Rumsfeld-McCain feud grew after summer lunch

Defense officials say that the Donald H. Rumsfeld-John McCain relationship, never the closest or friendliest, really soured at a private meeting the two had last summer.

The strong-willed defense secretary and the equally hard-nosed Republican senator from Arizona, both ex-Navy pilots and hawks on Iraq, were supposed to make peace over two nagging issues.

Mr. McCain did not believe Mr. Rumsfeld was adequately paying attention to, or disclosing information about, the Boeing tanker lease scandal; Mr. Rumsfeld wanted Mr. McCain to lift his opposition to several Pentagon nominations bogged down in the Senate.

Rather than serving as a peacemaker, the meeting turned into a frank exchange of views that left both men bitter toward the other, according to two defense sources who were briefed later.

“It went very badly,” said one source. “Rumsfeld brought over McCain to schmooze him. It didn’t work.”

The sources differed on the exact wording, but they agreed that when Mr. Rumsfeld was unable to persuade the Arizona Republican to let the nominees go forward, he suggested the senator, a prisoner of war in Vietnam, was hurting the war effort.

“This is when McCain just about climbed over the table,” one source said.

A spokeswoman for the senator did not return phone messages.

The two men, who share a penchant for blunt talk, had not gotten along well before the meetings. But defense and congressional aides say the relationship worsened afterward, with the senator dug in even harder on blocking the nominees.

The Bush administration and the Pentagon are becoming increasingly concerned about avoiding a repeat of what they dub the “McCain effect” in 2005, because Mr. Rumsfeld plans this year to restock his senior offices and needs the approval of the Senate — and thus Mr. McCain.

The senator has hurt Mr. Rumsfeld’s standing in Washington by, among other things, saying in December that he had “no confidence” in Mr. Rumsfeld.

While the opposition Democrats can be expected to criticize the defense secretary over postwar planning in Iraq or detainee abuse, Mr. McCain’s words took on added weight among the Washington press corps.

Republicans privately complain that Mr. McCain positions himself as a maverick and “anti-Republican Republican” knowing that this is what liberal media outlets want to hear and report.

“His powers come from a favorable media and what projects out of that,” said John Samples, director of the Center for Representative Government at the Cato Institute. “It’s an appeal that crosses party lines in some respects. But I think his appeal is more toward moderates and Democrats. There is no evidence he has a strong Republican base appeal nationally.”

Larry Di Rita, Mr. Rumsfeld’s spokesman, said in an interview the Pentagon is determined to prevent a new logjam by providing Mr. McCain all the information it can on the Boeing negotiations.

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