Republican
presidential hopeful John McCain says that he respects
Hillary Rodham Clinton and that he said so in so many
words when a woman used the word ''bitch'' to describe
her.
''How do we beat
the bitch?'' the woman asked McCain on Monday at an
event in South Carolina.
McCain's
response: ''That's an excellent question. I respect Senator
Clinton. I respect anyone who gets the nomination of the
Democratic Party.''
On Tuesday, CNN's
Rick Sanchez raised the question of whether McCain
should have admonished the woman, and McCain's campaign
criticized that criticism on Wednesday.
''Most people who
have seen it are looking at it as a real mistake on his
part in terms of the way he handled it,'' Sanchez said on
the cable network's Out in the Open.
McCain's South
Carolina campaign manager, Buzz Jacobs, said in a
statement Wednesday: ''It not only reflects poorly on
[Sanchez] but on CNN. If Mr. Sanchez had even the
faintest perspective on the race for the White House,
he would know that Senator McCain has expressed his utmost
respect for Senator Clinton numerous times on the campaign
trail, as he did at Monday's event in Hilton Head.''
(AP)
