Kerry Gets Boost From Surprising Sources By Jim VandeHei, Washington Post Staff Writer

In the past week, GOP Sens. John McCain (Ariz.) and Chuck Hagel (Neb.) have broken ranks and defended Kerry against President Bush’s assertion that the Massachusetts senator is weak on national defense. …

Republicans are unintentionally assisting Kerry on the domestic front, too. Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and other congressional conservatives are accusing Bush of driving up deficits, a top Kerry campaign message, and misleading the country about the cost of the new Medicare law, another Kerry target. Kerry’s campaign is circulating Flake’s recent remark that Congress would not have passed the Bush Medicare law if members had been told of its projected cost. The Office of Management and Budget estimated the law would cost about $130 billion more than advertised, but those numbers were kept secret until well after the House passed the legislation by one vote. The flap over the Medicare number threatens to turn the law into a campaign liability for Bush. …

Some Bush campaign officials privately fumed about the GOP comments as party strategists expressed concern. ”Bush has some clear enemies that were part of his team,” said GOP strategist Scott Reed. ”It hurts Bush temporarily, but, while these are distractions, Kerry still has a long way to go to get into the game.”

For Bush, who rarely ran into criticism from within his party during his first three years in office, the timing and tone of these GOP defections are undercutting his reelection message just as the presidential campaign is heating up.

”Even Republicans can’t defend what the Bush-Cheney campaign says or does, particularly when the president is caught red-handed misleading America on the true cost of the war and covering up the real cost of his Medicare giveaway plan,” said Stephanie Cutter, a Kerry spokeswoman. …

Kerry, who cruised through the nominating process with scant damage by historical measures, appeared rattled last week by Bush’s attacks on national defense and terrorism — until McCain stepped in and stepped on the Bush-Cheney message. McCain, who ran against Bush in the GOP primary four years ago, said on NBC’s “Today” show that he does “not believe that [Kerry] is, quote, weak on national defense.”

On Sunday, Hagel, a maverick Republican with a reputation similar to McCain’s for speaking his mind, criticized the Bush campaign ad that called Kerry “weak on defense.” Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” Hagel said: “The facts just don’t measure [up to] the rhetoric.” He said it is unfair to isolate one or two votes over a 19-year career to make such a sweeping assessment of Kerry. “You can . . . take any of us, and pick out the different votes, and then try to manufacture something around it,” he said.

Grover Norquist, a GOP lobbyist close to the White House, said, “McCain is just full of bitterness. Hagel is McCain’s only friend in the Senate.”

Steve Schmidt, a Bush campaign spokesman, said the president remains “comfortable” with his assessment of Kerry, despite the brush- backs from fellow Republicans. “We will continue to make that argument throughout the campaign,” he said.

In the 2000 primary, Bush’s campaign slaughtered McCain, who has some respect from Democrats as well as Republicans. So, don’t be surprised if Bush’s crew tries to crush anyone for ‘disloyalty’. You’re with him or you’re against him — like the rest of us. mjh