John McCain: 'I respect Hillary Clinton'

Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain bonded as members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. (J. Scott Applewhite, AP)

John McCain may be a favorite of Hillary Rodham Clinton, but the Arizona senator took great pains not to say that specific word when talking about the possible presidential candidate.

“I hope this program is blacked out in Arizona,” McCain joked Sunday on Face the Nation, when CBS host Bob Schieffer asked if Clinton is his favorite Democrat. “Please cut.”

McCain went on to say that he has respect for the former secretary of State and U.S. senator and would work with her if she “regrettably” runs for president again in 2016 and wins. He noted that he has worked with his political rivals in the past, including recently with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on a Veterans’ Affairs health care bill.

“It’s my job to work with every president,” McCain said Sunday. “You’ve got to reach across the aisle. … I respect Hillary Clinton. I may not agree with her.”

During an ABC News interview to launch her book tour, Clinton was asked to reveal her favorite Republican in Congress and she saluted the 2008 GOP presidential nominee. “He and I have traveled a lot, we argue a lot, and he goes off on something that I disagree with, you know I admire him, and I spend a lot of time with him,” Clinton said.

The pair apparently bonded as members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, traveling together with other senators to Iraq and the Baltics. McCain and Clinton reportedly shared vodka shots after a 2004 visit to Estonia.

In 2008, after Clinton halted her bid for the Democratic nomination, McCain wooed disaffected Clinton voters in his campaign against Barack Obama.