Former President Bush endorses McCain

Former President George H.W. Bush endorsed John McCain on Monday, another sign that the Republican Party is coalescing around the Arizona senator's presumptive nomination.
"At this critical time in history... the United States cannot be allowed to falter," the 41st president said in Houston, Texas. "No one is better to lead our nation in these trying times than Senator John McCain.
"His character was forged in the crucible of war," Bush said, referring to McCain's experience as a Navy pilot and prisoner of war in Vietnam.
"Few men walking among us has sacrificed so much for the cause of human freedom," Bush said.
After Bush spoke, McCain said Bush's endorsement would help in "uniting our party and moving forward."
In addition to boosting McCain's fundraising apparatus, the formal announcement in Houston, Texas, by Ronald Reagan's vice president, scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Central Time, probably will provide McCain with new political ammunition against critics who question his conservative credentials.
On Sunday, McCain brought memories of Bush's infamous broken promise not to raise taxes after the 2008 candidate was asked whether he would make a similar pledge.
Speaking on ABC's "This Week," McCain said he would not increase taxes under any circumstances and mentioned several alternatives, including lowering interest rates and lowering corporate tax rates "if our economy continues to deteriorate."
"There's a lot of things that I would think we should do to relieve that burden, including, obviously, as we all know, simplification of the tax code," he said.
Despite Bush's strong ties to the party's revered Reagan legacy, those links haven't endeared him to the GOP's conservative wing. The Bush endorsement won't necessarily help McCain with "values voters," who have always suspected that Bush the elder was not wholly committed to the anti-abortion cause.