Pittsburgh - Turning the page on a bitter battle for the US Republican presidential nomination, Governor George W. Bush finally won Senator John McCain's endorsement yesterday, after the one-time rivals papered over their political differences. Following a 90-minute meeting in a Pittsburgh hotel suite, the Texas governor and the Arizona senator emerged with smiles and pledges to work together to reclaim the White House from Democrats on November 7th.
"I look forward to enthusiastically campaigning for Governor Bush for the next six months," Mr McCain told reporters, while adding: "And I asked not to be considered for vice-president of the United States."
Some antagonism lingered from their bruising primary campaign. The two men agreed to disagree on campaign finance reform. Mr McCain wants to ban all largely unregulated "soft money" donations, but Mr Bush calls that the equivalent of unilateral disarmament unless the Democratic Party agrees to do likewise.