Even though Obama has been praising him up and down as the ideal Republican.
Via The Hill:
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said this week that President Obama never made a sincere effort to reach out to him after the 2008 election.
McCain was once seen as a potential ally of Obama. But far from becoming a partner — as the left hoped for and the right feared — McCain has turned into one of Obama’s thorniest adversaries.
“Let’s get real here,” McCain told The Hill. “There was never any outreach from President Obama or anyone in his administration to me.”
McCain disputes the notion that he has rejected entreaties to cooperate with the White House because he is bitter from his defeat four years ago.
He said he expressed eagerness to work with the president on immigration reform and the line-item veto, but has been left out in the cold.
McCain, the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee, also said Obama failed to consult with him on national-security issues.
“He never asked for advice on national-security nominees,” McCain said.
Some Republicans thought the Arizona Republican would emerge as a bipartisan dealmaker who could help Obama achieve his goal of bringing Democrats and Republicans together to address major policy problems.
In a 2009 op-ed, former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) described McCain as Obama’s “ace in the hole.”
Santorum’s analysis seemed prescient when Obama honored McCain at a candlelight dinner before taking the oath of office.
McCain, however, said the gesture was not backed up by actions.
“This idea that this president or his people reached out to me is patently false,” he said. “To somehow allege that I didn’t somehow respond to their overtures, that’s patently false. That’s their narrative, and I understand their narrative, but it’s not substantiated by the facts.”
McCain pointed out that Obama invited him to the White House in 2009 to discuss immigration reform.
“I said, ‘I’d love to join you,’ and never heard from him,” McCain said.