A Day After Harsh Letter, McCain and Obama Enjoy Civil Phone Call

The telephone call was far more pleasant than the letter.

One day after Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) sent an excoriating note to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), accusing him of being politically disingenuous in his attempt to propose ethics and lobbying reform, the two senators had a brief telephone conversation Tuesday.

“We’re moving on,” McCain said a few hours after speaking to Obama. “We’re still colleagues. We’re still friends. I mean, this isn’t war.”

It was, according to both men, a polite exchange. Yet the prospects of achieving a bipartisan solution on one of the most contentious issues of the election year -- ethics reform -- remained uncertain in light of the fissures exposed in the unusually abrasive back-and-forth between McCain and Obama.

“The tone of the letter, I think, was a little over the top,” Obama said. “But John McCain’s been an American hero and has served here in Washington for 20 years, so if he wants to get cranky once in awhile that’s his prerogative.”

When asked by a reporter if the freshman senator had indeed called McCain “cranky,” Obama said: “You got my quote the first time.”

In the two-page letter, which emerged as a leading topic on political websites and talk radio Tuesday, McCain upbraided Obama for what he called “self-interested partisan posturing.” He also accused Obama of failing to uphold his promise to help negotiate a bipartisan approach to reform rules governing ethics and lobbying.

When asked whether he regretted using such pointed language about another senator, McCain said without hesitation: “Of course not. Of course not.”

The fallout from a widening congressional ethics and bribery scandal, which toppled former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, has become sore point in the battle for control of the House and Senate. So far, there has been little consensus among Democrats and Republicans, and the confrontation between McCain and Obama underscores the complications of reaching an agreement during an election year.

“You don’t get any reform unless it’s bipartisan,” McCain said.

Today, the two senators are scheduled to come together again and testify on pieces of their respective proposals at a hearing of the Senate Rules Committee.

McCain said he would unveil his plan to create more disclosure in legislation, particularly in the process known as “earmarking,” where specific local projects often were hidden in complex legislation. Under his plan, the projects would be subjected to considerable scrutiny.

Obama intends to propose creation of a Congressional Ethics Enforcement Commission, comprised of former federal judges and former members of Congress, to investigate ethics complaints and to make disciplinary recommendations to the Senate Ethics Committee and the Justice Department.

Both men said they hoped to put the matter behind them and work together to craft ethics reform laws.

To accomplish that, they must bring the deeply divided Senate and House along.

“Ultimately, what will tell the tale is the end product,” Obama said. “If the process is a little messy and some egos get hurt, that’s not that important.”