AZ/S/01/epolls.0.html |date=January 21, 2008 }}, [[CNN]]. Retrieved December 23, 2007.</ref>

=== Start of fourth Senate term ===

In May 2005, McCain led the so-called [[Gang of 14]] in the Senate, which established a compromise that preserved the ability of senators to [[filibuster]] judicial nominees, but only in "extraordinary circumstances".<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/05/23/filibuster.fight/ "Senators compromise on filibusters; Bipartisan group agrees to vote to end debate on three nominees"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071223065612/http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/05/23/filibuster.fight/ |date=December 23, 2007 }}, [[CNN]] (May 24, 2005). Retrieved March 16, 2008.</ref> The compromise took the steam out of the filibuster movement, but some Republicans remained disappointed that the compromise did not eliminate filibusters of judicial nominees in all circumstances.<ref>Hulse, Carl. [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/25/us/politics/25judges.html "Distrust of McCain Lingers Over '05 Deal on Judges"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130040007/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/25/us/politics/25judges.html |date=November 30, 2016 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'' (February 25, 2008). Retrieved March 16, 2008.</ref> McCain subsequently cast [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] confirmation votes in favor of [[John Roberts]] and [[Samuel Alito]], calling them "two of the finest justices ever appointed to the United States Supreme Court."<ref name="Curry" />

[[File:Jsm2.ogg|thumb|McCain speaks on the Senate floor against [[Earmark (politics)|earmarking]], February 2007]]

Breaking from his 2001 and 2003 votes, McCain supported the [[Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005|Bush tax cut extension]] in May 2006, saying not to do so would amount to a tax increase.<ref name="pfspt" /> Working with Democratic Senator [[Ted Kennedy]], McCain was a strong proponent of comprehensive immigration reform, which would involve legalization, guest worker programs, and border enforcement components. The [[Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act]] was never voted on in 2005, while the [[Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006]] passed the Senate in May 2006 but failed in the House.<ref name="az-estab" /> In June 2007, President Bush, McCain, and others made the strongest push yet for such a bill, the [[Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007]], but it aroused intense grassroots opposition among talk radio listeners and others, some of whom furiously characterized the proposal as an "amnesty" program,<ref>Preston, Julia. [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/10/washington/10oppose.html "Grass Roots Roared and Immigration Plan Collapsed"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415031750/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/10/washington/10oppose.html |date=April 15, 2016 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'' (July 10, 2007). Retrieved July 27, 2008.</ref> and the bill twice failed to gain cloture in the Senate.<ref>[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/immigration/why_the_senate_immigration_bill_failed "Why the Senate Immigration Bill Failed"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071104012751/http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/immigration/why_the_senate_immigration_bill_failed |date=November 4, 2007 }}, [[Rasmussen Reports]] (June 8, 2007). Retrieved May 10, 2008.</ref>

By the middle of the 2000s (decade), the increased [[Native American gaming|Indian gaming]] that McCain had helped bring about was a $23&nbsp;billion industry.<ref name="Sweeney" /> He was twice chairman of the [[Senate Indian Affairs Committee]], in 1995–1997 and 2005–2007, and his Committee helped expose the [[Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal]].<ref>Schmidt, Susan; Grimaldi, James. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/22/AR2005062200921.html "Panel Says Abramoff Laundered Tribal Funds; McCain Cites Possible Fraud by Lobbyist"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923155417/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/22/AR2005062200921.html |date=September 23, 2017 }}, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' (June 23, 2005). Retrieved May 10, 2008.</ref><ref>Anderson, John. ''Follow the Money'' (Simon and Schuster 2007), p. 254. {{ISBN|0-7432-8643-X}}.</ref> By 2005 and 2006, McCain was pushing for amendments to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act which would have limited creation of off-reservation casinos,<ref name="Sweeney" /> and also limited the movement of tribes across state lines to build casinos.<ref>Butterfield, Fox. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/08/national/08gamble.html Indians' Wish List: Big-City Sites for Casinos] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429074830/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/08/national/08gamble.html |date=April 29, 2015 }}", ''[[The New York Times]]'' (April 8, 2005).</ref>

[[File:McCainAndPetreaus.JPG|thumb|left|alt=Middle-aged man in military uniform talking with older man in casual civilian clothes, at night|General [[David Petraeus]] and McCain in [[Baghdad]], November 2007]]

Owing to his time as a POW, McCain was recognized for his sensitivity to the detention and interrogation of detainees in the War on Terror. An opponent of the Bush administration's use of torture and detention without trial at [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp|Guantánamo Bay]], saying: "some of these guys are terrible, terrible killers and the worst kind of scum of humanity. But, one, they deserve to have some adjudication of their cases{{nbsp}}... even [[Adolf Eichmann]] got a trial".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Frick |first1=Ali |title=In 2005, McCain Said Even The 'Scum Of Humanity' Deserve To Have 'Some Adjudication Of Their&nbsp;Cases' |url=https://thinkprogress.org/in-2005-mccain-said-even-the-scum-of-humanity-deserve-to-have-some-adjudication-of-their-cases-60ffb21e4122/ |access-date=August 28, 2018 |work=ThinkProgress |date=June 25, 2008 |archive-date=August 29, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180829000234/https://thinkprogress.org/in-2005-mccain-said-even-the-scum-of-humanity-deserve-to-have-some-adjudication-of-their-cases-60ffb21e4122/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In October 2005, McCain introduced the [[McCain Detainee Amendment]] to the Defense Appropriations bill for 2005, and the Senate voted 90–9 to support the amendment.<ref>[https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00249 "Roll Call Votes 109th Congress – 1st Session on the Amendment (McCain Amdt. No. 1977)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212124109/https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00249 |date=February 12, 2018 }}, [[United States Senate]] (October 5, 2005). Retrieved August 15, 2006.</ref> It prohibits inhumane treatment of prisoners, including prisoners at Guantánamo, by confining military interrogations to the techniques in the [[FM 34-52 Intelligence Interrogation|U.S. Army Field Manual on Interrogation]]. Although Bush had threatened to veto the bill if McCain's amendment was included,<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/10/06/senate.detainees/index.html "Senate ignores veto threat in limiting detainee treatment"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080313052438/http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/10/06/senate.detainees/index.html |date=March 13, 2008 }}, [[CNN]] (October 6, 2005). Retrieved January 2, 2008.</ref> the President announced in December 2005 that he accepted McCain's terms and would "make it clear to the world that this government does not torture and that we adhere to the international convention of torture, whether it be here at home or abroad".<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/12/15/torture.bill/ "McCain, Bush agree on torture ban"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124022622/http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/12/15/torture.bill/ |date=January 24, 2021 }}, [[CNN]] (December 15, 2005). Retrieved August 16, 2006.</ref> This stance, among others, led to McCain being named by ''Time'' magazine in 2006 as one of America's 10 Best Senators.<ref>Calabresi, Massimo and Bacon Jr., Perry. [https://web.archive.org/web/20060424234843/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1184028,00.html "America's 10 Best Senators"], [https://web.archive.org/web/20060706071424/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1183947,00.html "John McCain: The Mainstreamer"], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' (April 16, 2006). Retrieved August 14, 2008.</ref> McCain voted in February 2008 against a bill containing a ban on [[waterboarding]],<ref name="Eggen" /> which provision was later narrowly passed and vetoed by Bush. However, the bill in question contained other provisions to which McCain objected, and his spokesman stated: "This wasn't a vote on waterboarding. This was a vote on applying the standards of the [Army] field manual to CIA personnel."<ref name="Eggen">Eggen, Dan and Shear, Michael. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/15/AR2008021503318.html "Vote Against Waterboarding Bill Called Consistent"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909143838/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/15/AR2008021503318.html |date=September 9, 2017 }}, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' (February 16, 2008): "[T]he aide said, there are noncoercive interrogation techniques not used by the Army that could be useful to the CIA." Retrieved June 9, 2008.</ref>

Meanwhile, McCain continued questioning the progress of the war in Iraq. In September 2005, he remarked upon [[Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]] [[Richard Myers]]' optimistic outlook on the war's progress: "Things have not gone as well as we had planned or expected, nor as we were told by you, General Myers."<ref>[[Thomas E. Ricks (journalist)|Ricks, Thomas]]. ''[[Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq]]'' p. 412 (Penguin Press 2006). {{ISBN|1-59420-103-X}}.</ref> In August 2006, he criticized the administration for continually understating the effectiveness of the insurgency: "We [have] not told the American people how tough and difficult this could be."<ref name="az-estab" /> From the beginning, McCain strongly supported the [[Iraq troop surge of 2007]].<ref>Baldor, Lolita C. [https://www.azcentral.com/news/election/special3/articles/0112USIraq12-ON.html?&wired "McCain Defends Bush's Iraq strategy"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415035335/http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/special3/articles/0112USIraq12-ON.html?&wired |date=April 15, 2016 }}, [[Associated Press]]. ''[[The Arizona Republic]]'' (January 12, 2007). Retrieved July 19, 2012.</ref> The strategy's opponents labeled it "McCain's plan"<ref>Giroux, Greg. [https://www.nytimes.com/cq/2007/01/17/cq_2137.html "'Move On' Takes Aim at McCain's Iraq Stance"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415031827/http://www.nytimes.com/cq/2007/01/17/cq_2137.html |date=April 15, 2016 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'' (January 17, 2007). Retrieved January 18, 2008.</ref> and [[University of Virginia]] political science professor [[Larry Sabato]] said, "McCain owns Iraq just as much as Bush does now."<ref name="az-estab" /> The surge and the war were unpopular during most of the year, even within the Republican Party,<ref name="time012308">Carney, James. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080127124929/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1706450-3,00.html "The Resurrection of John McCain"], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' (January 23, 2008). Retrieved February 1, 2008.</ref> as McCain's presidential campaign was underway; faced with the consequences, McCain frequently responded, "I would much rather lose a campaign than a war."<ref>Crawford, Jamie. [http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/07/28/iraq-wont-change-mccain/ "Iraq won't change McCain"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080719204152/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/07/28/iraq-wont-change-mccain/ |date=July 19, 2008}}, [[CNN]] (July 28, 2007). Retrieved January 18, 2008.</ref> In March 2008, McCain credited the surge strategy with reducing violence in Iraq, as he made his eighth trip to that country since the war began.<ref>[http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/16/mccain.iraq/index.html "McCain arrives in Baghdad"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080320203216/http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/16/mccain.iraq/index.html |date=March 20, 2008 }}, [[CNN]] (March 16, 2008). Retrieved March 16, 2008.</ref>